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For Immediate Release
April, 15 2019, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Sonya E Meyerson-Knox, sonya@jvp.org, 929-290-0317
TONIGHT: Omar Barghouti, Marc Lamont Hill and Rebecca Vilkomerson in Sold-out Event at NYU
“In banning Omar Barghouti, the Trump administration is attempting to silence any and all criticism of Israel”
New York City, NY
Despite the Trump administration's latest attempt to silence criticism of Israel by denying entry to the Co-Founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, Omar Barghouti, tonight's panel discussion at NYU with Barghouti, Marc Lamont Hill and Rebecca Vilkomerson will proceed - with Barghouti participating via video.
Hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace and the NYU chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, the event Jim Crow to Jerusalem: Time to Break the Silence on Palestine will be live-streamed on the Jewish Voice for Peace Facebook page. In addition to Barghouti, the panel discussion will feature Marc Lamont Hill, (widely respected commentator, academic, journalist who lost his job at CNN over his support for Palestine), and Rebecca Vilkomerson, JVP Executive Director. The panel will be moderated by NYU students Leen Dweik (president of NYU SJP) and Amanda Lawson (organizer with Incarceration to Education Coalition at NYU).
A petition by Jewish Voice for Peace and the Arab American Institute condemning the U.S. government's denial of entry to Barghouti has gathered 20,000 signatures in four days.
Despite holding a valid U.S. visa, on April 10th, Omar was banned from entry by U.S. immigration officials in Tel Aviv. Denying Omar the ability to travel to the United States for a speaking tour, meetings with policy makers and journalists, an unprecedented Passover dialogue at a Chicago synagogue, and to attend his daughter's wedding is clearly an attempt to silence political advocacy on behalf of Palestinian rights.
Rebecca Vilkomerson, Jewish Voice for Peace Executive Director:
"From the attacks on Marc Lamont Hill and Rep. Ilhan Omar, to banning Omar Barghouti from entering the U.S., it's increasingly clear that the Trump administration is attempting to silence any and all criticism of Israel. At tonight's event I will be proud to speak with Barghouti and Hill about our defense of Palestinian human rights and support for BDS. Our event is called "From Jim Crow to Jerusalem: Time to Break the Silence on Palestine" - now Omar will have to appear via video, and the title will resonate more than we could have ever imagined."
Omar Barghouti, Co-Founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement:
"This U.S. entry ban against me, which is ideologically and politically motivated, is part of Israel's escalating repression against Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights defenders in the BDS movement for freedom, justice and equality. Israel is not merely continuing its decades-old system of military occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing; it is increasingly outsourcing its outrageous, McCarthyite repression to the U.S. and to xenophobic, far-right cohorts across the world."
JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson and BDS Movement co-Founder Omar Barghouti are available to speak with the media (noting that Barghouti is 7 hours ahead of EST).
Some seats may still be available for media - contact Sonya E Meyerson-Knox if you would like to attend (sonya@jvp.org | 929-290-0317)
The event will be live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/JewishVoiceforPeace
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 200,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.
(510) 465-1777LATEST NEWS
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Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin on Thursday warned his Republican colleagues against attempting to delegitimize the special counsel investigation that led to a federal indictment against Donald Trump after many GOP lawmakers did just that, rallying around the former president and echoing his condemnation of the probe as a "witch hunt."
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Jordan, who is currently seeking unredacted documents related to Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation of Trump, said after news of the indictment broke that "it's a sad day for America."
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\u201cas the entire country burns, one has to wonder: should fossil fuel companies be weighing in on our national climate change policy? \n\nhttps://t.co/JCdTLKXxwb\u201d— Michelle Cyca (@Michelle Cyca) 1686235428
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Fatima Syed, Meyer's colleague at The Narwhal, tweeted that "this story is bonkers when you consider wildfires."
Emma McIntosh, another reporter at the outlet, similarly said that his "scoop feels like a bad joke when you read it under a layer of wildfire smoke: Suncor, a massive oil company, helped the federal government write its climate change strategy. Which is now a year late."
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