Anna Baltzer will share her personal stories and observations documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian and Israeli non-violent resistance against the occupation. Anna is a Jewish American Columbia Graduate, Fulbright scholar, and the grand-daughter of Holocaust refugees. Please visit her website to read more about Anna’s work.

Among other things, she will discuss checkpoints, settlements, Israeli activism, the wall, and the underreported Palestinian-led non-violent resistance movement. Anna is the author of Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories.

Tuesday, February 12th at 6:30 pm
Conference Room A/B in the De Anza College Campus Center (See campus map)

This event is co-sponsored by South Bay Mobilization.

Come Join Richard Brown of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and SF8 for a discussion about the Legacy of the Panther Party, Jena 6, Newark 4, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Megan Williams, Obama, the state of Africa and many more issues affecting the African community and other marginalized communities! We will have movie clip showings, performances and special guests as well.

De Anza College. 21250 Stevens Creek Boulevard . Cupertino , Ca 95014

Thursday February 7th, 2008

Campus Center, Conference room A&B. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. and close at 4:15.

Contact the De Anza Black Student Union @ (703)907-9935 or ABSU@gmail.com

Co-sponsored by the Institute of Community and Civic Engagement, African Ancestry and Students for Justice

Here is an open letter to La Voz, written by Natasha and myself, in response to Jay Donde’s fantastic review of our screening of Meeting Resistance (which can be found here). Unfortunately, we had to limit our response to three hundred words in order to get it published.

To whom it may concern,

Last week, we assisted in the presentation of the documentary Meeting Resistance and hosting the filmmakers at De Anza. The documentary reveals the raw voices of those fighting against the American occupation of Iraq with no added commentary by the filmmakers. However, La Voz’s managing editor Jay Donde claims that, “In essence, the film is just a propaganda piece aimed at portraying the violence in Iraq as a heroic uprising against a brutal and illegitimate occupation.” The film is intended as an educational piece that brings to light a perspective that has been completely ignored by the mainstream media, not as an endorsement of the violent acts of the resistance members interviewed. Perhaps Mr. Donde’s biggest source of discomfort with the film is that it humanizes those he has been culturally programmed to view as “the enemy”. We are confident that the U.S. military disagrees with Mr. Donde’s view, seeing as they currently organize screenings of the film for soldiers prior to serving in Iraq. We agree with the United States military that it is important for these perspectives to be understood; however, we have taken this one step further and decided to present them to the public at large. Maybe Mr. Donde feels that we are better left in the dark. After the horrific events of 9/11, the natural urge to understand and create a narrative of the bigger picture was discouraged by both the U.S. government and the mainstream media. We were told that to try to understand why those events occurred amounted to sympathizing with terrorists. We at Students for Justice value open dialogue, and feel that it is imperative to hear all sides of every story in order to maintain a healthy academic setting. Unfortunately, some appear to find this notion repugnant.

Sincerely,

Derek Fleming & Natasha Pradhan
Students for Justice
www.studentsforjustice.org

Aimee Allison, an educator, activist, and media talent devoted to ending war and military enlistment, will be joining us this Thursday to discuss the reality of the U.S. military and effective strategies for counterrecruitment.

Aimee Allison is the co-author with David Solnit of Army of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment, End War, and Build a Better World. Please visit her website to learn more about Aimee’s initiatives.

Thursday, January 24th at 6:30 pm
Conference Room A/B in the De Anza College Campus Center


Join filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors for a screening of their documentary “Meeting Resistance,” which reveals, for the first time, the perspectives and emotions of those Iraqis that devote their lives to lifting the occupation. Please visit www.meetingresistance.org for more information about the film and filmmakers.
Winner of the 2007 Al-Jazeera International Film Festival 

Monday, January 14th at 6:30 pm
Conference Room A/B in the De Anza College Campus Center
Suggested Donation to cover costs of screening: $8 General, $3 - 5 Students. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.  

This event is co-sponsored by South Bay Mobilization.