AMP Activity Wrap-up

AMP Campus Coordinator participates in leadership forum; Israel Apartheid Week

The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) has been actively supporting various campus initiatives for Israel Apartheid Week, which this year is taking place from Feb. 27 through March 10.

Here’s a recap:

Israeli Apartheid Week


Feb. 27 -- AMP sponsored a Students for Justice in Palestine event at the University of California, Los Angeles, in which award-winning author Max Blumenthal was the keynote speaker.  This event was part of Palestine Awareness Week that coincided with IAW. 

Feb. 29 -- A replica Apartheid Wall is on display at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Herzallah spoke to an audience of about 50 students, faculty and community members about the Arab revolutions and their implications for Palestinian self-determination and liberty.

March 1 -- SJP students at the University of California Riverside staged a successful walk-out at the speech of an Israeli Occupation Forces soldier.  This event was also co-sponsored by Social Justice Alliance and Middle East Children’s Alliance. 

AMP’s Herzallah remained behind until the Q&A session in order to confront the IOF soldier and his hasbara. “They were shocked and I guess not used to confrontation since they were only used to walkouts,” Herzallah said.

The Zionist group StandWithUs has organized a national tour of IOF soldiers as a way to confront the growth and success of pro-Palestinian campus activism.

AMP sponsored several Israeli Apartheid Week events across the country and also sent educational materials to SJPs as well.
 

Leadership speech

Herzallah also spoke about leadership in Islam at the University of California, Riverside to about 30 students.

Occupy AIPAC conference

Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman, headlined a panel discussion on AIPAC at the Occupy AIPAC conference in Washington DC, titled “AIPAC – What it is, who its allies are, why it’s dangerous and how to stop it.” The panel, which was organized by the Council for the National Interest, If Americans Knew and the Institute for Research Middle East Policy also featured journalist Jeffrey Blankfort, Grant Smith and Allison Weir.