STAND-UP TO AIPAC FORUM

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25, 2008 – 2:00-4:30 PM

UIC STUDENT CENTER – ROOM 605

750 S. Halsted, Chicago

Free Admission

The Stand-Up to AIPAC Forum is one in a series of events to protest the AIPAC National Summit scheduled to take place in Chicago on October 26-27 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. We will also sponsor a rally beginning at 11 AM on October 27 at the Thompson Center (Clark & Randolph, Chicago. At 12 PM following the rally we will march to the site of the AIPAC National Summit.


The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and related institutions (known as the “Israeli Lobby”) support a dangerous status quo, including support of the over $3 billion a year in U.S. military aid to Israel. We will examine its support for the worst of Israeli policies and for further U.S. military action in Iran.

We are very honored to have James Abourezk and Allison Weir as speakers for this forum.

James G. Abourezk was born in 1931 on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota , the youngest son of Lebanese immigrant parents. He attended schools in Wood and in Mission , South Dakota , where his parents owned general stores, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17, following his graduation from high school, serving four years during the Korean War period.

He began practicing law in Rapid City , South Dakota , during which time he ran for, and lost a political race for South Dakota Attorney General. In 1970, he ran for South Dakota 's Second District Congressional seat and won, serving one term in Washington , D.C. , after which he ran for, and won, Senator Karl Mundt's U.S. Senate seat. He served one term in the U.S. Senate before voluntarily stepping down in 1979.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Abourezk was a member of the Interior and the Judiciary Committees. In the Senate, Abourezk served on the Energy Committee, the Budget Committee, the Space and Aeronautics Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. He created by legislation--and chaired--the American Indian Policy Review Commission, which was a two year study of American Indian policy that resulted in a series of broad recommendations for change in policy. Creation of a full Senate Indian Affairs Committee was one of the results of the Commission, a committee which Abourezk chaired until he left the Senate.

After leaving the Senate, Abourezk in 1980 organized and chaired the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a nationwide civil rights organization which worked to end discrimination and racism against people of Arab descent. He served as its chairman for fifteen years, stepping down in 1995.

Abourezk has published two books, Through Different Eyes, which is a debate in print on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, co-authored with Hyman Bookbinder, a former spokesman for the American Jewish Committee; and Advise and Dissent: Memoirs of South Dakota and the U.S. Senate. He has published numerous newspaper opinion pieces and Law Review articles. He was an adjunct professor of International Politics at the American University in Washington , D.C. , and lectures at universities and other public organizations, primarily on the Congress, on the Middle East , and on American Indian Policy.

Allison Weir is the founder of If Americans Knew. She was a journalist off and on for many years. As a freelance journalist, Weir went on an independent investigation to the flashpoints in the West Bank and Gaza rarely visited by American journalists. Since returning she has spoken on Capitol Hill, to business leaders, at prestigious Washington D.C. think tanks, and at a multitude of universities.

Former Congressman Tom Campbell said of Weir: “Ms. Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East today. She is intelligent, careful, and critical. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses.”

A New York Times article about one of her speeches: “When the speech ended, Ms. Weir was met with thunderous applause, and across the room there was a widespread sense of satisfaction that someone was saying what needed to be said.”

Please visit: www.ifamericansknew.org/

Hotel Vigil*

Sunday, October 26 - 12 Noon to 5:00 PM

Sheraton Hotel & Towers, 301 E. North Water Street (near Columbus Drive)

*We urge you to join the vigil for as long as you can on October 26. Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago also invites you to attend their weekly vigil from 12 noon until 1 PM at Water Tower Park (Michigan and Pearson). Immediately following their vigil, participants will march south to join the vigil at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers.



Stand-Up Against AIPAC & the Israeli Lobby!

Rally & March

Monday, October 27

State of Illinois Building

(Randolph & Clark streets, Chicago)

11 AM- Rally

12 PM- March

Chicagoans Against Apartheid in Palestine (CAAP) is issuing a public call to action against the AIPAC National Summit which will take place in Chicago on October 26-27. The AIPAC National Summit is reserved exclusively for those who contribute a minimum of $3,600 annually to AIPAC. We will rally at the State of Illinois Building and then march to Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers (301 E. N. Water Street) where the AIPAC National Summit will be taking place.

AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, describes itself as the most important organization affecting the U.S. relationship with Israel. With a budget of $65 million, and membership now standing at over 100,000, it is no wonder that congressional staffers consider it one of the most powerful and effective lobbies on Capitol Hill.

Once a year, AIPAC holds its annual conference in Washington DC. Its annual policy conference is one of Washington’s largest gatherings of lawmakers, topped only by the President’s State of the Union address.

Only rarely is a critical word uttered among politicians regarding AIPAC and its associates that support unjust and aggressive (and disastrous) U.S. policies toward the peoples of the Middle East. We aim to change that.

For too long, policies that support Israeli militarism and apartheid have gone unchallenged. Political voices raising even minor disagreements with prevailing policies are silenced or subject to campaigns of intimidation. We must open the door to full debate regarding U.S. relationship with Israel and U.S. policy with other countries in the region.

AIPAC and related institutions (usually collectively known as the "Israel Lobby") support a dangerous status quo, including AIPAC's support for U.S. military aid to Israel, which amounts to over $3 billion per year. We will examine its support for even the worst of Israeli policies, and its support for further U.S. military action in IRAN.

No posters or banners will be permitted that might be considered anti-Semitic by the organizers. The only sound systems permitted will be those of our co-sponsors.

Contact CAAP for more information at: caap_mail (at) yahoo.com

CAAP needs to raise $1,000.00 to meet our budget for this major undertaking. If you can make a contribution, please e-mail us for our mailing address.

Supporting organizations: Students for Justice in Palestine-UIC, International Solidarity Movement-Chicago; Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee - Chicago Chapter, Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago, Stop AIPAC.org, Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, Gay Liberation Network, Potluck Democracy, Code Pink, Neighbors for Peace, DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice, North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice, Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice, Progressive Democrats of Illinois