"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Past Events

 

Fall 2002

Spring 2003

Summer 2003

Fall 2003

 

February 19th
    Our first event of the semester is this coming Wednesday February 25th at 7pm in the VCU Student Commons Capital Ballroom D, where we will be showing the award winning Palestinian film "Divine Intervention". (click here for reviews) Free food will be served! Our next meeting of the semester is Monday February 23rd at 7pm in the VCU Student Commons James River room, where we will be discussing the video showing, and other events planned for the semester.  The March 10th speaking event has been re-scheduled for April 21st, which will now be a "Palestine Day Workshop" with 4-5 speakers, interactive presentations, videos, culture, art, and food.

February 10th
   The next meeting of Free Palestine Now! will be this Wednesday February 11th at 7pm in the VCU Student Commons Capital Ballroom D.  We will be mainly discussing our first two upcoming events. (February 25th showing of "Divine Intervention", March 10th Speaking panel) If you missed last weeks meeting and want to get on one of the event action committees, come to the meeting this Wednesday, or email us.  After this week general meetings will be every other Monday, with action committee meetings whenever necessary to accomplish all needed for the event. Also there are two new possible events to plan for the end of this semester, and there will be presentations about both events this Wednesday and the following Monday.
 

February 5th
    Last night Free Palestine Now! had its first meeting of the spring semester. During the meeting we decided to appoint one person to take charge of each of the 4 upcoming events this semester. That person will be in charge of said event, and developing a committee to work on bringing the event to fruition. The events are as follows: February 25th-Divine Intervention film screening; March 10th- Middle East Panel with Mark Lance and Sam Tshonis; March 30th-Action against Daniel Pipes appearance at VCU; April 21st- Middle East Panel with Rami El-Amin and Greta Berlin. If you are interested in working on any of these events, please email us and we can put you in contact with their respective coordinators. Additionally it was decided that next Wednesday at 7pm will serve as a planning meeting for the first two events, and after that we will move to bi-weekly Monday night meetings. Lastly check out the new link to an amazing Palestinian run company that sells Kheffiyeh's, pins, and many other items of Palestinian Solidarity on the links page (click here)

January 31st
    Free Palestine Now!'s first meeting of the spring semester is this Wednesday in the VCU student commons Capital Ballroom A, at 7:30pm.  We will be discussing the upcoming speaking events and video showing, as well as coming up with other activities for the semester.

January 26th
    This weekend 5 members of FPN traveled to DC for the National Conference on Organized Resistance at American University, where FPN had an info table.  The Conference was incredible, with probably twice as many people there as last year. (last year there was 1000) The Conference allowed FPN members to network with a variety of other Palestinian Solidarity and activist groups, as well as enjoy workshops including one on the Apartheid Wall's effects on Palestinian society.  At our information table we sold out of Kheffiyeh's and patches, raising enough money to begin our spring publicity campaign for events in earnest.  We have yet to have room confirmation for our first meeting, so we will keep you posted.  The tentative schedule of events for this coming semester is as follows: February 25th- Video showing of "Divine Intervention" the award winning Palestinian film that was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars last year.  March 10th- Speaking event with Georgetown professor Mark Lance, and artist Sam Tshonis.  April 21st- Speaking event with Left Turn editor Rami El-Amin, media bias expert Greta Berlin, and FOR delegation rep Abigail Ferguson.  Additionally Daniel Pipes, the racist anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim speaker from DC may be brought to our campus by the Zionist organization on campus, March 30th.  So be prepared to pack the audience, just like the Israeli ambassador event last semester. (where over half the audience was Pro-Palestinian)  We will post more information on all of these events as soon as we can.

 

Thomas Hurndall- 1982-2004- Murdered by the Israeli Occupation Forces- Rest In Peace

 

January 14th
    As many of you may already know, last night the brave British peace activist Tom Hurndall died.  On April 11th 2003 Tom Hurndall, an activist and photographer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Rafah, Gaza Strip was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while attempting to escort Palestinian children off a road that was under fire by Israeli troops.  Since that day Tom lay in a coma until last night when he was overcome by pneumonia at 7:45pm. (BST) Originally the Israeli Occupation Forces exonerated the soldier responsible for Tom's death, as they did with the murdered of US peace activist Rachel Corrie on March 16th 2003.  Since then Tom Hurndall's family has lobbied tirelessly for an investigation, compiling 14 eye-witness accounts, ballistics information, and more.  It has been determined that Tom was shot with a telescopic lens, and the soldier in question (arrested last week) lied, saying that he fired in the direction of a man with a gun.  That account was "corroborated" by another Israeli soldier. (both who are now under arrest) It is apparent that the ceaseless efforts by the Hurndall family and their lawyers have exposed the IOF's lies, and their routine cover-up of civilian deaths.  During the course of the current Intifada over 2,000 innocent Palestinians have been killed by the IOF, but during that time the IOF has charged only 10 soldiers and convicted none.  It remains to be seen if Tom Hurndall's killer will be brought to justice, or if the IOF will again cover-up the massive human rights violations of its "soldiers" in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.  Free Palestine Now! would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Tom Hurndall, a brave and courageous man who now joins the thousands of Palestinian martyrs who died simply because they were Palestinians. For more information on the campaign to achieve justice for Tom Hurndall please visit the Thomas Hurndall Fund at (http://www.tomhurndall.co.uk/), for information on the ISM please visit (www.palsolidarity.org) for news reports about the death of Tom Hurndall please visit:
BBC- (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3394899.stm)
Haaratz- (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/383022.html)

Also there is a new protest chant developed by Free Palestine Now! in honor of Tom Hurndall in the chants section (click here)

 

January 11th
    The new semester is about one week away and Free Palestine Now! will be holding its first meeting to discuss the new semester during the first or second week of school.  The first Free Palestine Now! event for the semester will be tabling at the 7th annual National Conference on Organized Resistance in Washington DC (American University) on January 24th and 25th.  If you would like to table with FPN or need a ride to DC (or both) please email us at fpn@vcu.edu.  Check out a new editorial by Abigail Ferguson on her recent trip to Palestine in the editorials section.