August 23 – 11:00AM Protest Israel’s participation in the Chicago Sister City International Festival!

Posted on August 9th, 2010

Join the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago to say NO CHICAGO TIES WITH ISRAEL!

WHEN: Monday August 23rd at 11:00am

WHERE: Millennium Park, corner of Michigan and Monroe

Protest Israel’s participation in the Chicago Sister City
International Festival!

On Monday August 23rd, the city of Petach Tikva in Israel will be
officially represented at the Chicago Sister City International
Festival in Millennium Park.

The Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago demands an end to the Chicago
Sister Cities International (CSCI) program’s relationship between
Chicago and Petach Tikva. Petach Tikva’s inclusion in the CSCI
promotes Israel-US business ties while it whitewashes Israel’s
occupation and human rights abuses. Indeed, the chairperson of the
Petach Tikva committee of the CSCI is also an executive of the America
Israel Business Chamber of Commerce, so it’s clear what this Sister
City relationship is really about.

After remaining silent for more than one year, the board of the CSCI,
responding to PSG’s persistent protests, finally responded with a
letter dated 20 July in which they renew their refusal to meet with us
to learn about Petach Tikva’s role in the continued dispossession of
the Palestinian people and Israel’s repression of their struggle for
self-determination. We will keep our call to drop Petach Tikva and end
business-as-usual loud and clear and on August 23, we will remind the
CSCI that apartheid Israel has no business participating in the
International Festival at Millennium Park.

About Petach Tikva:

The first Jewish-only settlement in historic Palestine, and known in
Israel as the “mother of all settlements,” Petach Tikva symbolizes the
dispossession and colonization of the Palestinian homeland. Petach
Tikva is built on the remains of depopulated Palestinian villages
whose descendents are denied the right to return home. Petach Tikva is
also home to one of the largest interrogation and detention centers in
Israel, where Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
are illegally transferred and routinely subjected to ill treatment and
torture.

Palestinian civil society leader in Israel, and an advocate of the
Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, Ameer
Makhoul is the latest Palestinian grassroots leader to be detained and
tortured at Petach Tikva. Amnesty International has declared Makhoul a
prisoner of conscience as Israel tries to make an example of him and
try him on trumped up charges of espionage using “evidence” it
gathered through his torture at Petach Tikva.

About boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS):

Heeding the Palestinian call for BDS, the Palestine Solidarity
Group-Chicago rejects an official relationship between the City of
Chicago and the Municipality of Petach Tikva in Israel

We join the Palestinian call BDS on Israel; We demand that Israel ends
its occupation of Palestinian lands; We support self-determination for
the Palestinian people; and demand the Right of Return for all
Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

Take action:

Protest Chicago’s business-as-usual with Israel and demand that Petach
Tikva be dropped from the Chicago Sister Cities International Program!
Contact Leroy Allala – Sister City Program Executive Director
(leroy.allala@cityofchicago.org, 312.744.1372) and demand an end to
the Sister City partnership between Chicago and Petach Tikva!

Palestine Solidarity Group Chicago, www.psgchicago.org,
info.psg.chicago@gmaill.com

Endorsers: Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, USPCN, 8th Day Center
for Justice, Jewish Voices for Peace, Chicagoans against Apartheid in
Palestine, Chicago Coalition against War and Racism, Students for
Justice in Palestine – DePaul, Students for Justice in Palestine -
IIT.

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Summer 2010 – PSG Delegation to Palestine

Posted on February 17th, 2010
Internationals for Justice in Palestine, a project of the Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) of Chicago Summer 2010
contact: maureenclare@gmail.com
OUR OPEN CALL TO APPLY FOR PARTICIPATION IN A SOLIDARITY DELEGATION TO PALESTINE THIS SUMMER IS NOW CLOSED, BUT OUR DELEGATES NEED YOUR HELP TO FUNDRAISE FOR THE TRIP!
A delegation to Palestine is organized by the Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) of Chicago each year and includes delegates currently active or who wish to become active in organizing for justice in Palestine and doing other kinds of Palestine solidarity work.
The delegation is made up of people from various national, racial, ethnic, religious, and class backgrounds; travel throughout the West Bank including Jerusalem to experience how the occupation affects different cities and villages, and the people who live there; and will also meet with people and groups inside 1948 Palestine (now called “Israel”) fighting against the institutionalized racism against Palestinians there.
This will be the ninth delegation that the PSG has sponsored since the September 2000 Intifada began.
Reaction from a past delegate: “Reading books or watching films about the situation in Palestine could only tell me so much. I heard stories from Palestinians where they would have to wait at checkpoints for hours and hours, and about them having to stay inside their homes as their city was under siege by the Israeli military. Growing up in [the US], I couldn’t come close to imagining what it must be like to be forced to deal with occupation on a daily basis. I went to Palestine to see and experience life under occupation, and realized that I had to come back to the US and get involved in serious organizing for Palestinian rights.”
Many of our delegates are students who need help in covering their expenses for the trip. All housing, food, and transportation expenses go to Palestinians and Palestinian owned businesses. This year one focus of the delegation is to meet with BDS groups in the West Bank and inside 1948 Palestine (now called “Israel”) to strategize with the delegates on BDS campaigns in the U.S. upon their return. Another major focus of this delegation is meeting with Palestinian organizations supporting political prisoners. Your donation will enable the delegates to do this work in the U.S. when they return.
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Mission Statement
The Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) in Chicago is organizing an international solidarity delegation to Palestine for this coming summer. Delegates will spend time with various Palestinian organizations working to build an infrastructure of resistance by providing daily necessities to the people, visiting different regions of Palestine, and meeting with a diverse cross-section of Palestinian society so that delegates may gain a fuller understanding of life under Israeli occupation. We want to make it clear that we will not be engaged in any form of direct action in Palestine, but rather, we seek to build an organizing strategy for work in the United States based on the first-hand experience gained by participating in the delegation.
We encourage all people who are serious about learning more about the conditions of the Palestinian people and who will be committed to being part of the Palestine solidarity movement upon their return to the US to join us. Upon their return to the US, we expect the delegates to give reports in their communities, write stories for their local papers, organize local solidarity committees, and any other form of activism that builds from their experiences in Palestine. We also intend on maintaining connections with delegates and forming a large network of activists devoted to justice in Palestine. We understand that individuals’ time and resources are limited, but we are convinced that anyone spending time in Palestine will feel a strong connection to the people and their struggle, and return to the US with renewed dedication to do whatever they can to bring about justice alongside the Palestinian people.
Potential delegates fill out an application and undergo an interview / screening process. We see fundraising as a collective responsibility of both the PSG and all delegates, so everyone is expected to participate in fundraising efforts. The PSG will also work to provide returning delegates with opportunities to share their experiences with others.
The Palestine Solidarity Group is committed to five basic principles: the Right of Return for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants, the end of the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, the right of Palestinians to defend themselves against Israeli aggression, the right of Palestinians to self-determination and national liberation, and the release of all Palestinian political prisoners. The PSG promotes progressive activism on many fronts and helps to organize demonstrations, direct action campaigns, including political prisoner support and BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions), cultural activities, media advocacy and educational programs.

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