U.S. Palestinian Community Network Announces 2nd US Social Forum June 22-27, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan

posted on: Jan 5, 2010

The US Palestinian Community Network is pleased to announce its participation in the envisioning and organizing of the Second U.S. Social Forum (USSF) as a member of its National Planning Committee (NPC). The USSF is the US-based counterpart to the World Social Forum and is therefore the locus of social justice organizing in the US.

It is “more than a conference, more than a networking bonanza, more than a reaction to war and repression. The USSF will provide space to build relationships, learn from each other’s experiences, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, and bring renewed insight and inspiration. It will help develop leadership and develop consciousness, vision, and strategy needed to realize another world.”

The NPC is comprised of social justice organizations, each representative of a broad swath of social justice advocacy in the U.S. The USPCN is honored to be a part of this body. The USPCN’s participation in the Forum’s NPC signifies a momentous shift for both the Left-movement in the U.S. as well as for Palestinian human rights activism. While the USSF is primarily concerned with base-building intended to improve living conditions and human rights for US-based residents, the US’s foreign policy agenda directly reflects and impacts its domestic one. The ability to synthesize an otherwise bifurcated agenda allows the US-Left movement to integrate the Palestinian struggle for self-determination into its analysis and work. Conversely, it allows Palestinian human rights advocates as well as Palestinian-Americans who struggle for their labor, housing, immigrant, racial, and criminal justice rights, to align themselves more firmly within the Left to build another world together.

The 2nd USSF is scheduled to take place in Detroit, Michigan on June 22-27, 2010 and there is much work to be done in the next six months. The USPCN sees many roles that the Palestinian/Arab community could and should play at the USSF, including but limited to:

1. Asserting the Palestinian narrative in discussions of Palestine Liberation and its connection to the overall social justice movement;
2. Building alongside and in solidarity with other social justice movements in the US; and
3. Cultivating Arab/Palestinian leadership and participation in various pursuits for social justice in the U.S.

The USPCN along with its allies and supporters seek to build a coalition to achieve the following at the Social Forum:

1. Organize a Palestine Justice Track (25+ workshops);
2. Host a Palestine Tent that features dance performances, workshops, film screenings, and goods for sale;
3. Choose a keynote speaker for a plenary session; and
4. Mobilize our communities to attend and participate in the Social Forum.

For more information:
www.palestineconference.org