Dear Friends and Allies, For the third consecutive year, students from across the country will be gathering to share stories, strategize, and renew energy to prepare for the important work ahead at the National Students for Justice in Palestine conference. UNM Students for Justice in Palestine is reaching out to the Albuquerque community for financial support in order to send representatives to this upcoming gathering, which will take place at the end of October at Stanford University. As a student-based organization, we have limited financial resources and rely on support from the community at large when it comes to expenses such as travel. Our attendance is especially important as UNM SJP is excited to work towards organizing and hosting a southwest regional conference within the next year. Hosted by Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER), this year’s conference will focus on shifting our work from the margin to the center by connecting struggles and forging a national movement. Conference organizers have built on the vision outlined by students at last year’s conference at the University of Michigan, and will focus on building our movement through political and skill development, as well as critical discussions about our work and role in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. UNM SJP has formulated a few clear goals and objectives for the 2013-2014 academic year. First, we will begin to draft a divestment resolution to be passed in the governing student bodies at UNM. This resolution will call on the university to divest from all corporations that benefit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. We are looking forward to working with representatives of Jewish Voices for Peace to begin drafting this resolution in mid-October. Our chapter will also be playing an integral role in the planning of a coalition campaign focusing on the prison industrial complex and political prisoners at the end of November. In the spring semester, we will focus on facilitating a regional SJP conference here in Albuquerque as well as taking part in another collaborative "Mock Wall" installation. We hope you all are as excited as we are about this upcoming year of Palestinian solidarity activism! To contact UNM SJP about donating to our cause, contact Co-chairs Danya Mustafa at unmsjp@gmail or Julie Jaynes 603-204-9684. For more information about the conference, visit sjpnational.org. Solidarity and Gratitude, UNM Students for Justice in Palestine
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:34:08 +0000