Boston to Palestine (B2P)

Boston to Palestine (B2P)

Overview

* Affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement
* Accuses Israel of human rights atrocities, and calls the Palestinian campaign of terrorism a “non-violent struggle”
* Seeks to obstruct Israeli security forces protecting Arab and Jewish Israeli citizens


Established in June 2002, Boston to Palestine (B2P) describes itself as “a group of Boston-based activists who work in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their non-violent struggle to resist and end the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).” B2P seeks to achieve this objective “by sending delegates to work with International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and other peace and justice groups operating in Palestine.” These delegates are equipped with still and video cameras “for the purposes of documenting life and events (including direct actions) in Palestine under occupation.” B2P then creates “opportunities for them to relate their experiences to the public when they return.”

Boston to Palestine has conducted dozens of what it terms “educational and outreach events” in Boston-area community and religious centers, high schools, and colleges, where returning delegates speak publicly about what they experienced and observed in the Middle East. The group has also organized demonstrations and vigils in and around Boston to protest “the ongoing atrocities conducted against Palestinians by the IDF, and to honor and commemorate ISM activists who have been killed or wounded by the IDF.” B2P seeks to convey to the world “the horrors that are a feature of [the Palestinians’] daily lives at the hands of the IDF.” Condemning the Israeli government’s “lethal targeting and murdering of activists and journalists, and the detention and deportation of activists as a matter of policy,” Boston to Palestine does not use the word “terrorist” — either as a noun or an adjective — to describe any Palestinian individual or deed. 

In June 2006, B2P co-sponsored (with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Dorchester People for Peace, Friends of Sabeel, the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Jewish Voice for Peace, Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine, Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, and United for Justice with Peace) a protest against Israel’s “Siege of the Palestinian People.” The organizers urged participants to bring signs with messages demanding an end to: “the siege and starvation of Palestinians”; “punishing Palestinians for their democratic vote” (in favor of a Hamas-led government); “the denial of food and medicine to Palestinians”; and “Israel’s 39-year-old military occupation.”

Boston to Palestine is a member organization of the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition, led by Leslie Cagan.

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