From Palestine to Turtle Island, Indigenous leaders face colonial governments attempting to criminalize their resistance. Let us take collective action to support Indigenous leaders.
This online event will center Palestinian and Indigenous voices who will speak about the impacts of settler-colonialism on their lives. There will be a focus on the ways that criminalization is used by states to control land and liberation struggles.
SPEAKERS
Moderator: KHURY PETERSEN-SMITH
Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). He researches U.S. empire, borders, and migration. Khury graduated from the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Massachusetts, after completing a dissertation that focused on militarization and sovereignty. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2015 Black Solidarity with Palestine statement, which was signed by over 1,100 Black activists, artists, and scholars.
TARIQ HATHALEEN
Tariq is 24 years old and studies English teaching methods at Hebron University. He is from the village of Um al-Khair, and has been a peace activist for more than five years. Tariq became involved in activism as a result of his observation that there was a need for more voices speaking out against human rights abuses and home demolitions, and he hopes to defend his community in this way.
CELESTE SMITH
Celeste (she/her) is the Executive Director of Skywomans Garden and the Project Lead of Ga Gitigemi Gamik. Celeste is from the Wolf Clan, and is Oneida/Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. As an intergenerational trauma survivor, she has made it her life’s mission to help women rebuild their connections to the land and their lifeways. Celeste is a seed steward, traditional agriculturalist and former professor of Traditional Ecological Knowledge at Niagara College.
EID HATHALEEN
Eid is one of the elders of the community of Um al-Khair in Palestine. He has traveled extensively across Europe and the United States promoting the movement for human rights and the Palestinian nonviolent struggle to challenge the mechanisms of oppression. He has presented in Washington DC, at the Hague and other places that oftentimes are cut off from Palestinian voices.
KRYSTAL TWO BULLS
Krystal Two Bulls is Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne from Lame Deer, Montana and is a Director of the LANDBACK (a U.S based campaign). She has extensive experience as an organizer and on the frontlines with campaign development and management on local, national and transnational campaigns for social, racial and environmental justice.
MURAD ODEH
Murad Odeh is a Palestinian activist and a community organizer who was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West-Bank. He co-founded many youth groups and networks in Palestine that focus on the Right of Return, International solidarity, and political engagement.
ART AND POETRY
VOULETTE
Voulette was born in Amman, Jordan and raised between Michigan and Southern California. She is a student at UC Berkeley studying Ethnic and Arabic studies and has been a board member and organizer with UC Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine for four years. Voulette is also a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement and was a finalist for PYM’s Ghassan Kanafani’s Writing Scholarship in 2018.
- Adalah Justice Project (AJP)
- American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
- Des Moines Catholic Worker (DMCW)
- Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
- Independent Jewish Voices (IJV)
- Inter Religious Task Force on Central America (IRTF)
- On Earth Peace (OEP)
- United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine & Israel – Toronto (UNJPPI)
- US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)
- World Beyond War (WBW)
SPEAKERS
Moderator: KHURY PETERSEN-SMITH
Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). He researches U.S. empire, borders, and migration. Khury graduated from the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Massachusetts, after completing a dissertation that focused on militarization and sovereignty. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2015 Black Solidarity with Palestine statement, which was signed by over 1,100 Black activists, artists, and scholars.
TARIQ HATHALEEN
Tariq is 24 years old and studies English teaching methods at Hebron University. He is from the village of Um al-Khair, and has been a peace activist for more than five years. Tariq became involved in activism as a result of his observation that there was a need for more voices speaking out against human rights abuses and home demolitions, and he hopes to defend his community in this way.
CELESTE SMITH
Celeste (she/her) is the Executive Director of Skywomans Garden and the Project Lead of Ga Gitigemi Gamik. Celeste is from the Wolf Clan, and is Oneida/Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. As an intergenerational trauma survivor, she has made it her life’s mission to help women rebuild their connections to the land and their lifeways. Celeste is a seed steward, traditional agriculturalist and former professor of Traditional Ecological Knowledge at Niagara College.
EID HATHALEEN
Eid is one of the elders of the community of Um al-Khair in Palestine. He has traveled extensively across Europe and the United States promoting the movement for human rights and the Palestinian nonviolent struggle to challenge the mechanisms of oppression. He has presented in Washington DC, at the Hague and other places that oftentimes are cut off from Palestinian voices.
KRYSTAL TWO BULLS
Krystal Two Bulls is Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne from Lame Deer, Montana and is a Director of the LANDBACK (a U.S based campaign). She has extensive experience as an organizer and on the frontlines with campaign development and management on local, national and transnational campaigns for social, racial and environmental justice.
MURAD ODEH
Murad Odeh is a Palestinian activist and a community organizer who was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West-Bank. He co-founded many youth groups and networks in Palestine that focus on the Right of Return, International solidarity, and political engagement.
ART AND POETRY
VOULETTE
Voulette was born in Amman, Jordan and raised between Michigan and Southern California. She is a student at UC Berkeley studying Ethnic and Arabic studies and has been a board member and organizer with UC Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine for four years. Voulette is also a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement and was a finalist for PYM’s Ghassan Kanafani’s Writing Scholarship in 2018.
