In 2018, Durham became the first US city to bar police partnerships with the Israeli military. Desmera and Ajamu were among a number of Eyewitness Palestine delegates involved in the campaign led by the Demilitarize Durham 2 Palestine Coalition.
Read MoreEyewitness Palestine delegates are often told, “This trip will change your life.” For Mark Braverman, that’s an understatement. His first delegation in 2006 led him, a Jewish psychologist, to a new career advocating for Palestinian justice, mainly among Christians.
Read MoreBefore traveling to Palestine/Israel, David thought he had a grasp of the situation. “It turns out that there is nothing like being there and realizing that you are actually clueless, and will likely never understand what it’s like to live in that life,” he says.
Read MoreAs a longtime social justice activist, Trina Jackson was aware of the Israel-Palestine conflict and its intersections with race and oppression in America. “Palestine is a big part of our global analysis of linked struggle,” she said. But “I felt compelled to learn for myself.” So she joined the 2014 African Heritage delegation.
Read MoreWithin her close-knit, mixed Palestinian family, Nadia’s childhood was infused with Palestinian culture and traditions, and also with stories of the historical Palestinian struggle for justice. Those stories were brought sharply into the present for Nadya when the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.
Read MoreLaila Liddy’s first Eyewitness Palestine delegation to Palestine/Israel in summer 2007 was a trip home. Laila was born in Ramallah and had family in Jerusalem and Jericho. When she was eight years old, her mother died. Laila and her three siblings moved to Alabama and were raised in an open adoption by family friends.
Read MoreBill Plitt had lived a fulsome, varied, intentional, service-oriented life as a teacher, education consultant, master teacher and administrator. So when a friend told him that the Eyewitness Palestine delegation he’d just signed up for would change his life, Bill was skeptical. It was unlike Bill’s kind, open-minded nature to express cynicism but, to himself, he thought, “Not at my age.”
For years, they actively worked for peace and justice. They were aware of the misinformation put out by AIPAC and some Israel lobby groups. They knew about Rachel Corrie. They thought they understood the Palestine/Israel conflict. And, to a great extent, they did.
Read MoreThrough her podcast, “Humble Mumbles,” Eyewitness Palestine delegate Rebecca Katherine Hirsch presents the voices of people she met on her summer 2015 IFPB delegation to Palestine-Israel.
Read MoreOrganizer and freelance writer Kristian Davis Bailey was outraged by Israel’s invasion of Gaza in July 2014 that resulted in 2,139 Palestinians deaths, including 490 children. Six thousand miles away that same summer, riots raged in Ferguson, MO, over the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.
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