RESIST the WALLS of APARTHEID
with MURALS of INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
Join the LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT in Palestine/Israel While Bush, Sharon, and
Abu Mazen were toasting peace in Aqaba, US-made Israeli tanks rolled into
Palestinian villages and bulldozers continued to demolish Palestinian homes and
offices. Israeli snipers continue to pick off Palestinian youth. The relentless
construction of "security" highways, housing developments, and military outposts
- all designed to further dismember the West Bank and render it economically
unviable - has continued unabated.
Sharon's "apartheid wall," that separates Palestinian villagers from their
agricultural fields - and creates a legal pretext for the confiscation of their
land - continues to snake southward. Israeli plans for the construction of
maquiladora-type sweatshops between the wall and the '67 borders remain in
place. Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers are still prevented from going
to their jobs in Israel
by closures, curfews, checkpoints, and direct military siege. Official
unemployment in the occupied territories remains at over 50%.
The Cost of the Occupation Inside Israel
The Israeli government is implementing a neo-liberal austerity plan that cuts
social benefits while allocating greater funds for the occupation. In response,
public workers mobilized in May for a general strike against these austerity
measures - and conducted the largest demonstration against social cutbacks in
their history. This fight-back, along with the anti-war sentiments of
working-class youth forced to fight in the territories, may soon weaken the hold
of the Israeli state on the hearts and minds of workers. That Israel's rulers
fear such a shift in sentiment is made evident by a recent escalation in their
harassment of peace activists.
Israeli employers are attempting to prevent the development of working class
unity by crude policies of divide and rule. Near the bottom of the economic
ladder are the Palestinian and other Arab workers who live inside Israel, and
the "foreign" workers whom Israeli employers are recruiting to replace them.
While discriminating against Israeli Arabs in hiring, employers have brought in
over 200,000 workers from Romania, Thailand, China, and other impoverished parts
of the globe. These workers slave for sweatshop wages and hours, undermining the
standard of living for all.
Made in the USA
It has become increasingly clear that the imperial adventures of Bush & Co. in
the Middle East have little to do with promoting democracy and economic justice.
The U.S. occupation of Iraq and the U.S. subsidy of the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian lands are being revealed as key components of the Bush-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz
plan to reshape the map of the Middle East to suit US. corporate interests.
It is up to all of us to help develop an alternative working class vision for
peace and justice in the region. As part of that process, we invite you to join
the Labor Art and Mural Project in a solidarity exchange and fact-finding labor
delegation to Palestine/Israel.
Visions of Solidarity Between US, Palestinian and Israeli
workers
From July 25 - August 21, Mike Alewitz, LaMP Artistic Director, will travel to
Palestine/Israel and create three murals. The first mural will be painted at the
Beit Jibrin Cultural Center-Handala in a refugee camp in occupied Bethlehem.
Activists here have initiated outstanding international cultural exchanges for
the Palestinian youth they serve.
The second mural site will be near the Worker's Advice Center (WAC) in Nazareth.
The WAC recently organized 500 Arab workers in a successful challenge to
discriminatory hiring practices in the Israeli construction industry.
The trip will culminate in the creation of a third mural that will adorn the
wall of a new Rachel Corrie Peace Center. The center is to be built by
international volunteers, Palestinian construction workers, and Israeli peace
activists on the site of a demolished Palestinian house in East Jerusalem.
At each mural site, Mike will also present slide shows to artists and workers
about his U.S. labor murals and discuss the growing North American labor
opposition to Bush's war plans.
In order to complete these projects, we need to raise approximately $6000 for
travel costs, accommodations and materials. We appeal to you, your local,
district, or national union organization to help us assemble these funds. A
donation of any size will be appreciated. Unions or groups that contribute $250
or more will have their contribution acknowledged on one of the murals.
Join Us on the Delegation to Palestine/Israel!
In conjunction with the creation of these works, LaMP invites you to join a
delegation of unionists, artists and activists to share in this exchange of
solidarity from August 10-22.
Participants will join a solidarity camp for international activists in East
Jerusalem and participate in the construction of the Rachel Corrie Peace Center.
Delegates will reside at the camp, have meals provided and participate in a
series of political tours that will reveal the Israeli government's plans for a
"matrix of control" over any future Palestinian
state.
Participants are also invited to a series of meetings with the Palestinian
General Federation of Trade Unions, the Democratic Workers Rights Center, the
Workers Advice Center, Kav LaOved, the Alternative Information Center, and the
writers of Between the Lines. Topics will include the history of the Arab labor
movement and the challenges to organizing workers in the current climate of
repression. (Costs will be approximately $650 pp. plus airfare)
The mural painting and activities of the labor delegation will be documented by
the independent filmmaker Sean Geary. Through our varied activities, the
delegation will make an important contribution to the education of U.S. trade
unionists about workers' struggles in the Middle East. Help us to say
---- The Road to Peace Must Be Paved by International Labor Solidarity!
_________________________________________
Reply to: gauvreau@aol.com
Chris Gauvreau, Director,
LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
___ I/ My organization would like to sponsor the project
___ I would like to join the delegation.
___ I would like a speaker to come to my school/ union/ organization.
___ Enclosed is a donation for $________. (Checks payable to LaMP)
___ I would like more information.
Name: __________________________________
Email: __________________________________
Address: ________________________________
Zip:____________________________________
Phone: _________________________________
Organization:_____________________________
LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
c/o Department of Art
Central Connecticut State University
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, Connecticut 06050
Phone: 860.832.2359
________________________________________
MIKE ALEWITZ
Department of Art
Central Connecticut State University
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, Connecticut 06050
Office: 860.832.2359/ Mobile: 860.518.4046