MEDIA ADVISORY for Palestine/Israel event 1/24/18 (+ media resources)

Press release 1-13-18

Midland resident to give presentation on Palestine/Israel trip involving meetings with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists

MIDLAND – “With recent events such as President Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, as well as moving the U.S. Embassy, engaging the issue of the occupation in Palestine/Israel is more important than ever for Americans,” says Midland resident and writer/artist Emma Johnson.

Johnson will share stories about a delegation that she went on to Palestine/Israel titled “What I Witnessed in Palestine/Israel” on Wednesday, January 24, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Creative 360, located at 1517 Bayliss Street in Midland. The event is free and open to the public.

Johnson met with both Palestinian and Israeli peace activists working toward a peaceful solution last May, coinciding with Trump’s visit to the region.

“We saw American and Israeli flags lining the highway to welcome Trump,” says Johnson.

The delegation’s visit also coincided with the Dignity Hunger Strike, when 1,500 Palestinian Political Prisoners sustained themselves on salt and water for 40 days. The delegation witnessed a Palestinian demonstration in support of the hunger strike and in protest of Trump’s visit.

The 31-person delegation of people from the U.S., Canada, and the UK, was organized by nonprofit Interfaith Peace-Builders and was co-sponsored by Defense for Children International – Palestine and CODEPINK: Women for Peace. Since then, members of another IFPB delegation – including Jews – were denied entry into Israel and CODEPINK was blacklisted by the Israeli government at the beginning of this week, both for political reasons.

“The Israeli government doesn’t want Americans to see what’s happening on the ground,” says Johnson. “They know that if Americans were aware of the human rights violations of the occupation they would reevaluate their financial and political support for Israel.”

In the occupied territories Johnson also saw many Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

During her two-week trip, Johnson visited and stayed overnight in a Palestinian refugee camp, sat in on a United Nations meeting in East Jerusalem, visited a former Israeli prison, and walked through a checkpoint at the wall that many Palestinians must pass through every day.

The theme of the delegation was titled “Incarceration, Detention, and Political Prisoners.”

Johnson learned that 500-700 Palestinian children are arrested and prosecuted by the Israeli military court system each year, 75% of whom experience physical violence. “Children are routinely taken from their families by soldiers in the middle of the night without a warrant,” says Johnson.

“The majority are subjected to harsh treatment, such as physical and verbal violence, a lack of food, and being left handcuffed in vehicles overnight during cold weather conditions only to be interrogated the next day,” she said. “Children don’t have their parents or a lawyer present and are coerced into confessing things they didn’t do.”

“It’s never OK to treat a human being that way, much less a child,” says Johnson. “I can’t think of anything that would justify that kind of treatment.”

Johnson will be giving a PowerPoint presentation of pictures she and other delegates took on the trip. A question and answer period will follow. There will also be photographs Johnson took on the trip displayed in the gallery.

“The U.S. sends $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel through federal income taxes every year, with the City of Midland alone providing $8.6 million each year,” says Johnson.

“We have a right to decide how those funds and weapons are being used and if we think using them on children is a wise use of our resources. We have an ethical responsibility to call on congress to do better,” she said. “We can’t be complicit in this.”

All photos taken in May 2017:

PHOTO: By Emma Johnson The Wall East Jerusalem.jpg
Photo by Emma Johnson in East Jerusalem. The wall that divides East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

PHOTO: By StevePavey EmmaOnRight Jerusalem.jpg

Photo by delegate Steve Pavey in Jerusalem. Emma Johnson is pictured on the far right with other delegates on the trip.

[Permission to use photo for publication with story granted by Steve Pavey]

PHOTO: Emma Johnson headshot 2017.jpg
Photo by Emma Johnson in Midland, MI. Emma Johnson (headshot) (wearing a kufiya).

RESOURCES FOR REPORTERS:
Interfaith Peace-Builders
http://www.ifpb.org
http://www.ifpb.org/education/resources/flyers.html

Defense for Children International – Palestine
http://www.dci-palestine.org/news

CODEPINK: Women for Peace
http://www.codepink.org/divest_from_the_war_machine
http://www.codepink.org/justice_for_palestine

United Nations
http://www.un.org/en/index.html
https://www.ochaopt.org/location/east-jerusalem

BADIL
http://www.badil.org
http://www.badil.org/en/resources/documents/individual-studies.html

If Americans Knew
http://ifamericaknew.org/

Jewish Voice for Peace
https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/updates/

BDS
https://bdsmovement.net/what-is-bds