Oregon Celebrates Diversity and Inclusion and Stands Against Anti-Muslim Rallies and Events


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2015

Contacts:  Portland
Kayse Jama, Center for Intercultural Organizing, 503-913-5154                                    , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jan Elfers,Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, 503-221-1054                       , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Contacts: Medford

Michelle Glass, Rogue Valley Oregon Action, 541-292-8201, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rev. Caren Caldwell, Medford United Church of Christ, 541-621-0663, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Oregon Celebrates Diversity and Inclusion and Stands Against Anti-Muslim Rallies and Events

 
We proudly sign on to this statement in opposition to upcoming anti-Muslim events and in support of and in solidarity with Muslim communities across the State of Oregon.

A group calling itself “Global Rally for Humanity” is organizing anti-Muslim rallies across the country on October 9 and 10, 2015. In some states, the organizers of the events are encouraging attendees to openly carry guns. Their message is one of violence, racism and hate. The events are based on anti-Muslim and anti-refugee narratives.

In Oregon, a rally is planned in Medford in front of the Medford Police Department.   Political leaders, human rights groups, diverse religious leaders of every faith, and community organizations condemn these malicious attacks on the Muslim communities. These rallies and events undermine our core values as an inclusive and just society. They threaten human rights, dignity and equality for all. They are contrary to democratic American values.

In addition, we are compelled to speak out against these Islamophobic events for a number of pressing current reasons:

·                     Oregon and our nation are once again grieving the senseless killing of innocent people following the shooting at Umpqua Community College.  Any fueling of the philosophy of violence is unconscionable.

·                     We are also besieged by images of refugees, many of whom are children, fleeing war-torn nations. We see overcrowded refugee camps where families are starving, dead children washed ashore, and other horrific situations. As a nation with such vast resources, we should be reaching out to re-settle and welcome these individuals, not making them into villains.

Read more: Oregon Celebrates Diversity and Inclusion and Stands Against Anti-Muslim Rallies and Events

Barbara Lubin to speak on Palestinian children’s rights

Barbara Lubin to speak on Palestinian children’s rights
at Tree of Life Conference: EYES ON GAZA
Saturday, October 17 at First Congregational United Church of Christ
1126 SW Park Avenue, Portland OR 97205


EYES ON GAZA is a three-day series of presentations, films and workshops to educate and empower participants to work for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. Tickets and schedule of events are at http://gazaconference.brownpapertickets.com

Barbara Lubin was born into a conservative Zionist family, but in 1988, after witnessing firsthand the grave injustice, poverty and violence engendered by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, she founded the Middle East Children’s Alliance to provide humanitarian aid, support projects for children, and educate Americans about the effects of U.S. foreign policy on children in the region.

Since then, MECA has delivered millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to children’s clinics, hospitals, schools, and women’s organizations in the Occupied Territories. MECA’s scholarship programs have enabled hundreds of talented young people to attend universities in Palestine and the U.S.

Read more: Barbara Lubin to speak on Palestinian children’s rights

Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei to report on Gaza health crisis


Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei to report on Gaza health crisis
at Tree of Life Conference: Eyes On Gaza
Saturday, October 17 at First Congregational United Church of Christ, Portland
 
Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, psychiatrist, is director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, which provides crisis intervention and rehabilitation services to families in Gaza traumatized by years of military bombardment and siege.  Virtually everyone in Gaza – children and adults alike - suffers from continuous traumatic stress disorder.   The GCMHP was established in 1990 to meet the mental health needs of people exposed on a daily basis to malnutrition, destruction of homes and livelihoods, injury, and loss of family members.
 
Dr. Abu Jamei lost many family members in the 2014 assault on Gaza when an Israeli air strike leveled his home. “There was no place for parents and children to hide,” he says. “You never knew where the bombs were going to fall.” Yet he chooses to stay and help the people of Gaza, saying, “In Gaza, you just have to start by doing something. Select anything that will do good, and that is the right thing to do.”
 
EYES ON GAZA is a three-day series of presentations, films and workshops designed to educate and organize participants to work for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. Tickets and schedule of events are at http://gazaconference.brownpapertickets.com .
 

Read more: Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei to report on Gaza health crisis

Please Sign: A U.S. petition to arrest Netanyahu

Please consider signing...and sharing:

A U.S. petition to arrest Netanyahu is circulating – ahead of his scheduled UN General Assembly address in New York later this month. It aims for 100,000 signatures or more before his arrival – sending a message saying his genocidal crimes can’t be ignored.
A petition in the U.K. to arrest him got over 110,000 signatures so far. His longstanding record of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity demands accountability.
If you are a U.S. citizen, Sign the U.S. petition. Take a stand for justice. Let We the People mean something.

Petition:   https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/netanyahu-hold-talks-new-york-month-under-international-law-he-should-be-arrested-war-crimes


WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Netanyahu is to hold talks in New york this month. Under international law he should be arrested for war crimes.
Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes when he arrives in New york

Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold talks in New york this September. Under international law he should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the U.S for the massacre of over 2000 civilians in 2014

Published Date:
 Sep 08, 2015

The Nuclear Deal with Iran: Towards a Resolution and Continued Education


At present, no issue facing this country is more important than approving President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. The moment for this peaceful, diplomatic breakthrough must not be allowed to pass. Though the Iran Nuclear deal now seems to have enough votes to sustain a veto, we must not relax our efforts to support the deal. People do change their minds, and merely surviving a veto is a very low bar for a deal of such importance.

It is important to continue to rally support for the deal for other reasons. Rarely has a political issue been surrounded by more falsehood, deception, and hyperbole. Among the people who argue that we should reject Obama’s deal and bomb Iran immediately are Dick Cheney, John Bolton, Bill Kristol and Benjamin Netanyahu—the same cast that gave us the debacle of the Iraq war. They were dead wrong then and they are using the same bad arguments now. We must continue to educate people about how misguided and bigoted these hawkish opponents to the deal really are.

Wide opposition to the treaty also reveals how misinformed the American public and many of their elected representatives are. The difference in quality between the arguments of the backers and the opponents of the deal provides a good basic roadmap to sorting out the truth of this issue.

Read more: The Nuclear Deal with Iran: Towards a Resolution and Continued Education

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