Dear Friends,
Our Palestine Peace Protest last Sunday was a great success; upwards of 200 people showed up! It was deeply moving, inspiring and empowering to see such a diverse group of enthusiastic people of all ages, different religions, different ethnicities and different nationalities showing up to Unify for Palestine Justice and Peace. A huge Thank You goes out to everyone that came and to our organizing partner NWA for Palestine.
Big thanks also to Pauline for taking a bunch of great photos of the protest last Sunday, about 150 images are in these 2 albums, here and here. It was impossible to capture everyone all at once, but this one came closest:
(Much More Follow Up Info Below)
Palestine Peace March
The next upcoming protest is a Palestine Peace March and Rally to Free Palestine on November 4th. We will meet at the Washington County Courthouse at 10 A.M. and March down Dickson Street at 11 A.M. to a rally on the U of A campus. We still need lots of help to make this event the best it can be, so please help in whatever ways you can. If around 200 people came to the last event, let’s aim for 300 to 500 for this one!
Coincidental side note, we accidentally planned our November 4th march on the exact same day as a massive Free Palestine March is planned in D.C. with all our nations greatest antiwar organizations. We are joining tens of millions of people all over the world in a massive Global Movement for Justice & Peace.
We Need Publicity Help
If you are on Facebook, please take a few minutes to directly invite friends through our event page, and share it to your timeline. Also, please forward this email to your email contacts. I am also attaching our event flyer, so please share this flyer on Instagram or other social media. If you can, please print the flyer to pass out around town, or to hang up around UA campus and elsewhere.
We Need Artist Help
We need people to make signs, so please make a few signs or organize a sign making party with friends. We also need two or more people to help record video and livestream the march and rally, so let us know if you can help. More photographers would be good too. We also need a few people to create a good list of chants and to lead chants with a megaphone. We also hope to have a marching band, so if you and your friends play any kind of music, please bring instruments, especially drums, and make some noise! Any other kinds of theatrical and artistic activism is also welcome, so please get creative!
We Need Rally Participants
We are also seeking speakers, poets and musicians for the rally, so if you know anyone that wants to participate, please let me know. It would be great if we can get a diverse group of voices to speak, from various religions, ethnicities and nationalities, especially Palestinian, UA student, Jewish, Muslim & Christian voices for peace and justice.
We Need a Few Donations, Drinks and Snacks
We are also seeking just a few hundred dollars in donations to print a banner, and some other costs, so please let me know if you can help chip in. Also, if you can bring drinks or snacks to share it would be helpful.
Last Sunday’s Protest Follow Up
We received many supportive honks from passing cars, and numerous media outlets covered the protest, including multiple TV channels, a U of A journalist, the Dem Gazette newspaper and KUAF radio. So far, I’ve only seen 3 reports; here is the KFSM report, and 2 separate KNWA reports that were syndicated nationally by Yahoo News, here and here.
Of course, the reports have some flaws, intentionally or unintentionally missing some of our main points and incorrectly framing our message, but any coverage is better than none. We can certainly improve and refine our messaging to better anticipate media coverage.
This Draft Protest Message, which seems partly self-evident, is open for refinement and revision suggestions:
- Abbreviated Message: Free Palestine.
2. Summarized Message: We must Free Palestine from the Supreme Injustices of Israeli Apartheid, Occupation, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide. Immediate Ceasefire is the urgently needed bare minimum, but we must also solve the Root Cause of the Conflict, which is 75 years of Israeli Ethnic Cleansing. The United States has been the most powerful sponsor of Israel’s war crimes by unconditionally giving massive financial and political support. Cutting U.S. support for Israeli crimes is an integral part of the solution for Peace. When Palestine is Free of Supreme Injustices, Peace becomes possible.
3. Elaborated Message: Scores of very credible articles, documentaries and books exist on this subject to support the previous summary, some of which will be highlighted later.
Again, we must keep in mind and feel empowered that we are joining millions of people rising up all over the world right now in this Demand for Justice and Peace for Palestine. We are witnessing a powerful Global Movement, and it’s an honor to serve with all of you in this inspiring and crucial struggle for humanity.
May Justice & Peace Prevail in Palestine,
—
Abel Tomlinson
Arkansas Antiwar Alliance, Founder
OMNI Peace Action Committee, Chair
Abel Tomlinson 