PSG Chicago

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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 »

Filed under: Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campaign, Drop Chicago Sister CIty Petach Tikva!, Home | Add Comment →

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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PSG Statement on the Palestinian Bid for UN Statehood

On the 23rd of September, the Palestinian Authority is expected to submit to the United Nations a request for recognition of a Palestinian State. This ‘bid for statehood’ has sparked discussion amongst Palestine solidarity activists. The Palestine Solidarity Group – Chicago joins Palestinians who question the efficacy of such a bid at the UN, but strongly object to the US government’s attempts to thwart this effort.

As a number of Palestinian civil society organizations have pointed out, the bid for a Palestinian state at the UN does not satisfy Palestinian national demands or the right to self-determination. It’s important for solidarity activists to understand that the ‘statehood’ being sought by the Palestinian Authority does not address the rights of Palestinian citizens living within Israel who are routinely treated as second class citizens, nor Palestinian refugees living in exile who are consistently denied the right to return. In fact, such a bid… Read More »

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Chicago Activists Mark Palestinian Land Day with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Flash-Mob

“BDS” song available for download: http://vocalo.org/blogs/archive/201103/boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-jacks…

On March 30th at 5 pm, a group of social justice activists held a “flash-mob” in downtown Chicago. The demonstration was organized as one of hundreds of demonstrations held around the world to mark the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Global Day of Action, an annual event designed to call attention to the movement to boycott the apartheid policies of Israel. Demonstrators performed a choreographed dance to an original song called “BDS,” a parody of “ABC” by the Jackson Five.

“In the lyrics to our song, we sing ‘apartheid and ethnic cleansing go on in Palestine every day, but without the help of you and your money, the occupation will go away.’ While the struggle to end Israel’s apartheid policies is not an easy one, it’s true that we in the United States can support justice and… Read More »

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On February 22nd, activists with the Palestine Solidarity Group – Chicago released a fake public service announcement exposing Chicago’s continuing support for torture through its sister city relationship with Petach Tikva, Israel.  The video was produced after a police board ruled that former police Chief Burge will still receive his monthly $3000 pension, despite currently serving a four and a half year sentence for lying about the torture of over one hundred Chicagoans.  The video draws a connection between the Chicago Police Department’s support for Burge and the recent imprisonment of Palestinian activist Ameer Makhoul.  On January 30th, Makhoul was sentenced to nine years based on a confession obtained while Makhoul was imprisoned in Chicago’s sister city Petach Tikva.  Makhoul has insisted that his confession was false and the result of the torture he endured in Petach Tikva.  This video is a part of the Palestine Solidarity Group’s ongoing Drop Petach Tikva campaign which aims to pressure the Chicago… Read More »

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FREE AMEER MAKHOUL, TORTURED AT PETACH TIKVA!
ISRAEL’S GUANTANAMO IS NO SISTER OF CHICAGO!
NO CHICAGO TIES WITH ISRAEL!

PSG-Chicago and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network protest Israel’s participation in -

Chicago Sister Cities International’s Third Annual International Breakfast
Thursday 2/17/11  7:45AM  Chicago Cultural Center – 78 E. Washington

Share Your Soles Gala sponsored by Chicago Sister Cities International
Saturday 2/19/11  6:30PM Chicago Cultural Center – 78 E. Washington

Palestinian civil society leader in Israel and human rights activist Ameer Makhoul, recently sentenced to nine years in prison, is one of the many Palestinian grassroots activists held and interrogated at Petach Tikva. Amnesty International recently stated, “Ameer Makhoul is well known for his human rights activism on behalf of Palestinians in Israel and those living under Israeli occupation. We fear that this may be the underlying reason for his imprisonment… The confession on which his conviction and sentencing were based was admitted as evidence… Read More »

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THURS. JAN. 27: Video Release of the Academy Awards Ceremony for the Arts and Sciences of Military Occupation

On Thursday, Oct. 27, following the release of the Academy Award nominees, the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago (PSG) and the International Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) released a video of the “Academy Awards Ceremony for the Arts and Sciences of Military Occupation.” In satirical red carpet fashion, the Chicago Sister Cities program and Chicago’s Israeli sister city Petach Tikva are honored for their egregious human rights record.  With these awards, PSG and IJAN seek to call attention to the city of Chicago’s support for the Israeli military occupation of Palestine through its Sister City program.

This world has a long history of stolen land and resources, but these awards go to some very special nominees who have truly outdone themselves,” said Bill Chambers of the Palestine Solidarity Group. For the award of ‘Actor in the World’s Longest Military Occupation’ we chose to honor the… Read More »

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