For Immediate Release

Portland, Oregon, May 17, 2013. A newly constructed and visually stunning 44 foot long replica of the illegal Israeli Apartheid Wall will be unveiled at a protest outside the annual Oregon fund-raising dinner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) this Sunday, May 19, 2013.  Two JPEG images of sections of the banner are attached.  The demonstration will be organized by a coalition of peace, human rights, church and Palestine solidarity organizations which, among others, include Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR), Christ's Way Church, Friends of Sabeel North America ~ Portland Action Group, Jewish Voice for Peace - Portland (JVP), Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land, and Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER).

The protest will take place outside the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Highway in Portland, beginning at 4 p.m. on Sunday May 19.

The Israeli Apartheid Wall is twice as tall as the Berlin Wall and over three times as long.  It runs straight through the heart of the Palestinian landscape, separating Palestinian villages and cities from one another, and separating farmers from their fields.  Because the Wall is such a powerful and ever-present symbol of the oppression of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, the coalition of groups chose to feature it at this year's AIPAC event.  The banner shows actual sections of the Wall, including one of the tall, ominous guard towers.  At the base of the Wall is the sad image of Palestinian workers standing in line, waiting to be processed at an Israeli Checkpoint on their way to work in the morning.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, this banner is worth a million because it tells the story that AIPAC does not want Oregonians to know.  That story, which is what is actually going on, is one of brutal Israeli repression of a largely defenseless population and Israeli denial of the most basic of human rights.

The demonstration will protest AIPAC’s role in promoting a military attack on Iran’s nuclear energy facilities. The protest is also calling for an end to U.S. military aid to the Israeli government, which refuses to halt the construction of illegal settlements and routinely violates the human rights of Palestinians living under Occupation. Israel controls the lives of more than 4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but denies them the right to vote or their right to self-determination.

“AIPAC represents a minority, radically right-wing position in its lobbying for the Netanyahu government,” explained William Seaman, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.  “They do not represent Jewish opinion in the United States or in Israel, which is one reason groups like JVP and other Jewish organizations are challenging their disproportionate influence on our political process.” Polls show that AIPAC does not speak for most American Jews.

Demonstrators are committed to nonviolence and oppose all forms of racism, including racism against Jews and Islamophobia. They are asking Oregon residents and political leaders to say No to war on Iran, No to funding Israeli apartheid, and No to AIPAC.

For more information, contact:  Peter Miller, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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