Opinion Editorials, May 2010

Palestine, One Land, One People, One Destiny:

Second Palestinian Popular Conference,

October 29-31, 2010
 
Al-Jazeerah: CCUN, May 31, 2010

Together, Restoring our National Institutions,
Reclaiming our Rights, Empowering our Community
 
فلسطين: شعبٌ وَاحدْ ، وَطنٌ وَاحدْ ، مَصيرٌ وَاحدْ
المُؤتَمرْ الشعبيّ الفِلسطيني الثاني في الولايات المتحدة الامريكية.
مَعاً نَبني مُؤسَسَاتنا الوطنيه، وَننتزعْ حُقوقنا، وَننهض ُقدُماً...

 
October 29-31, 2010
The Westin Chicago Northwest
400 Park Boulevard
Itasca, IL 60143
(10 minutes from Woodfield Mall; 25 minutes from O'Hare Airport)

To the Palestinian community in the United States, to the Arab and Muslim communities, in the US, and to all groups and individuals in solidarity with our cause....
On May 17, 2010, the 62nd anniversary of Al-Nakba, we remember our past and look towards the future of our cause. As we recall, and pledge to end, our people's uprooting and displacement from their homeland, the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) calls upon you to participate in the Second Popular Conference for Palestinians in the United States in Chicago, IL on October 29-31, 2010.

Today, it is clear that 62 years of exile and occupation have not weakened the Palestinian people's determination to regain their rights and liberate Palestine, their historic homeland. Today, and after more than six decades of colonization, imprisonment, massacres, home demolitions and expulsions, Palestinians are a testament to the utterly delusional nature of David Ben-Gurion's assertion that "The old will die, and the young will soon forget." Our elders are immortal in our hearts and minds, and our younger generations are forging new horizons of struggle for our cause.

This is an open call to all organizations, individuals and groups in our community and all solidarity movements to participate in the organizing of this popular Palestinian assembly and forum for the second time in Chicago, where the Palestinian community from all backgrounds and sectors - students, youth, and elders; women and men; professionals and workers - will come together to defend our national rights and mobilize our community.
 
We recall 800,000 Palestinians forced from their homeland by invading Zionist forces; we recall generations of resistance and struggle, within the lands occupied in 1948; within the West Bank and Gaza; in the camps of exile surrounding Palestine; and everywhere in the world where Palestinians established their communities, built their institutions and remained steadfast in their commitment for their land and people. Today, there are over seven million Palestinian refugees in our communities - dreaming, hoping, and struggling wholeheartedly for justice, return and liberation. We recall the history of racism, oppression and brutality - and our people's history of resistance and struggle, and we are committed to build a future of justice and liberation.

Join us and participate in organizing the Second Popular Conference. The Conference's primary goal is to empower our community in the US to assume a key role in realizing Palestinian rights and develop principled and pluralistic Palestinian national institutions in the United States. We have an obligation to become full participants in our Palestinian quest for freedom, self-determination and the return of the refugees to their original towns and villages. Your full participation in all aspects is essential as we march together for a free Palestine -
 
Palestine: One People, One Land, One Destiny!

To get involved with the Second Popular Conference for Palestinians in the US, email USPCN at conference@ palestineconference.org or visit our website at http://www.palestineconference.org.

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editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org