In this video from the US Social Forum, the Electronic Intifada interviews Labor For Palestine’s Monadel Herzallah, national organizer of the US Palestinian Community Network and the Arab American Union Members Council, on the US Social Forum’s decision to cancel the Zionist group Stand With Us’ workshop, which had been organized under false pretenses.
The full statement describing the victory over Stand With Us and Zionist infiltration follows:
US Social Forum: Victory for Palestine, Victory for Justice
June 23, 2010
Dear Sisters and brothers:
In a historic accomplishment, the leadership of the US Social Forum voted this morning to cancel a workshop proposed by “Stand With US”, a Zionist organization <http://www.standwithus.com/> that sought to represent Israel as a safe haven for LGBTQI communities and undermine the broadening support for the cause of justice in/for Palestine. As the National Planning Committee (NPC) put it in its announcement, “the workshop ‘LGBTQI Liberation in the Middle East’ (Thursday, June 24 10:00am to 12:00pm) has been canceled for violating the submission procedure and transparency requirements for all workshops, and for being in violation of the anti-racist principles central to the U.S. Social Forum”.
We, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim activists, gathered at the US Social Forum, came together in a solid coalition with our allies from other marginalized communities of color, poor people’s movements, and anti-Zionist activists, to respond to the urgent call issued by our sisters and brother in Palestine and Lebanon http://queersagainstapartheid.org/2010/06/17/arab-queers-say-no-to-pinkwashing/ to cancel the Zionist workshop. The call was supported by Arab queer groups, such as SWANABAQ http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/SWANABAQ and by Palestinian and Arab community groups, such as the USPCN (US Palestinian Community Network) http://palestineconference.org/wp/, a group member of the National Planning Committee (NPC) of the US Social Forum.
As our sisters and brothers (Helem www.helem.net ASWAT www.aswatgroup.org, Al-Qaws www.alqaws.org, and Palestinian Queers for BDS www.pqbds.wordpress.com) made it clear in their statement that racist, Zionist, colonialist and Islamophobic politics and actions are as abhorrent as the politics and practices of homophobia and therefore have no place within movements for justice. We agree with this position and stand steadfastly and with unwavering commitment with this just struggle. Likewise, we stand steadfastly and with unwavering commitment to struggles against US and Israeli policies of war against poor and marginalized communities here in the US and that seek to undermine our unity and solidarity.
This is a victory for our struggle and indeed the struggle for justice for all. This victory makes it clear that the struggle for justice in/for Palestine is an integral part of the worldwide movement for freedom, dignity, justice and peace.
We call on all of you to participate in the US Social Forum process www.ussf2010.org by:
* Attending workshops and sessions in Detroit for the next 4 days
* Writing to thank the National Planning Committee (NPC) of USSF
* Working with the broad and diverse forces of justice and peace in your area.
Congratulations to all of us! Together, united for justice, another world is possible!
Al-Awda, NY; Arab American Action Network (AAAN); Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC); Arab American Union Members Council; Arab Youth Organization (AYO); Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid; Desis Rising and Moving (DRUM); Palestine Youth Network (PYN); US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN); Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA); South West Asia North Africa Bay Area Queers (SWANABAQ); General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS); Committee for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-UC Berkeley; Youngstown Arab Community Center.
