PSG Chicago

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The Palestine Solidarity Group – Chicago joins the USPCN and its allies to march against NATO at the protest on Sunday 5/20 12Noon in Chicago. We urge all of our allies to support the USPCN in their statement.

The United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)-Chicago Chapter celebrates with all people of conscience throughout the world as Palestinian political prisoners won a victory over occupation on the 64^th anniversary of the Nakba. Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, both of whom had been on hunger strike for over 70 days, along with over 2,000 other prisoners also on strike, have had most of their demands met by the Israeli Prison Service.

According to the prisoner support organization Addameer, the demands that were won include allowing Palestinians in Gaza the right to visit their imprisoned family members, the end of solitary confinement of prisoners, and the creation of a committee that will meet with prisoners to monitor their daily… Read More »

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Earlier this year, Khader Adnan completed a 66-day hunger strike, the longest carried out by any Palestinian prisoner. Since then, Adnan has issued a call for April 17, 2012 to be observed as a Day of International Action on behalf of Palestinian prisoners. In response to his call, events have been scheduled to take place all over the world that day, from Vancouver to Brussels to Amman.

Since 1974, April 17 has been commemorated annually as Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. Currently there are more than 4500 Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers; nearly 200 of these prisoners are children. Just like Hana Shalabi and Khader Adnan, 320 prisoners are held – without charge or trial – under administrative detention.

TAKE ACTION!

Please heed the international call for action:

http://samidoun.ca/palestinian-prisoners-day/

Contact the State Department!

From 12Noon to 2PM (CST) call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, in the State Department at 202.647.7209 and… Read More »

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Approximately 100 Chicagoans, many of them students, protested former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s appearance at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs yesterday. Olmert’s talk, an exclusive event for ticket-holders only, was also disrupted by a courageous activist who attended the 45-minute speech focusing on the “peace process.”

Thaer Ahmad disrupted the talk during the question and answer part of the program, when it became clear that all questions were pre-arranged and he would not be allowed to ask a question.

“I decided to interrupt as he was answering a question about predicting the future two to three years from now. I asked him if he thought that two to three years from now, justice would be served and he’d be tried as a war criminal for the murder of 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza in 2008 and 1,000 Lebanese in 2006.”

Ahmad added, “[Olmert] stopped and looked at me in surprise. Everyone was quiet and [security] grabbed me… Read More »

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March 17, 2012

Chicago Palestine solidarity activists made their voices heard on Saturday, March 17, during a protest of the opening night of Batsheva Dance Company’s two-night performance at Auditorium Theater.

Chants included “All your dancing can’t erase! Apartheid’s ugly face!” and in a tribute to St. Patrick’s Day, “Occupation is a crime! From Ireland to Palestine!”

Protesters carried picket signs reading “No art for apartheid’s sake” and “Don’t buy brand I$rael.”

The action was part of a national campaign to boycott Batsheva which is sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to use cultural production to whitewash Israeli war crimes, occupation and apartheid. Batsheva has been protested throughout its North American tour. Check out the open letter here: http://adalahny.org/document/790/open-letter-north-american-organizations-batsheva-take-strong-unequivocal-stance-agains

Inspired by activists in the Bay Area, protesters distributed a mock program to concert attendees, highlighting the Brand Israel campaign and Israel’s apartheid policies.  Click here to download the program –… Read More »

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… Read More »

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Valentines Day 2012 – Have a Heart for Palestine!

This Valentine’s Day, activists with the Palestine Solidarity Group in Chicago are demanding that Obama end US military aid to Israel, by delivering a giant heart-shaped petition to his re-election campaign headquarters. Apartheid Israel’s policies and practices get in the way of love, by separating families, friends and loved ones throughout occupied Palestine.

• On July 31, Israel’s Knesset passed an apartheid-like marriage law. The law forbids Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from obtaining Israeli citizenship or permits to live with their spouses and children in Israel.
• Over 4,700 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons are kept from seeing their families and loved ones. Approximately 300 of them are children.
• Over 600 Israeli checkpoints separate Palestinians from their family and friends.
• Israel prevents Palestinians living in different parts of the Occupied Territories from living with their spouses.
• The Israeli apartheid wall cutsPalestinian families in half

… Read More »

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On the opening night of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema, PSG and our allies invited everyone to the REAL Israel Film Festival. Titles to be screened include “Gaza; the Invasion” (2008), “Pirates of the Mediterranean: Attack on the Mavi Marmara” (2010), and “US aid to Israel (Over $7 million per day, still in production).” We reminded everyone that this event was supported festival sponsors including the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest; the Petach Tikva Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International; Jewish United Fund; AIPAC; and the Friends of the IDF – all who have an active role in supporting the occupation of Palestine.

This was our message that night to all those who try to whitewash the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people:

Five years ago, around the same time Israel was bombing Lebanon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched its “Brand Israel” campaign. Under this campaign Israeli artists would act as the State’s ambassadors, showing… Read More »

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JOIN US TO PROTEST THE CHICAGO FESTIVAL OF ISRAELI CINEMA OPENING NIGHT

Wednesday, October 26 – Meet at 6:15PM
Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

On the occasion of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema, which the Petach Tikvah committee of Chicago Sister Cities International has worked so hard on with the Israeli government;

You are invited to the REAL Israel Film Festival. Titles to be screened include “Gaza; the Invasion” (2008), “Pirates of the Mediterranean: Attack on the Mavi Marmara” (2010), and “US aid to Israel (Over $7 million per day, still in production).” Oppressive product placement provided by other festival sponsors including the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest; Jewish United Fund; AIPAC; and the Friends of the IDF.

Please join us for an evening of spirited picketing and chanting, at 6:15pm Wednesday, Oct. 26 outside the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington. The evening will close with a special thank you to the… Read More »

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Last year, the FBI raided seven homes of activists in Minneapolis and Chicago on September 24. Fourteen activists were issued subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury. The FBI also raided the Minnesota Anti-War Committee’s office. Seventy agents mobilized and seized documents, cell phones, computers and other personal property. The activists are still under investigation and ten more activists have been targeted since the initial raids. All of the activists who have received subpoenas have refused to appear in front of the grand jury.

The Chicago Committee Against Political Repression, an ad-hoc group formed to defend the targeted activists, and the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago held a demonstration that involved street theater to show Chicagoans the kind of repression activists have faced over the last year. The theater featured two people dressed up like FBI agents who threw a net on a Palestinian solidarity, an antiwar and a Colombian solidarity activist to show the type of activists the FBI… Read More »

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