ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION: "From Palestine to Mexico, All the Walls Have Got to Go." From #BlackLivesMatter to #StandingRock, from #NoBanNoWall to the #InternationalWomensStrike, grassroots movements for human liberation increasingly recognize #Palestinian liberation as a central component of intersectionality.
Join leading representaives of these movements to discuss how we can deepen coalition building and a united front within mushrooming resistance in the Trump era.
MODERATOR: GARIK RUIZ, North America Liaison, Palestinian #BDS National Committee (BNC); ROUND TABLE PANELISTS: AMANI AL-HINDI BARAKAT, National Chair of Al-Awda the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, ALFREDO GAMA, member Papalotl Brown Berets; ROBERT GARDNER, member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCLA; NANA GYAMFI, co-founder, Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives; MICHAEL LETWIN, co-founder, New York City Labor Against the War, Labor for Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, & Labor for Standing Rock; LYDIA PONCE, organizer, American Indian Movement-SoCal; Idle No More LA; AMEENA MIRZA QAZI, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild-LA. (see more below)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 22nd
6:30 PM: Reception with refreshments
7:00 PM: Round Table starts promptly
WHERE: Formerly Johnie's Coffee Shop
6101 Wilshire Blvd, (at Fairfax) Los Angeles, CA 90048
MODERATOR: GARIK RUIZ, the North America Liaison for the Palestinian #BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian civil society. He works with local and national partners throughout North America to support BDS campaigns and be a direct link for local organizers back to the BNC leadership in Palestine. Garik spent 6 months in Palestine at the height of the second Intifada in 2002 and 2003 working with Palestinians resisting the occupation non-violently through the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). LA-based Garik has been deeply involved in local struggles for racial and environmental justice over the years.
ROUND TABLE PANELISTS:
AMANI AL-HINDI BARAKAT, Palestinian-American community organizer, refugee born in Kuwait, and originally from the village of Tantoura in the suburbs of Haifa. Currently the National Chair of Al-Awda the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, and a board member of the newly launched Palestine Foundation; organizer of many of So-Cal Palestinian Solidarity actions.
ALFREDO GAMA, member Papalotl Brown Berets; undocumented (illegal) youth organizer; organizer of many of the recent large immigration#NoWallNoRaid protests in the Los Angeles area.
ROBERT GARDNER, student activist; member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCLA, who has been targeted by ultra rightwing Zionists for his activities; a senior studying Political Science, African American Studies, and Urban Planning.
NANA GYAMFI, member and co-founder of Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives, a network of attorneys and non-attorneys dedicated to providing legal support for the Movement for Black Lives, which includes BLMLA; represented all the BLMLA members who were arrested/had court cases/went to trial from 2014 - 2016; will continue to represent BLMLA members who ask for representation.
MICHAEL LETWIN, NYC public defender; former president, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325; 1960s-1970s L.A. youth activist (Red Tide); co-founder of New York City Labor Against the War, Labor for Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, and Labor for Standing Rock; member of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel Organizing Collective.
LYDIA PONCE, organizer with American Indian Movement-SoCal; Idle No More LA; lead organizer of all the many #NoDAPL protests in LA.
AMEENA MIRZA QAZI, Executive Director of the LA chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. A civil rights attorney and activist; she has worked on free speech, social and economic justice, discrimination, First Amendment, equal protection, and procedural due process issues, including#NoWallNoBan.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS: Al-Awda the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Indian Movement (AIM) So-Cal, California for Progress, HP Boycott Campaign - LA , Idle No More LA, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Standing Rock, LA4Palestine, and March and Rally Los Angeles.