A conference on "The Struggle for Justice: The Rights of Palestinians to Self-Determination, Repatriation and Equality" will be held at California State University, Long Beach, from October 5-7, 2001. This Conference, co-sponsored by the Trans-Arab Research Institute (TARI), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC, West Coast Region) and the Campus Progressives, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), explores the just struggles of the three segments of the Palestinian population: those under occupation, those in forced exile as refugees, and those that are the disadvantaged, second-class citizens in Israel. TARI, ADC (West Coast Region) and CSULB Campus Progressives organized this Conference to focus public attention on Palestinian rights and the Palestinian people’s struggle for a viable, just and internationally legitimate resolution of the Palestine question and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and for a durable peace in the region. Complete details about the conference follow.

The Struggle for Justice: The Rights of Palestinians to Self-Determination, Repatriation and Equality

Theme

With the collapse of the Camp David talks on Final Status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian struggle for justice exploded into the second intifada against Israeli occupation. The "Peace Process" is at an impasse. The Questions of Palestine and the Palestinians are back to square one. More than ever before the failed Camp David talks indicated the extent to which the United States and Israel were intent on denying Palestinians their inalienable and internationally recognized rights and on legitimizing Israeli colonialism in historic Palestine.

Palestinian rights have been upheld by international law and codified by United Nations resolutions. Yet, both Israel and the United States ignored these recognized rights and attempted to intimidate the Palestinian Authority at Camp David into accepting an "end of the conflict" agreement that is not only unfair but is also in violation of international law.

The Palestine question is of critical importance not only for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples but also for peace in the region and in the world. Palestinians have struggled for a century, initially to realize, and then to regain their lost rights. The Palestinian struggle against dispossession and for justice is central to peace and security in historic Palestine and to the stability of a pivotal region of the world.

This Conference, co-sponsored by the Trans-Arab Research Institute (TARI), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC, West Coast Region) and the Campus Progressives, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), explores the just struggles of the three segments of the Palestinian population: those under occupation, those in forced exile as refugees, and those that are the disadvantaged, second-class citizens in Israel. TARI, ADC (West Coast Region) and CSULB Campus Progressives organized this Conference to focus public attention on Palestinian rights and the Palestinian people’s struggle for a viable, just and internationally legitimate resolution of the Palestine question and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and for a durable peace in the region.

The Conference will be held on Saturday October 6 to be followed by a banquet after which the distinguished Professor and Lawyer Chibli Mallat will deliver an address. On Sunday morning a workshop will be held on campaigning for justice in North America.

SPEAKERS

Chibli Mallat Universite St. Joseph, Beirut, Lebanon (Attorney for Sabra and Chatila victims in the War Crimes suit against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Belgium)

Susan Akram Boston University Law School

Yigal Arens Information Science Institute, University of Southern California

Naseer Aruri University of Massachusetts And, President, TARI

Phyllis Bennis Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC

Hagit Borer University of Southern California

Basel Ghattas Galilee Society

Nandini Guwardena University of California, Los Angeles

Atif Kubursi McMaster University (Canada)

Nur Masalha St. Mary’s College, University of Surrey (UK)

Joseph Massad Columbia University

Suhail Natour Beirut, Lebanon

Cheryl Rubenberg Florida International University, Miami

Adel Samara Al-Mashriq Al‘Amil Center for Cultural and Development Studies, Ramallah, Palestine

Michel Shehadeh ADC (Director, West Coast Region)

Alison Weir Freelance Journalist

The Struggle for Justice: The Rights of Palestinians to Self-Determination, Repatriation and Equality

A Conference -sponsored by Trans-Arab Research Institute (TARI), American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC West Coast Region) & California State University, Long Beach Campus Progressives (CSULB Campus Progressives)

At California State University, Long Beach October 5-7, 2001

Co-Sponsored by: (Organizations are urged to support and co-sponsor this conference)

1. The Peter Carr Peace Center 2. The Center for International Education. 3. CSULB Middle East/Near East Sub-Committee of the International Education Committee 4. CSULB Middle Eastern Studies Program 5. CSULB Student Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal 6. CSULB Moslem Students Association 7. International Action Center 8. Palestinian American Women Association 9. The Arab American Council 10. Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)

PROGRAM

Friday, October 5, 2001

5:00 pm-7:00 pm Registration, Reception and Orientation

Saturday, October 6, 2001

8:30 am- 9:00 am Registration

9:00 am-9:30 am Welcoming Remarks, Sheila Ketabian, President, CSULB Campus Progressives, Houri Berberian, Director, Middle Eastern Studies Program, CSULB, Naseer Aruri, President, TARI and Michel Shehadeh, West Coast Region Director, ADC

9:30 am-11:00 am Panel I. Right to Self-Determination: The Struggle for Independence and Sovereign Statehood

Moderator: Samera Sood, President, Palestinian-American Women’s Association of Southern California

1. Right of Resistance and Independence in International Law and Moral Principles, Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies 2. U.S. Policy and the Obstruction of Justice, Cheryl Rubenberg, Florida International University, Miami 3. The Occupation: The Right to Redress, Atif Kubursi, McMaster University, Windsor, Ontario, Canada 4. Covering the Intifada, American Journalism and the Israeli Occupation, Alison Weir, Freelance Journalist, San Francisco

11:30 am-1:00 pm Panel II. Palestinian Refugees: The Inalienable Right of Return and Restitution

Moderator: Nader Abuljebain, President, LA/Orange County ADC Chapter

1. Established Legal Mechanism for Effecting Right of Return, Restitution and Compensation: A Comparative Analysis, Susan Akram, Boston University Law School 2. Reparations and Atonement: The Relevance of South Africa and North America, Nandini Gunewardena, University of California, Los Angeles 3. U.S. Policy and the Palestinian Right of Return, Naseer Aruri, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth 4. Refugees and their Dilemmas, Suhail Natour, Beirut, Lebanon

1:00 pm-2:30 pm Lunch Break

2:30 pm-4:00 pm Panel III. Palestinian Citizens of Israel: The Right to Equality

Moderator: Munadel Herzallah, ADC, San Francisco

1. The Palestinian Community in Israel: A Regime of Internal Colonialism, Basel Ghattas, Galilee Society 2. Institutional and Structural Discrimination, Yigal Arens, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 3. New Perspectives on Equality for Palestinians in Israel, Nur Masalha, St. Mary’s College, University of Surrey

4:00 pm-6:00 pm Panel IV. Achieving Justice for Palestine and the Palestinians

Moderator: Sherna Gluck, California State University Long Beach (CSULB)

1. Obstacles to a Just Resolution: Israeli Ideology of Supremacy, Joseph Massad, Columbia University, New York 2. An International Movement of Solidarity: Structure and Focus, Adel Samara, Center for Cultural and Development Studies, Ramallah 3. A Vision of Justice: End to Occupation and the Secular Democratic State, Hagit Borer, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 4. Campaigning for Justice in North America, Michel Shehadeh, ADC, West Coast Region

6:00 pm-7:00 pm Reception

7:00 pm-9:30 pm Banquet, Speaker: Chibli Mallat, Universite St. Joseph, Beirut, Lebanon

9:30 pm-11:00 pm Poetry and Music

Sunday October 7, 2001

9:00 am-9:30 am Registration and Coffee

9:30 am-11:00 am Workshop on Campaigning for Justice in North America

Moderator: Michel Shehadeh

Speakers: Richard Becker, Phyllis Bennis, Eyad Kishawi, Elias Rashmawi

11:00 am Close

To reserve space send the attached registration form and registration fee to: ADC West P. O. Box 1056 Stanton, CA 90680

Or to register online please visit: www.rorconference.com (this site will be functional in the next few days).