Ask President Obama to see 5 Broken Cameras and visit the West Bank (& more local opportunities to see the film)

Mon Mar 4 21:20:12 PST 2013

Two local opportunities to see  <http://www.kinolorber.com/5brokencameras/>
5 Broken Cameras:  
      Sun, Mar 10, 2013 12 noon, Centennial UMC Fellowship Hall, 5401
Freeport Blvd. Sacramento. FMI: 916-725-5654
      Wed, Apr 17, 2013 12:30 - 1:50pm, Rm D-5, Sierra College, 5000 Rocklin
Rd, Rocklin. FMI:  <mailto:smcdonald at sierracollege.edu>
smcdonald at sierracollege.edu.  
       More events on Palestine & other peace & justice issues:
<http://www.sacpeace.org/> www.sacpeace.org

Urge President Obama to view 5 BROKEN CAMERAS and experience the REAL West
Bank on his trip to Palestine/Israel -  <http://whitehouse.gov/contact> Send
him a letter!

 <http://www.kinolorber.com/5brokencameras/> 5 Broken Cameras, a remarkable
documentary film nominated for an Academy Award, focuses on the years-long
nonviolent struggle of the people of Bi'lin in the West Bank to keep the
Israeli Separation Wall from cutting through their olive orchards and
bisecting their town. It was co-directed by a West Bank Palestinian and a
Jewish Israeli. The film demonstrates the brave resilience of the people of
Bi'lin and the challenges for Palestinians living in the West Bank in the
face of the Israeli occupation. 

President Obama is traveling to Palestine/Israel on March 20, 2013. This is
an opportunity for him to experience firsthand the effects of the occupation
on Palestinian residents of the West Bank. We urge the President to prepare
for his trip by viewing 5 Broken Cameras with his family, and while he is
there, to visit some of the many communities that are severely affected by
the occupation, such as Bi'lin and Hebron, to notice illegal Israeli
settlements dominating hilltops across the West Bank, and to see how the
"separation barrier" has divided communities and cut farmers off from their
orchards.
Our hope is that after these experiences, President Obama will promote
changes in U.S. foreign policy that support international law and human
rights in Palestine/Israel.

Send a letter to the President

Click here <http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments>
to link to the White House comments page to send the prepared letter below,
or to send your own message.
*        When you get to the White House comments page, enter your Name,
Email and Zip along with a Subject. Then you can copy and paste the letter
below into the message space, or send your own comments. The Subject that
you enter might be "Toward a just peace in Palestine/Israel" or something
similar. 
*        At the bottom of the page before you click on "Submit" button, you
need to exactly enter a two-word challenge phrase that will appear in a
CAPTCHA panel. Don't worry if you fail the challenge the first time,
sometimes the challenge phrase is impossible to read - you can try again or
click on the "Get a new challenge" button until you succeed. 
Toward a just peace in Palestine/Israel, 
Israel Divestment <http://www.israeldivestmentcampaign.org>  Campaign 
  _____  

Dear President Obama,

Perhaps, like many of us, you saw Ben Affleck name 5 Broken Cameras as one
of the feature-length documentaries nominated for an Academy Award. This
remarkable film was co-directed by a West Bank Palestinian and a Jewish
Israeli. Everyone who has seen it has been deeply moved as they observed the
reality of life under occupation. We hope that you will take the time to
watch it with your family before you leave for your trip to the Middle East
in March.

While you're there, we urge you to spend some of your time in the West Bank,
not only in Ramallah, but also in the village of Bi'lin that is featured in
5 Broken Cameras. There you will see how Israel's "separation barrier" cuts
these farmers off from their land, a phenomenon repeated all over the West
Bank. Be sure to visit Hebron too, where an Israeli military checkpoint
blocks the main street. Little children have to go through the checkpoint
every day just to go to school. Let your eyes wander up the slopes of the
hills as you drive around the West Bank and take note of how the illegal
Jewish settlements dominate practically every hilltop. If you go to
Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, you will pass Aida Refugee
Camp. As you drive by the .71 square kilometer enclosure, think about the
almost 5,000 Palestinian refugees that have been languishing there for close
to 65 years. 

Your speech in Cairo in 2009 was eloquent, but it is time to move past
eloquent words and demonstrate to the Arab world - and all of us - that you
understand and care about the real life circumstances of people there,
Palestinians as well as Israelis. It is time to do more than meet with heads
of states and political bureaucrats. It is time to meet with and listen to
the people on the ground and with the members of civil society who are
organizing nonviolently for social justice. In other words, it is time to
earn that Nobel Peace prize that you were awarded.

Thank you.

Please help end occupation!  Boycott SodaStream and sign the petition:
<http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-stores-don-t-buy-or-sell-sodastream-3#
share>
www.change.org/petitions/tell-stores-don-t-buy-or-sell-sodastream-3#share

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