AMERICAN MUSLIMS FOR PALESTINE

EMPOWERMENT through EDUCATION and ACTION

AMPs Mission
The mission of the American Muslims for Palestine is to educate the public and media about Palestine and its rich cultural and historical heritage.

AMPs Israeli apartheid ad campaign sparks debate in media about occupation

Quarterly Newsletter I July 2013

Contact us
If youd like AMP to come conduct a workshop or lecture at your event, or if youd like to obtain materials and free information, contact us at info@ampalestine.org or 708.598.4167.

10101 S. Roberts Road, Palos Hills, IL 60465 708.598.4267 www.ampalestine.org info@ampalestine.org

San Francisco bus ad

SAVE THE DATE

The conference for Palestine in the US

A Blessed Land A Noble Cause

Nov. 28-30 Crowne Plaza OHare

A signature program for 2013, AMPs Israeli apartheid outdoor advertising campaign not only has raised awareness among the American public, it has raised the issue of Israeli occupation and Palestinian human rights in numerous mainstream media reports. From network affiliates ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX News to the New York Times, San Francisco Examiner and others, AMPs ad has helped bring the Palestinian narrative into mainstream news coverage. We are extremely happy with the outcome of our ad thus far, said Kristin Szremski, director of media and communications. The media and public have responded quite positively to the ad because its message resonates with the American people. Zionist organizations have hit back hard in their efforts to stifle the discussion about Israel and its violations of human rights and international law, said Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman. But theyre losing public support and AMPs message has prevailed. The ad first appeared in New York City on the Metro North rail line in March and later appeared on buses in San Francisco in May. The ad may next appear in Washington DC, Cincinnati, Detroit and Minnesota, to name a few.

NYC transit ad

New York City press conference

Palestine supporters commemorate 65 years of Al Nakba

While AMP devotes itself to educating the public and media about Palestine and its rich cultural heritage, it also takes times to commemorate significant events in Palestinian history. One of its major national campaigns in the second quarter was its 6th annual Nakba Commemoration Campaign: Palestine: Our Identity, Our Dream, Our Future, which took place in cities across the country. New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Denver, Sacramento and Los Angeles were just a few of the places where AMPs lectures, workshops and outdoor heritage events took place.

In Chicago, a daylong outdoor event welcomes at least 1,500 attendees, who enjoyed freshly baked bread on taboons, dabka and talks by Tariq Abuhamdia, the son of the martyr Masaya Abuhamdia, who died in Israeli custody; Sahar Francis, director of Addameer; Sheikh Jamal Said of the Mosque Foundation, and others. In California, Palestinian member of the Knesset Dr. Jamal Zahalqa, AMP board member Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid and Dr. Hatem Bazian addressed audiences throughout the state. We feel these events are important because we need to keep our heritage alive, especially among our youth, said Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, AMP board member. Dr. Abu Irshaid also has stressed that it is time for everyone who cares about Palestine to take ownership of the Palestinian and Islamic narrative to combat the misinformation spread about Palestines history by Zionists.

AMP OPENS NEW CHAPTER IN DENVER, CO

The American Muslims for Palestine opened its newest chapter in Denver, CO, in a kick-off event that featured Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, AMP board member, and Kristin Szremski, director of media and communications on June 15. The event was the last in a series of Nakba commemoration events across the country. Nearly 200 people attended the inaugural dinner, while about 20 activists and community members attended an activist training conducted by Ms. Szremski earlier in the day.

RP

AMP takes on Department of Education

The American Muslims for Palestine, in collaboration with other social justice organizations, contacted the US Department of Education to ask the federal agency to refrain from mounting superfluous and unnecessary investigations of Palestine solidarity work on college campuses. Since the Education Department reinterpreted Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Zionist organizations have exploited it to launch complaints against Students for Justice in Palestine chapters and also of professors who present the Palestinian narrative in their lectures. Title VI now prohibits schools that receive federal financial assistance from discriminating against students because of their race, color, or national origin, and from allowing universities to foster a discriminatory environment on campus. While that is a laudable goal, Zionist organizations are exploiting this clause by equating Palestine solidarity work with hate speech and by saying it creates a hostile environment for Jewish students. It is time for the Department of Education to stop bending to outside pressure to investigate politically motivated complaints by groups intent on stifling Palestine solidarity activism, said Dr.

EX

CE

Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman. In effect, these baseless complaints and allegations are creating an unsafe and hostile environment for Arab and Muslim students, which is anathema to the intent of Title VI. The coalition is asking the education department to clarify its policies and procedures, which have left the door open to factually and legally baseless complaints against students and universities. AMP filed the letter in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Asian Law Caucus, the National Lawyers Guild, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Arab-American Institute, the Council on American-Islamic Relations California, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

AMP-CHICAGO BEGINS SUMMER CAMP FOR YOUTH

AMP-Chicago began its youth summer camp, which aims to help Palestinian American children connect with their heritage and their history. The camp is a pilot program that eventually may be rolled out to other chapters.

Zionists lose out in San Francisco

In response to AMPs Israeli apartheid ad in San Francisco, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee tried, but failed, to shut down public criticism of Israeli policies that violate international law and Palestinian human rights. The group tried to equate AMPs ad with the same hate speech that appeared on noted Islamophobe Pamela Gellers ads that called Palestinians and Muslims savages. They called on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution to sanction AMP and its ad; they called on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority to ban political speech ads and to donate the proceeds from AMPs ad to the Human Rights Commission in the same way the transportation authority donated the proceeds from Gellers Islamophobic ad to fund a study on the health impact of Islamophobia on Arabs and Muslims. In each case, the Zionist organizations did not prevail in their silencing tactics and a diverse coalition, including Jewish Voice for Peace, the Asian Law Caucus and CAIR-SF Bay Area, rallied around AMP to successfully fight back.

Developing a Palestine school curriculum

Over the years, due to the colonialism and other factors, the Islamic heritage and connection to the Holy Land has been erased. AMP feels it is just as important to help our Muslim youth to rediscover their rightful heritage in Palestine as well as learn about current events there today as it is to educate the general public about Palestine. AMP is in the first phase of developing a Palestinian curriculum with a group of curriculum development experts, teachers and researchers in order to provide high quality education materials to Muslim and non-Muslim students alike. We originally presented the idea at the ISNA Education Forum in 2012. This year, we presented our work so far, which included an outline of the strands and themes for each grade as well as desired outcomes. AMP hopes to have the first textbooks available for the 2014/15 school year, inshaAllah.

BOYCOTT THESE BRANDS!

THIS RAMADAN, MAKE A DATE WITH JUSTICE

Choose Occupation -Free Date

Jordan River, Jordan River Bio-Tops, King Solomon. All Hadiklaim products. For more information go to www.ampalestine.org/ramadandates