Teach-in sheds light on Middle East

A teach-in sponsored by Middle East Justice Now! (MEJN) was held at City High School in downtown Tucson on Oct. 8. A crowd of nearly 100 people listened to a panel of speakers cover topics ranging from the difficulties of day-to-day life in the occupied Palestinian territories, the history of U.S. policy in the Middle East, the lasting environmental impact of Israel’s attempt to obliterate Lebanon, and an overview of Israeli peace groups and other voices of dissent within Israel.

Rev. Nuhad Tomeh gives eyewitness testimony of hardships caused by Israeli invasion of Lebanon. WW photo: Paul Teitelbaum

The panel discussion was followed by break-out sessions as panelists let participants join in talking about topics of particular interest to them. This was followed by a viewing of the film “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land” by Bathsheba Ratzkoff and Sut Jhally and a discussion of the U.S. corporate media and how it proliferates a pro-Israeli, anti-Arab viewpoint.

Thabet Khalidi, a Palestinian activist with MEJN and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Tucson, used a series of maps to show the gradual annexation of Palestinian land by the Israeli state, the path of the apartheid wall that is isolating Palestinian towns, and the bantustans that will result from the wall.

Rev. Nuhad Tomeh, recently returned from Lebanon, explained the hardships facing the displaced Lebanese people who are trying to return to their homes in the South of Lebanon. “Southern Lebanon is an agricultural area,” he said, “and the people there depend on their olive crops to provide them with the income to live.” The current olive crop is one of the best in years “but the farmers cannot harvest the olives. The fields are littered with cluster bombs. There are even cluster bombs in the branches of the trees.”

Middle East Justice Now! was formed this July in response to the Israeli siege of Lebanon. The group focuses on dispelling the lies of the corporate media and combating the racism facing Arab-American people.

Arizona is a state where the people are constantly bombarded with racist, anti-immigrant propaganda, from both politicians and Minutemen alike. President George W. Bush made a point of going to Arizona to sign his racist, anti-immigrant border fence policy into law. This makes it imperative to unite all the anti-racist, anti-imperialist forces here and start to fight back.

MEJN is planning a fundraiser Oct. 28 to benefit the children of Lebanon. Those interested in attending, helping or finding out more about the group can contact MEJN at [email protected].