"The Iron Wall,” a revealing examination of the Israeli settlement movement, will be shown at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 22, at the Sol Collective, 2574 21st Street, Sacramento (a block south of Broadway).      The film is part of a monthly series sponsored by the Sacramento chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Admission is free, but donations are requested.      After 1967 and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the aim of the Israeli settlement movement became clear  –  create facts on the ground and make the creation of a Palestinian state impossible. There are now more than 200 settlements and outposts scattered throughout the West Bank.        “The Iron Wall” examines thi

“Allowing Ashkelon to become a sister city with Sacramento violates our community’s deepest humanitarian and egalitarian values,” said Adeeb Alzanoon, a member of the Sacramento Chapter of the Palestinian American Congress. “It makes us complicit with the racism that is systemically practiced in Ashkelon.” Alzanoon, a refugee himself, explained that U.S. citizens of Palestinian descent with Israel government-issued IDs are prohibited by Israel from visiting Ashkelon except in rare circumstances. In addition, virtually everyone of Palestinian heritage faces extensive interrogation, including strip searching and denial of entry, if they try to visit anywhere in Israel, where nearly all have

  "Occupation Has No Future", which is the first in an exciting lineup of films exploring life today in Israel-Palestine, will be shown at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, at the Sol Collective, 2574 21st Street, Sacramento (a block south of Broadway). Admission is free, but donations are requested. In the fall of 2009 a group of U.S. veterans and war resisters traveled to Israel-Palestine to meet with their Israeli counterparts in an effort to strengthen connections and share experiences. "Occupation Has No Future" uses this trip as a lens to study Israeli militarism, examine the occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and explore the work of Israelis and Palestinians organizing against

For the last year, an earnest and at times sadly acrimonious debate at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op has focused on whether and how the co-op should officially participate in a boycott or selective buying campaign to challenge Israeli government policies and promote peace in the Middle East. While the 110-year conflict now known as the Israel/Palestine question continues to attract the attention of the world, observers in Sacramento may wonder whether peace at the co-op is possible. The co-op debate is a multilayered one. What are the merits of the Israel/Palestine conflict itself? What kinds of boycott or selective buying strategies, if any, might move this conflict in the direction

David Barton’s opinion piece, “The view from downtown on BDS”, unfortunately relies on considerable misinformation, fact twisting, and ultimately resorts to the weakness of name calling. Mr. Barton says “the Co-op would like to leave politics out” of its choice of products. However, the Co-op makes political decisions all the time about products based on sustainability, supporting local farms, supporting fair trade, etc. Mr. Barton acknowledges that the Co-op is political: "The co-op … is subversive of the whole factory farming, corporate, pesticide-dependent, nonlocal, unsustainable farming and grocery model that many of us grew up with.” This is not an issue about keeping “politics” ou

This weekend, the sidewalk in front of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op was defaced with graffiti that included attacks on three individual members of the Co-op, two of whom are Board candidates and one is the sponsor of the Human Rights Initiative. One of the several graffiti statements read “Cody Potter and Susan Bush are bad news.” Potter and Bush are running for two open seats on the Board along with Phyllis Ehlert and two incumbents, Alicia Dienst and Ann Richardson. When asked whether employees were responsible for the graffiti, on-duty store manager Dan Shearer declined to answer on Saturday. Incumbent Board member Alicia Dienst was campaigning in front of the store on Sunday wh

The ongoing controversy about members’ democratic rights continues with a new twist at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. This week the Co-op Board placed a ballot argument on its website that many of its members are calling a fake. Charles Steven Arevalo is listed as its author. The ballot argument addresses a Board-proposed Bylaws amendment, which would prohibit the Co-op from using criteria related to “political opinion” or “national origin” in making purchasing or any other decisions. The Board's amendment was drafted in apparent response to members, who were trying to put a proposed human rights-based boycott initiative on the Co-op's ballot. “After refusing to allow Sacramento Nat

A proposed amendment to the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op bylaws is being seen by some as a necessary procedure to ensure equality, while others see it as an attempt to take the members’ voice away on certain issues. All 12,000 co-op members will have the chance to vote on the amendment, which must pass with at least a two-thirds majority in the next election cycle, scheduled for late summer or fall, said Board Member and Policy Committee chairwoman Michelle Reynolds. According to Reynolds, the amendment proposed at the June 7 board meeting is a procedural process designed to ensure that the co-op has written anti-discrimination policies in its bylaws after a restructuring of its polici

Before a packed room of Co-op Members, shoppers and others at its June 7 meeting, the Board of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op considered three items for the upcoming September ballot. A Bylaws amendment, proposed by Board President Steve Maviglio, would prevent the Co-op from making purchasing decisions on the basis of “political opinion” or “national origin.” Some members voiced support and several raised objections. One concern was that the proposed amendment could be used to prevent the Co-op from making purchasing decisions related to environmental or social concerns, since these are a matter of “political opinion.” For example, distributors of non-organic produce, Coco-Cola, or

Over 50 members of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op serenaded Co-op shoppers on the public sidewalk next to the Co-op on Friday afternoon, June 3, with back-up guitar, base, and tambourines. Holding colorful balloons and signs, members sang, “This is my coop; This is your Co-op” to the tune of “This Land is Your Land”. Several shoppers stopped and joined in: “We’re member owners, Our voices m-a-t-t-er, This co-op belongs to you and me.” The group also sang “Co-op Democracy” to the tune of “Personality”. Both songs are expected to be posted on YouTube soon (check www.coopdemocracy.org for an update.) Rally organizers, part of Sacramento Co-op Owners for Democracy and Free Speech, chose

Co-op General Manager Paul Cultrera reportedly allowed the "Save Our Co-op" group to present the Israel lobby's perspective on Israel/Palestine in front of the Co-op again today, May 23. However, Cultrera is continuing his ban against any groups tabling with a different viewpoint on this issue, including Co-op Members supporting the Human Rights initiative. The Initiative would allow Members of the Co-op to vote on whether they want the store to support Palestinian human rights by not carrying Israeli products until Israel stops violating those rights. Cultrera banned Save Our Co-op co-founder Barry Broad from tabling after a woman reported to the Co-op and the police that Broad forcefull

To celebrate International Human Rights Day, Friday, December 10, Sacramento area Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others concerned about human rights are invited to a community forum: Assuring Human and Civil Rights in Palestine/Israel. A diverse panel will address restoring the rights of Palestinians and protecting the human and civil rights of all who live in Palestine/Israel. The forum will be held in the Temple Ballroom of the Capitol Plaza, 1025 Ninth St., in downtown Sacramento. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a sampling of light Middle Eastern refreshments. The program begins at 6 p.m., and admission is free. Dr. Hatem Bazian will provide a legal overview of the status of human and civil

Imagine being held at a security checkpoint for seven hours, told you can't return to where you have lived for the past four years, blindfolded, handcuffed and dropped at the border of a rough neighborhood in the middle of the night. This is Berlanti Azzam's story, as told by her to a diverse audience including Palestinians and Jews Wednesday night at the Sierra Arden United Church of Christ. The 22-year-old was six weeks away from graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration from Bethlehem University when deported from the West Bank to her homeland, Gaza. Azzam was given legal aid from GISHA, an Israeli legal team dealing mostly with freedom of movement issues, but wa