First day of Palestine Advocacy Training huge success
The second day of the American Muslims for Palestine’s third annual Palestine Advocacy and Training began with a session on understanding civic engagement. Because so many within the Muslim American and activist community are reluctant to engage with their elected officials out of a sense of futility, the trainers set out to explain what civic engage is and how it works. Participants were given numerous examples of positive outcomes from working with lawmakers on issues of importance to our communities. This session laid the foundation for the day, where the advocacy issues that will be presented to congressional offices and the State Department will be discussed.
Yesterday, it was clear this training weekend is being led by fierce Palestinian American women as well as Palestinian men. Taher Herzallah, AMP’s associate director of outreach and grassroots organizing said #PAD17 is unique because the entire weekend is Palestinian led. In one interactive session, students deconstructed the language around the history of racism, minorities and resistance movements in the United States by posting notes with comments along a timeline.
The Palestinian Youth Movement joined AMP this year and together the two organizations brought dozens of students and community leaders to Washington DC.