On Saturday, I drove a few hours to attend a community meeting sponsored by The History of Movement to End Israeli Apartheid (MEIA-G), a group that is based out of Georgia State University. During the meeting, we discussed different ways that we can help in the Palestinian struggle, what role Boycott Divestment & Sanction plays in this movement and information related to MEIA-G’s target at the GSU campus – GILEE.
I was able to meet a few more people, a few of them recognized me from the protest in December and I was also able to meet my first twitter friend in person (@Yam7), who happened to have gone with the Gaza Freedom March to Cairo, which was really cool to know. I hope to become better friends.
During the meeting, I recorded the audio on my smart pen so that I could share some of the highlights of the meeting with all of you. Before I get to them, I will aplogize for moments when the audio becomes unable to be heard or understood. The chairs were not the most comfortable chairs in the world and every time I moved, the pen picked up the noise of the papers in my hands & my shuffling and that drowned out the voice. I tried to eliminate as much as I could without causing problems within the recording itself.
I have also made an attempt to eliminate names of people to keep their privacy, so if there are breaks and cuts within the audio that you can hear, often it is because I was cutting out bits of information not relevant.
To begin, let’s hear someone explain why MEIA-G exists, how it began, what it has done and what they are planning to do in the future.
The History of Movement to End Israeli Apartheid (MEIA-G):
Alright, this next podcast is a little longer. A guy came prepared with a good speech about what BDS is, why it is important and where it came from. The first part, he explains some of his assumptions as to why the 30-40 of us have gathered in this room and the final reason is that we are interested in being part of the solution which is where BDS comes into play.
During the course of the year, MEIA-G has identified a target that they have identified at the Georgia State University campus that has direct ties and connections to Israel and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. This connection is called “GILEE” or Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange.
GILEE’s website explains the background of this program as follows:
In May, 1992, a joint project of Georgia State University and the law enforcement Program (GILEE), was established with the following objectives: 1) To enhance inter-agency cooperation between State of Georgia law enforcement agencies and the police force of the State of Israel; 2) To offer an educational professional program to senior Israeli law enforcement officials in Georgia, primarily in the area of community policing; and 3) To offer an educational professional program to senior Georgia law enforcement officials in Israel, primarily in the areas of counter-terrorism and drug interdiction. (source)
Someone in the meeting explains just what GILEE is within the audio below. But, as you can see, this has a direct connection to Israel, the Israeli Defense Force and their treatment and handling of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and in Gaza. The people within this program come back to the United States after being in Israel training and then “secure” our own streets and lands, namely in Atlanta.
As they have discovered, it is a very highly regarded program, with deep connections, it doesn’t appear to receive federal funds, but they have had a difficult time discovering where the funding originates and will be requesting a Freedom of Information Request to get more information.
The video at the beginning of this post is about this program and more videos are proudly posted on the programs website found here: http://www2.gsu.edu/~crirxf/video.htm
If anyone thinks they might have ways to help this gather more information regarding this program, feel free to contact the MEIA-G through their website at http://www.meiag.org/.
On Saturday, I plan to attend a MEIA-G Community Meeting (Movement to End Israeli Apartheid-Georgia) which will take place in Atlanta. This is the same group that organized the protest I attended in December. The group formed one year ago as people gathered together to protest Operation Cast Lead & the massacre of the people of Gaza. While I live a few hours away, I have struggled to find groups active enough to care, so I take the day, drive the few hours there, I’ll attend the meeting and drive the few hours home. I’ll “lose” the entire day for it, but it’s worth it.
This particular meeting is aimed at the following agenda:
* Engage in an educational discussion around the BDS movement and Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE)
* Present our formal letter of protest to GSU’s (Georgia State University) president, Mark Becker
* Break out into small groups to implement community and campus-based outreach as well as DAM (Palestine’s first hip hop crew!) concert planning committees
While I know my involvement with the group will be limited, I am mostly going to start gathering information to share with others. Whether I share this information with students on my own campus or with people online through twitter and this blog. My goal is to stop waiting around to do things.
I know my job is at risk every moment I step further out into the open with my involvement with this stuff and it worries me a lot. Luckily, I am getting good rating from my students and I do a good job working. As I step further and further out, I will definitely be treading lightly and figuring out who to contact if trouble starts to occur. It’s a risk, but when I think about everything the people in Palestine have gone through in the last 60 years, I just can’t sit here and avoid the risks when I have the voice to do something, the drive to do something and the desire to.
If anyone is within driving distance of Atlanta and would like more information about the event, you can go to the following group page on facebook:
I’ll be taking my smart pen with me to record parts or all of the meeting and will share any audio I find worthy of sharing. I’ll also take a few pics with my cell phone if I feel it is appropriate.
Arabic:
hamdulilah lil a7hbabeena al’li dalooona.
far’u kalum ila ali’maa biyasma3oona.
lee ajlii al insaan,
lee ajlik ya gaza!
English:
Thank you Lord for all the loved ones that have remained with us.
Spinning words for those who do not hear us….
I do this for mankind,
I do this for Gaza!
Today, I woke up rather moody and cranky. I was extremely tired, I haven’t slept much over the last few days. Some of this was my own fault, but some of it was due to work. But, I somehow managed to get to work and teach classes. During my second class, we had a 14 yr old participating in a job shadowing day, so she sat in on classes and observed things during the day. Since I had her in class before lunch, I was to make sure she got somewhere for lunch. Unfortunately, no one really took the lead on deciding where I should take her and from what she told me she already had made connections with someone. So, I was like, okay and she ran off as I finished cleaning up after my class. As I walked out I could see her walking to the cafe, so I knew she was on the right track. Of course, then a bunch of students of mine were like – where’d she go? I told them, and they kept bugging me all through my 20 min lunch as I tried to eat. This of course didn’t help my mood as I got frustrated with the fact that I can’t even enjoy 20 mins of peace to eat.
But, it all paid off as I went to class to be a student again. I love my class, I really do. Today we talked more about political culture and began discussing the second author and how he was different from the first. It’s all so very fascinating. I’ll have some audio to share later in the week.
Due to an event, I had canceled my one o’clock class, so I had about an hour of down time – of course I spent it all conversing on twitter and reading the news Then I struck the second show in three days. Thankfully, I had student help this time, which was a godsend, I swear it. We got done in time so I could get home at a regular hour and enjoy part of my evening.
I am having one problem. My left contact is not wanting to play nice with my eye. I’m hoping it just means my eye is not being nice and deciding to be dry and irritated, because if the contact is going bad it means I need to make an appointment with an eye doc because this is my last contact lens. I’ve managed to make these last for 3 solid years, which is longer than the recommended 2, so I know I’m pushing them to the limit.
I get to sleep in tomorrow, first thing I have is a faculty meeting in the afternoon, but it’s a late night getting home after 9pm.
Then I struck the second show in three days. Thankfully, I had student help this time, which was a godsend, I swear it. We got done in time so I could get home at a regular hour and enjoy part of my evening.
