US: "Separate Is Never Equal" Speaking Tour Concludes

(photos and video below) - The Fall 2008 speaking tour of Diana Buttu, Eddie Makue, and Katherine Fuchs organized by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has come to an end and, by all accounts, was a resounding success.

Click here to view our photo gallery of the tour

Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team, Eddie Makue, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, and Katherine Fuchs, the US Campaign's National Organizer, visited 13 cities in two weeks. On the tour, Diana and Eddie shared stories of their struggles to achieve equality under apartheid regimes and spoke out against Israeli apartheid policies against Palestinians, while Katherine encouraged audiences to engage in campaigns of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) as a strategy for achieving peace, justice, and equality for Palestinians and Israelis.

The dynamic trio spoke at more than two dozen public events at universities and religious institutions, had private meetings with faith leaders and congressional staffers, and had interviews and meetings with the media including majors newspapers such as the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times and television appearances on Democracy Now! and GritTV.

Click here for more on coverage of the speaking tour

Click here to read, listen, and watch multi-media appearances from the organizing tour

The speakers also spoke to thousands at the School of the Americas Watch vigil in Fort Benning, Georgia, and were the featured guests at a tea-time reception at the South African Embassy in Washington, DC. To top it off, Eddie Makue was the civil society representative at the United Nations' International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People on Nov. 24th.

We couldn't have gotten this message out to thousands of people directly and many more indirectly through the press without the fantastic organizing work and support of the local organizations that planned each stop of the tour. The US Campaign would like to give thanks to the following organizations for making this tour possible:

Washington, DC: Busboys and Poets, The Palestine Center

Arlington, VA: Arab Law Students Association of George Mason University

Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn for Peace & Brooklyn College Anti-War Coalition

Manhattan, NY: United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, Adalah-NY, Columbia Qanun

Dearborn, MI: Palestine Office

Milwaukee: Peace Action Wisconsin, Marquette University Muslim Student Association, UW-Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society

Chicago: American Friends Service Committee - Great Lakes Region & Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine

Boulder, CO: Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center, Coalition for Justice in Palestine

Los Angeles: American Friends Service Committee - Pacific Southwest Region, Cal State University Long Beach Center for Peace and Social Justice

Louisville, KY: Louisville Committee for Peace in the Middle East, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Anne Braden Institute, University of Louisville School of Law, U of L Muslim Student Association

Atlanta: American Friends Service Committee - Southeast Region

Help support the continued anti-apartheid education work of the US Campaign to End the Occupation, including a documentary movie of the organizing tour. When it's completed the Campaign will be working with its member organizations to screen the movie all over the country. Please help to spread the word about this tour by making this film a reality through your generous tax-deductible contribution by clicking here

Donate $25 or more and we'll send you a set of anti-apartheid awareness posters as a gift.

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