PALESTINE PAPERS
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Marianne Torres and Michael Poulin are the authors of Palestine Papers, a bi-monthly column in the Sonoma County Free Press. Both spent many years working in the San Francisco Bay Area with Palestinian solidarity groups. The Sonoma County Free Press offered them a place for regular publication of their reflections on their work and the situation in Palestine.Marianne was a social worker and community organizer in Alameda and Marin Counties in California, working primarily with the homeless, and Michael is a small-business owner. They were two of the primary organizers of 1988's "Measure J" in Berkeley (the ballot measure that would have declared Jabaliya, Gaza, a sister city to Berkeley - see Jabiliya - a Stone's Throw Away) and a number of other educational and/or material aid campaigns for Palestine. They now live and work in the Pacific Northwest, and can be reached at mtorres@icehouse.net .
Michael worked in the Bay Area with solidarity groups supporting the democracy movement in El Salvador in the early '80's, and during that time learned how skillful was the American Left at compartmentalizing its work for struggling peoples. Most of the people with whom he worked to bring freedom and independence to El Salvador and Nicaragua specifically refused to speak out against Israel's murderous policy of making war on women and children when they killed more than 20,000 civilians in three months during their invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
Marianne was an organizer for the "BART Ad Campaign", in which a coalition of Arab, Jewish, ecumenical and grass roots organizations paid for and placed large, graphic ads in Bay Area (California) Rapid Transit stations from Fremont to Oakland, San Francisco to Hayward. The ads called for a suspension of aid to Israel until Israel agreed to end the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Most of the ads, which were to have remained in place for 30 days, were "mysteriously" removed after two days. The ensuing two-month struggle to have them replaced (assisted in great measure by the American Civil Liberties Union) provided an excellent opportunity to educate the community about the Middle East issue and about the way relevant information is controlled in the American media, as the struggle garnered regular and vociferous press over the following month. All the ads were ultimately replaced, and ran in the stations for yet another month.
A number of people in the Bay Area worked tirelessly to change this country's policy of supporting Israel, both financially and politically, at the expense of peace in the region and of the integrity of the greatest government money can buy - the U.S. Congress. First among those people is Jeffrey Blankfort, author of Desert Storm at Home and Abroad. Mr. Blankfort is the Editor of the Middle East Labor Bulletin, which published crucial labor-related information about the condition of Labor in the Middle East between 1985 and 1995. We hope, in time, to place that invaluable resource on the World Wide Web, as well.
Marianne and Jeffrey Blankfort are two of 19 named plaintiffs in the successful class action suit against the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith and the San Francisco Police Department for illegal spying on political groups and individuals.
Both Marianne and Michael have spent considerable time educating themselves on the situation, its background and context. We think that effort is reflected in these articles.
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 10:04:48 -0700 To: vnspok@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: Support for Barbara Lee From: "M. Torres" Morton, thanks for forwarding this call for assistance with an ad in support of Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California. Barbara was my MSW supervisor when I did an internship with Congressman Ron Dellums in Oakland, and she was even then a voice of integrity and strength. Dellums himself became "unavailable" on nearly every social justice issue from 1991 on, but Barbara has always had the strength to struggle and to speak out and act for what she knows is right. She stands nearly alone today in Congress as "unbought and unbossed". In addition to supporting her through this public ad (address in message below mine), it would help greatly if we all would send her a letter of support, with a cc to our own Representatives and Senators. Representative Barbara Lee 1-202-225-2661 1-202-225-9817 426 Cannon Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington Senators: Murray, Patty 1-202-224-2621 1-202-224-0238 United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Cantwell, Maria 1-202-224-3441 1-202-228-0514 United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Representative Nethercutt, George (R) 1-202-225-2006 1-202-225-3392 United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Marianne Torres SNIP >>Received from VoterMarch- California An ad is planned to be placed in the S.F. Chronicle next week. See message for more details. If you are interested in contributing, send a check made out to the National Lawyers Guild (they are not the official sponsor but are facilitating/organizing the effort) with the notation "B. Lee ad" >> >>Mail to: National Lawyers Guild >> 558 Capp St. >> San Francicsco, CA 94110. >> >>Needs to be received by 9/25. >>Donors of at least $100 may be listed as supporters, if they choose. >> >>Please see below the message that was forwarded to me, in reference to >>someone's question about what to do: >> >>We have all been asking this question. One possibility is to >>demonstrate our support for Congresswoman Barbara Lee's courageous >>refusal to join the stampede towards war. >> >>If enough money is raised, an ad is going to be placed in the SF >>Chronicle for Sunday, September 30. The cost for a half-page is >>$20,000, but we would like to make it a full page ad. People who donate >>a minimum of $100 will have their names listed, along with their >>profession if they wish. >> >>If you want to join, send your check made out to National Lawyers Guild >>(which is facilitating the effort but not formally sponsoring the ad) >>with the notation "B.Lee ad." and mail it to National Lawyers Guild, 558 >>Capp Street, San Francisco, CA 94110. The deadline for the money's >>receipt is Tuesday, September 25. >> >>I *believe* the ad will say: >>"We condemn the violent acts perpetrated against innocent people in New >>York and Washington, DC. We grieve the loss of human life and the >>horrific human suffering. Now is the time for careful consideration of >>an appropriate response. We salute Congresswoman Barbara Lee for her >>courage in casting the one vote in Congress against war. Her vote was a >>recognition that war will only worsen the crisis. Thank you >>Congresswoman Barbara Lee for voting your conscience and being an >>inspiring leader of peace-loving people everywhere." >> >>*As far as I know, this is the final text, but I can't assure you that >>minor changes won't be made. >> >> >> Yak Research www.yakresearch.com Wheels, bearings, Ebola Stickers 14819 E. 4th Avenue Spokane, WA 99216 509-928-2128