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November 6th
Adam Shapiro, Mark Lance event summary
By Thomas
http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/fpn
Wow, what can I say,
I’m speechless. The event
tonight was a resounding success and the turnout exceeded even my wildest
of expectations. 110-130
people packed into a room designed for 77, extra chairs were brought in
and still the audience had to sit on the floor and steps of the room.
The speakers, Mark Lance of SUSTAIN (Stop US Tax Aid to Israel Now)
and Adam Shapiro of the ISM (International Solidarity Movement) gave
fantastic presentations and the crowd was very receptive and asked
intelligent questions of the speakers.
The first speaker, Mark Lance, used an
informative slide show presentation during his speech on Palestine and US
aid to Israel. The slide show
included a series of maps showing the result of the wars and the
“generous” offer given to the Palestinians complete with its armed and
militant settlements, intersecting checkpoints, and Israeli controlled
roads and water supplies. Mark
Lance tied the international struggle to free Palestine with other justice
movements including Bolivia, Colombia, the Native Americans and especially
South Africa. Using the South
Africa model Mark compared the apartheid experienced by the black
majority, and the apartheid now faced by the Palestinian people.
Mark finished up his presentation by quickly touching on the
actions and campaigns SUSTAIN is now undertaking, and the explosion of the
Palestinian movement in the activist community.
After Mark Lance finished his presentation,
Mariam, a VCU student gave an explosive poetry piece about Palestine.
The piece blew everyone away, including myself, and many thanks to
Mariam for presenting her poetry at the event.
Adam Shapiro was the next and final speaker.
He was greeted by an intense round of applause as he took the floor
and as he was describing his acting as a human shield for an ambulance
crew, the crowd again erupted into applause.
Adam’s presentation focused upon the International Solidarity
Movement and what he saw on the ground in Palestine during his 3 plus
years of living there. Adam
spoke on how the ISM movement helps Palestinians and recanted stories of
the ISM’s bravery last spring during the Israeli crackdowns.
Also Adam touched on how the ISM has a policy of complete
non-violence and utilized demonstrations, clearing roadblocks, and acting
as human shields for Palestinian civilians.
After Adam finished speaking the floor was opened
up to questions for both of the speakers. The questions were very intelligent and well voiced and we
apologize for not being able to have every question answered due to time
constraints. Numerous
audience members voiced appreciation for just being in the same room as
Adam Shapiro, a man who has risked his life to help the Palestinian people
and further their quest for freedom, and I to would like to add my voice
to that appreciation. As the
event broke up around 9:15 pm many people stayed around to talk to the
speakers and each other about Palestine and upcoming events including the
Richmond anti-war march on November 9th.
I would like to thank Mark Lance and Adam Shapiro
for coming down from Washington DC to speak for free to our University.
I would also like to thank everyone who attended for making the
event such a success. Free
Palestine Now! Is sincerely awed at the popularity of this event and we
hope to use this momentum to channel support for our upcoming divestment
campaign. Also we thank all
of you who signed up to become members of FPN, with all of your help we
can truly make a difference and assist the oppressed Palestinian peoples.
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