Al-Awda-CT Responds to 'Expulsion'

The Al-Awda Connecticut chapter notes with
sadness and disappointment the
recent public statement circulated on the
internet that says our chapter in
Connecticut has been “expelled” from the Al-Awda
National for supposedly
undermining the right of return. Al-Awda (the
Palestine Right to Return
Coalition) chapter in Connecticut is one of the
most active groups in North
America advancing both the collective and
individual rights of Palestinians
to return to their homes and lands. We work
diligently to ensure everyone is
educated about these rights and to see that this
key to peace becomes
central to advocacy for Palestine everywhere. Our
accomplishments in this
regard are listed at
http://al-awda.org/connecticut (2004/2005
accomplishments are posted at
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/alawda/).

A few members of the Al-Awda national committee
have been talking about
expelling our group for almost a year. This
included preventing some
messages from our members from being posted on
Al-Awda news and trying to
silence our activists.  The intent was to make
Al-Awda a philosophically
pure and sectarian movement.  In our opinion this
would marginalize the
movement. In May, this move gained momentum with
a demand that al-Awda CT
stop any association with UFPJ and the US
Campaign to End the Occupation.
Later, they censured Al-Awda co-founder Dr. Mazin
Qumsiyeh.  This issue
reached full circle in the unfortunate public
statement accompanying an
order to expel Al-Awda Connecticut chapter
(August, 2005).

The demand on us for May 2005 reads:

"No chapter of Al-Awda is to formally associate
itself, nor establish any
formal relationship with the End of the
Occupation Campaign, the United For
Peace and Justice Coalition, or any organization
that refuses to support the
right of all Palestinian refugees and their
descendants to return to their
original homes, farms, villages and towns in any
part of Palestine as it
existed before the establishment of 'Israel' in
1948, and to compensation.
The terms "formal association" and "formal
relationship" include but are not
limited to: membership in said organization;
participation in regular
activities of said organization such that a
reasonable person would be
justified in implying membership; endorsement of
said organization's
initiatives where same initiative expressly
includes demands that contradict
Al-Awda's Points of Unity."

In our response we stated that this was both
unwise and unacceptable for the
following reasons:

1) We believe the motion violates both the spirit
and the letter of
Al-Awda’s bylaws. Most importantly, the motion
abrogates the rights of
chapters to decide their own associations, a
right clearly in compliance
with Al-Awda bylaws posted at
http://www.al-awda.org/bylaws/.

We strongly believe that local chapters can
determine how they work with
other groups to bring a Palestinian human rights
agenda –primarily the right
to return --into their positions. No groups start
out where we want them to
be, not even some Palestinian, Arab or Muslim
groups. Different chapters
have developed different strategies to work to
effect such changes.

For example, our chapter in Connecticut helped
bring the Green Party locally
and nationally to support not only the right to
return, but even to include
in its national platform a foreign policy that
promotes serious
reconsideration of the one secular, democratic
state solution.   Thus,
accepting the May 2005 motion would limit us in
choosing our formal
associations and, as worded, would limit us even
in supporting rallies or
other actions of, say, labor groups (or
pro-immigration groups -- another
urgent struggle in Connecticut), unless such
groups pass a litmus test 
before we even begin working with them, a test we
believe in Connecticut to
be both unreasonable and counterproductive.

We think the reasons for the past successes of
national Al-Awda in its first
three years (see accomplishments posted at
http://www.al-awda.org/accomplishments/) are
directly related to its
original bottom-up approach rather than a
top-down approach AND to its
inclusiveness (and outreach) rather than
marginalization.

The cornerstone of a grassroots movement is its
local chapters. Leaving
chapters with autonomy is a winning strategy. 
There should be very few
exceptions: e.g. areas of fiscal management (can
impact our 501(c)3 status)
or actions challenging Al-Awda's mission and
goals.

We would like to remind everyone of the following
note, which was sent to
all members by the coordinating committee on Aug.
31, 2000. We think it
expresses in a simple and celebratory way the
underlying principle for our
decision:

"This is the first time a grassroots movement is
built around the central
Palestinian issue of the right to return from the
bottom up and across with
complete transparency and democracy.  It is
analogous to what our people did
in the uprising (Intifada) with local autonomous
action committees doing
what they feel needs to be done without a
hierarchy to dictate to them. 
Also because this is centered around a main issue
that we all agree on, we
are not shackled by particular political,
organizational, factional, or
other agendas (all individuals who identify with
the right of return can
work together regardless of their affiliation). 
Coordination and
cooperation are the key to this success.  Much
more remains to be done (we
are just beginning) and your participation is
important to build the
movement that is needed to achieve the kind of
results that we all aspire to
in defending and implementing the right of
return."

2) As for the specific cases targeted by the May
“motion,” the End the
Occupation Campaign (EOC) and United For Peace
and Justice (UFPJ):  EOC
unequivocally supports the right of return and it
became a prominent
part/priority area of their agenda following the
2004 convention thanks to
efforts of some of our Al-Awda members.

With regard to UFPJ, we voted at our annual
retreat in July to pressure UFPJ
to honor its earlier commitment to have unified
actions with ANSWER that
support Palestine as it did in March 2004, or we
will sever our relationship
with UFPJ.  We are also recalibrating our
tactics, as we do with all our
associations, in working within and outside
coalitions. We did not accept
undemocratic dictates on us from an
unrepresentative body.

Our intention is to educate and advocate for the
right to return to the
widest possible audience. We partner formally as
groups and informally as
individuals with any organization that either
supports the right to return
or can be reasonably expected to endorse the
right to return as a result of
our partnership.

We think our policy concerning relationships,
partnerships, and alliances is
very prudent and historically justified.  Al-Awda
cannot grow and be
influential by preaching to the converted.  We
must reach out, work and
partner with other like-minded groups and allies.

We ask our brothers and sisters in other Al-Awda
chapters to endorse a
policy similar to the one successfully employed
by the Connecticut chapter
or at least to respect our grassroots rights to
employ united front
strategies. We further ask every chapter and
every representative to insist
that every action within or on behalf of Al-Awda
is consistent with our
posted bylaws until such time the bylaws are
legally and democratically
modified.

In the most recent email sent out publicly,
Al-Awda National claimed that
Al-Awda CT chapter asked ANSWER to drop the right
of return.   Some in
ANSWER chose to make our letter to its steering
committee public and others
chose to disseminate this misinformation widely
on the internet even before
this presumed expulsion.  The facts are that we
sent letters to BOTH ANSWER
and UFPJ as part of a campaign by many groups to
get one unified
demonstration on September 24 and to insist that
this rally condemn Israeli
militarism and support all Palestinian human and
national rights.   It
appears that our letter was misconstrued to mean
that we were asking ANSWER
aaand UFPJ to defer or negate support for the
Palestinian right of return
when we were only calling for unity on grounds
that would be agreeable to
both. In any case, none of the unity efforts in
which we participated as a
group or as individuals called on ANSWER to
change its own demands. They
simply called on both coalitions to find a
principled framework in which to
march and rally TOGETHER in one place on
September 24 in order to maximize
participation and enthusiasm from the ranks of
the movement.

There were dozens of other organizations calls
for unity and we are
extremely gratified that indeed unity was finally
achieved and we will have
one march and rally on September 24th. We copied
a letter at the end that we
sent earlier congratulating ANSWER and UFPJ on
this wise.

The movement to defend and help implement
Palestinian rights (including the
right to return and self-determination) is at a
crucial juncture. Mainstream
churches have been getting national news for
their divestment activities. 
Broadly based Muslim American groups are choosing
to build the antiwar
movement.  The ranks of the organizations
building September 24 are more
determined than ever to fight for linkage of the
Palestine and Iraq
occupations.  This is not the moment to draw back
from lively engagement
with the broadest forces willing to give us a
hearing.  We look forward to
working with all those activists, both within and
without Al-Awda national,
to make sure that these developments result in
the winning of new and
qualitatively larger numbers of groups and
individuals to our cause.

Al-Awda CT Steering Committee
===================
Appendices: The letters to ANSWER and UFPJ

Dear Brothers and Sisters in ANSWER:

We are the Connecticut Chapter of Al-Awda, the
Palestine Right to Return
Coalition.    We appreciate that you have made
the Right to Return a key
part of your call for your rally on the 24th. 
However, we believe it is
important to have one united anti-war march and
rally on the 24th of
September.  We believe it is essential to expose
the influence of Israeli
militarism as a factor in the U.S. war on Iraq
and attacks on Iran and to
show the roots of this militarism in Israeli
oppression of Palestinians.

At present UFPJ is making no connection to
Israel/Palestine in its call for
its anti-war weekend and we are writing to them
about their error and
organizing others to do the same.  As one move
towards UFPJ/ANSWER unity we
insist that there be a good common slogan on
Israel and the rights of
Palestinians.

While there are many formulations on Israeli
militarism and Palestinian
oppression that might be unifying there is one
that is obvious, the call
that was in the unity statement for the March
2004 UFPJ/ANSWER
demonstration, "end the occupation of Palestine". 
We ask you to contact
UFPJ and propose that this statement once again
be the basis for unity.

Sincerely,
Gale Courey Toensing, Stanley Heller
Co-Chairs

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the UFPJ:

We in Al-Awda Connecticut are angry that the
issues of Israeli militarism
and Palestinian mistreatment are being excluded
from the key demands of the
anti-war demonstration weekend of Sept. 24-6.  It
is bizzare that in 2005 a
major peace group could fail to see the influence
of Israeli militarists on
the Bush Administration and could not understand
how the Israeli state's
constant calls for wars against Islamic nations
is intimately linked to the
oppression and dispossession of Palestinians. 
Bush at the start of this
year famously waved around Israeli ultra-hawk
Natan Sharansky’s book and
praised it as his guide to spreading "democracy". 
Fighting the war without
condemning all this is fighting with one hand
tied behind our back.

Besides being essential for an honest appeal to
Americans, the realities in
Israel/Palestine need to be in the forefront for
a very immediate practical
reason: a demand on Palestinian rights is a key
demand in the ANSWER call
for their rally.  It is obvious that one massive
demonstration would be
better than two competing rallies.  It is obvious
that if there ends up
being two rallies and virtually all the Middle
Eastern and Islamic folks
attend the ANSWER rally we are in big trouble. 
We expect that UFPJ will put
aside past difficulties with ANSWER and attempt
to come up with a common
call with that group and a common rally.  Having
a good demand on the
Palestinian question would be one of the key
methods to do so.

While there are many formulations on Israeli
militarism and Palestinian
oppression that might be unifying there is one
that is obvious, the call
that was in the unity statement for the March
2004 common UFPJ/ANSWER
demonstration, "end the occupation of Palestine". 
We ask you to contact
ANSWER and propose that this statement once again
be the basis for unity.

Our chapter takes this issue very seriously and
the prevailing sentiment is
to leave UFPJ if the Palestinian situation is not
adequately dealt with by
the Steering Committee.

Sincerely,
Gale Courey Toensing, Stanley Heller
Co-Chairs

(Letter sent after Unity Announcement)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in ANSWER and UFPJ

Al Awda CT applauds your decision to come
together in a show of unity for
the Sept. 24 anti-war march in Washington. We are
gratified to learn that
the leadership of both organizations had the
wisdom and flexibility to heed
the call for unity put out by so many diverse
organizations across the
country, including Al Awda CT, that are dedicated
to peace and justice. We
managed to find and reserve three buses from
Connecticut to DC (we know we
could have filled more).

We again reiterate that we are grateful that the
ANSWER leadership took
principled positions including support for our
primary concern, the right of
all Palestinians to return to their homes and
lands. We urge the leadership
to engage with the broad forces in motion to do
grassroots education and
mobilization around the issue of Palestinian
self-determination.

We again reiterate that we are grateful that UFPJ
leadership took principled
positions and works to end the war on Iraq. We
continue to urge UPFJ to take
up the calls of member groups and coalitions to
work actively to adopt and
work to achieve Palestinian human rights,
including the right to return and
self-determination.

Those not accepting basic human rights
(especially Palestinian human rights)
and/or those not interested in grassroot
democratic decision-making
processes should not have veto power or hegemony
over coalitions working for
peace with justice. Working collectively we can
be more effective in pushing
for democratic and collective practical actions
that advance peace with
justice. Clearly a large majority of the peace
movement considers human
rights for Palestinians and Iraqis central to our
work.

More can be done by all of us along these lines.
Together we can make a
difference. We pledge to work diligently for
justice and human rights with
all groups and people. At the forefront we will
continue educating others
about the organic link between the occupation of
Iraq and the colonization
and occupation in Palestine.

See you September 24th.

Sincerely,
Al-Awda Connecticut


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