Join AFSC for a two-day gathering in Washington, D.C. where advocates will come together to sharpen their advocacy skills and network with others as we prepare for 2020 election year conversations about justice and equality in Israel and Palestine.
The gathering (held 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday) will focus on current campaigns to advocate for Palestinian children’s rights, end the blockade of Gaza, and to protect our rights to support BDS and engage in economic activism at the city, state and national levels. In four sessions with experienced organizers and movement leaders, we will share best practices and skills on advocating with elected officials and how to engage across movements to build solidarity and power. The weekend will also include a workshop on skills for grassroots engagement during the primary campaign season and visits to members of Congress.
REGISTER NOW
To ensure that you will be provided lunch, please RSVP by Sept. 4.
Session Titles for the Weekend Conversations:
- Advocating for the Rights of Palestinian Children
- Unlocking Gaza: Advocacy to end the blockade
- Advocating for our Right to Boycott, Divest & Sanction (BDS)
- Bird dogs & the art of engaging officials
- Building Solidarity and Power Across Movements
- Where do we go from Here? – Priorities for 2020
Sessions will be interactive including both discussion from panelists and direct participation by and conversation with participants.
SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
- Jehad Abusalim is a scholar and program associate for AFSC’s Gaza Unlocked campaign. Jehad is from Gaza, Palestine, where he lived for most of his life.
- Nadia Ben Youssef is a human rights advocate, lawyer, writer and advocacy director at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
- Mae Cannon is the executive director for Churches for Middle East Peace and ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church
- Bill Deere is the senior congressional adviser for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
- Marya Farah is the legal research consultant with Al-Haq, a human rights organization based in the West Bank.
- Noushin Framke is an Armenian/Iranian-American activist with the Presbyterian Israel Palestine Mission Network and the co-editor of Why Palestine Matters, The Struggle To End Colonialism.
- Chip Gibbons is the policy and legislative counsel for Defending Rights & Dissent, an organization founded by victims of the House Un-American Activities Committee that works to protect the right to engage in political expression.
- Will Hopkins is the executive director of New Hampshire Peace Action.
- Andrew Kadi is a member of the steering committee for the US Campaign for Palestinian Human Rights.
- Shaina Low is a U.S. advocacy officer for Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCI-P).
- Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach is the director of the Mennonite Central Committee’s (MMC) Washington, DC office
- Yazan Meqbil is a Palestinian scholar and advocate with the “No Way to Treat a Child” campaign
- Sonya Meyerson-Knox is the media program manager at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
- Rasha Mubarak is the co-founder Floridians Responding to Refugees Committee, Central Florida Regional Director, CAIR Florida.
- Jamal Najjab is the government relations director, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
- Paula Roderick is a lawyer and activist with the “No Way to Treat a Child” campaign and United Methodist Kairos Response.
- Alice Rothchild is a physician, author, and filmmaker who has focused her interest in human rights and social justice on the Israel/Palestine conflict since 1997.
- Josh Ruebner is an author and senior principal at Progress Up Consulting, a government relations consulting firm partnering with progressive organizations to affect policy.
- Gabe Schivone is a writer from Arizona; former organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine
- Diala Shamas is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she works on challenging government and law enforcement abuses perpetrated under the guise of national security, both in the U.S. and abroad.
REGISTER NOW
