Plan to Visit Occupied Palestine - a Call to Action

For the next few months and as we Palestinians struggle for freedom inside, we ask you as Internationals and Palestinians living abroad to join us.

(BETHLEHEM) - Palestine Justice Network (PJN) cosponsored by many popular resistance and civil society groups invites internationals to come visit occupied Palestine.

Previously, we hosted internationals to do exploratory and support missions to Palestine for example during Christmas 2010 and the attempt to arrive by the hundreds in July 2011.

For the next few months and as we Palestinians struggle for freedom inside, we ask you as Internationals and Palestinians living abroad to join us on these dates and for these reasons:

December 24-January 1: Celebrate Christmas where it all started in Bethlehem. Our program includes visitation of religious sites, opportunities to meet and visit with native Palestinian Christians and Muslims, alternative tours of the areas and more. Focus is on the plight of the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

March 30: Global march to Jerusalem. Palestinians and supports are encouraged to come and challenge restrictions and occupations. By sea, air, land people of good conscience will come to us to recognize Land Day and help us emphasize the centrality of Jerusalem and its plight under colonial occupation. Land day was commemorated since 1976 by Palestinians within and outside "the Green Line" who reject the Israeli efforts to separate us from our land. Visitors will be asked to help reclaim and rehabilitate fields and cisterns (to solve an acute water crisis caused by Israel's theft of Palestinian natural resources).

Mid April: Welcome to Palestine (WTP) Campaign invites you to come visit us through Lydda (aka Ben Gurion) airport because that is the only airport for Internationals to use to arrive to Palestine. Tour Palestine at the height of the wild flower season and join us ina specific humanitarian project (details forthcoming).

May 15: Nakba Day last year was phenomenal with hundreds of Palestinians trying to return to their homes and lands were turned back at artificial apartheid borders and many were killed, injured, or jailed. This year we will be by the thousands and next year by the tens of thousands. Join us under the theme of "Refugee Rights are not Negotiable."

July 9: July 9 is the anniversary of the International Court of Justice Ruling on the illegality of the colonial settlements and the apartheid wall built on Palestinian land and also the anniversary of the Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action 2005. Join us under the banner of "End Apartheid".

Collectively these actions help affirm solidarity with the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Please email info@palestinejn.org to let us know if you can come on any of these dates and so taht we can update you of details about each trip

About us: The PJN mission is to build a global network of activists and organizations that work together in advocacy in order to support the goals set forth by the Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action 2005. Please visit http://palestinejn.org to see previous activities and list of previous endorsers/sponsors.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD - Popular Committee to Defend Ush Ghrab (PCDUG) "A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home. Mazin has been an Associate Professor of Genetics; Director, Cytogenetics Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine since 1999. He previously held a similar position at Duke University. Professor Qumsiyeh has authored over 110 scientific papers in areas of mammalogy, biology, and medicine including mammalian biology and evolution, clinical genetics, and cancer research. He has published over 100 letters to the editor and 30 op-ed pieces in International, national, regional and local papers on issues ranging from politics to environmental issues. His appearances in national media included the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, CNBC, C-Span, and ABC, among others. He is the founder and president of the Holy Land Conservation Foundation and ex-President of the Middle East Genetics Association, and Prof. Qumsiyeh won the Jallow activism award from the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee in 1998. He is author of “Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle” and just published “Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment.” Visit Mazin Qumsiyeh's amazing and informative Website to learn more: qumsiyeh.org.