On Monday evening, October 19th, WESPAC and JVP Westchester held a community forum at the Greenburgh Town Hall to explore how we can serve as agents of change in supporting human rights in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. We would like to thank the Greenburgh...
The WESPAC Committee for Justice & Peace in the Middle East is a group of concerned people from the Westchester County area formed to educate the general community, promote open discussion and dialogue and advocate for just solutions to the current destructive situations in the Middle East, particularly in Palestine/Israel. WESPAC supports the call by over 200 Palestinian civil society organizations for punitive measures including boycotts, divestment, and sanctions to be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian People’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law. We call for an end to all occupations in the region. The committee meets regularly and invites participation from the public. Please contact the office at 914.449.6514 or email [email protected] for more information.
Responding Locally to the Refugee Crisis
Refugees: A Call to Action by the Westchester, Rockland and the Hudson Valley Community
As the tides of refugees from war in the Middle East literally wash ashore in Europe, we are witness to human tragedy of unfathomable proportions. In a world where governments wage wars that result in the displacement of tens of millions of people, we as human beings face a responsibility and a real opportunity to do the right thing. We welcome the tired, the poor the hungry and endangered to our country and community. We cannot be witness and not take action. All around the country, municipalities and local communities are calling for the United States of America to open wide the doors to the refugees, and are ready to welcome refugee families into their communities. We in the Westchester, Rockland and Hudson Valley Community join in the call for action to save and welcome refugees as follows:
Report Back from Palestine
Please join us at WESPAC on Tuesday, September 8th at 6pm to hear about Tarin's trip to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Our new location is 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains on the fourth floor. All are welcome:
Letter to Elected Officials from Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
P5 Unity on the Iran Deal and the Fate of the NPT Below is a letter that Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy sent on July 23 to New York Senators Schumer and Gillibrand urging support for the Iran agreement. If you are in the United States and have not done so...
Israel vs the Violin
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/08/israel-vs-the-violin
Join WESPAC members as we petition in support of nuclear deal with Iran
From Laura Myerson on behalf of WESPAC Middle East Committee: Dear WESPAC members and friends, In early September at the latest, the U.S. Congress will vote on the historic agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran that will dramatically curb Iran’s nuclear program...
The Syrian Refugee Crisis
The Syrian Refugee Crisis Will Transform Middle East Politics Charles Glass The Intercept July 14, 2015 Young Syrian refugees stand around during a visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), António Guterres (not pictured), to a camp in the...
Report Back from Cuba
Felice and Yoram Gelman are currently visiting Cuba with Code Pink. Mindy Gershon and Dave Lippman traveled to Cuba in January with a delegation studying the new wave of non-agricultural cooperatives. They bring a multimedia presentation on the promises and...
A Young Prince May Cost Syria and Yemen Dear
A Young Prince May Cost Syria and Yemen Dear As the US and Iran reach accord, Saudi Arabia endangers the status quo in the Middle East Patrick Cockburn The Independent April 5, 2015 Protestors in Washington march near the White House last week. AP A succession of...
The political geography, of colony and bantustan, is the same on both sides of the Green Line – Amira Hass
The political geography, of colony and bantustan, is the same on both sides of the Green Line – Amira Hass Philip Weiss Mondoweiss March 27, 2015 Amira Hass Amira Hass was on Law & Disorder radio this week to comment on the Israeli election. It’s a great,...
WESPAC on Facebook
Dear WESPAC Members, Friends, and Supporters,In these extraordinarily challenging times, strong and independent community organizations are more important than ever. We invite you to renew your WESPAC membership—or to become a member for the first time—and help sustain our shared work for justice, peace, and meaningful social change.As we celebrate WESPAC’s 52nd anniversary, we remain inspired by our rich history and deeply grateful for the community that has sustained us. WESPAC continues to serve a unique and essential role as a hub for progressive organizing in Westchester County and throughout the Lower Hudson Valley. You can donate at wespac.org/donate
Dear WESPAC Members, Friends, and Supporters, @followers In these extraordinarily challenging times, strong and independent community organizations are more important than ever. We invite you to renew your WESPAC membership—or to become a member for the first time—and help sustain our shared work for justice, peace, and meaningful social change.As we celebrate WESPAC’s 52nd anniversary, we remain inspired by our rich history and deeply grateful for the community that has sustained us. WESPAC continues to serve a unique and essential role as a hub for progressive organizing in Westchester County and throughout the Lower Hudson Valley.With the support of our members, WESPAC:• Brings people together through community meetings, solidarity gatherings, educational programs, and public events;• Works with local high school and college students, providing meaningful internships and volunteer opportunities;• Organizes the annual Westchester Social Forum, where organizations and activists from Westchester, Rockland, and neighboring communities share skills, strengthen relationships, and build collective strategies;• Supports organizing for climate justice, affordable housing, immigrant defense, food sovereignty, racial and economic justice, public banking, and worker-owned cooperatives;• Advocates for investment in communities rather than cages, and for a clean and safe transition away from fossil fuels;• Calls upon our federal representatives to invest our tax dollars in schools, affordable housing, healthcare, and meaningful job creation—not war and endless killing overseas;• Provides affordable office and meeting space to like-minded organizations working for a more just, equitable, and peaceful world; and• Honors outstanding local justice advocates at our annual awards ceremony, a cherished highlight of Westchester’s social justice calendar.Annual membership dues are $100 per person, and $50 for students and people living on fixed incomes. Sustaining contributions above that amount are warmly welcomed. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds, and volunteer hours may be arranged in lieu of payment.Please renew or join today by mailing a check to:WESPAC Foundation77 Tarrytown Road, Suite 2WWhite Plains, NY 10607You may also contribute securely online at wespac.org/donate. To arrange volunteer hours or discuss another way of supporting WESPAC, please call us at 914-449-6514.We hope to see you at our upcoming events, including our September 10 author talk with Brian Barber about Gaza and our September 16 Community Partners gathering featuring Common Cause New York on election integrity. Details are available at wespac.org.Thank you for standing with WESPAC. Your membership is not simply a contribution—it is an affirmation that principled, locally rooted organizing matters. Together, we can continue building the relationships and movements needed to create a more just and peaceful world.With gratitude and determination,Steven Rabinowitz, Board Chair and Nada Khader, Executive DirectorContributions to WESPAC Foundation are tax-deductible.
Friday, October 9th at 6pm at the Barn at Vassar College! RSVPs required at [email protected]. Contributions for the farm collective can be made ahead of time. We can also arrange car pools.The WEBATUCK VALLEY FARM COLLABORATIVE (WVFC), established in 2023, is a regional food sovereignty and farm cooperative development initiative rooted in a larger movement for cultural reclamation, economic & racial justice, and community healing. Rock Steady Farm, Sweet Freedom Farm, and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village leveraged a ten-year partnership to transform local farming, economic opportunity, and food access. They aim to remove barriers to entry for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ beginning farmers in ways that support the prosperity of our communities and the future of our planet.The current food system is built on exploited labor and land, leaving many hungry and malnourished despite excess and waste. WVFC works with communities within, against, and beyond this broken system to build resilient local economies. Their organizations collaboratively support New York State farmers through land access, training and apprenticeships, shared infrastructure, equipment and product aggregation, advocacy, community events, and employment. They advance land-based liberation by training young land stewards, supporting beginning farmers with land access, growing nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food and medicine, and distributing their harvests to families impacted by food scarcity or state violence.This year, that vision takes physical form. They are renovating two barns—one at Rock Steady which will winterize the barns, expand the cold storage three fold for aggregation, build much larger wash-pack space with new equipment, a retail store and new CSA pick-up, Rock Steady staff space and workplace kitchen, short term housing for all the trainees and facilitators and so much more. The barn at Wildseed will be home to a gorgeous event space, and an added value commercial kitchen. Sweet Freedom Farm will be stewarding grain processes equipment and grain processing space that has been a significant need of small to mid-sized grain producers in the area.This shared processing infrastructure will expand the capacity of over a dozen BIPOC- and LGBTQ+-led farms to wash, store, and process food year-round. It's an investment in a more resilient future where farmers across the region can enter a food system designed for their success.The Elias Foundation is kindly subsidizing the cost of the dinner so that more of the proceeds can support the farmers' fund! @followers
Friday, October 9th at 6pm at the Barn at Vassar College! RSVPs required at [email protected]. Contributions for the farm collective can be made ahead of time. We can also arrange car pools.The WEBATUCK VALLEY FARM COLLABORATIVE (WVFC), established in 2023, is a regional food sovereignty and farm cooperative development initiative rooted in a larger movement for cultural reclamation, economic & racial justice, and community healing. Rock Steady Farm, Sweet Freedom Farm, and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village leveraged a ten-year partnership to transform local farming, economic opportunity, and food access. They aim to remove barriers to entry for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ beginning farmers in ways that support the prosperity of our communities and the future of our planet.The current food system is built on exploited labor and land, leaving many hungry and malnourished despite excess and waste. WVFC works with communities within, against, and beyond this broken system to build resilient local economies. Their organizations collaboratively support New York State farmers through land access, training and apprenticeships, shared infrastructure, equipment and product aggregation, advocacy, community events, and employment. They advance land-based liberation by training young land stewards, supporting beginning farmers with land access, growing nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food and medicine, and distributing their harvests to families impacted by food scarcity or state violence.