from: William HughesMara Verheyden-Hilliard is an activist, Constitutional Rights attorney, and the cofounder of the Partnership for Civil Justice. She is also the co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild. Ms. Verheyden-Hilliard was one of the speakers at an event entitled, “Viva Palestina: A Lifeline from the U.S. to Gaza.” It was held on the campus of American U., in Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening, June 28, 2009. It was a fundraiser “for a special U.S. convoy, which will travel from New York City to Egypt before making its way across the Rafah border into Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid,” according to the organizers’ press release. In her remarks, Ms. Verheyden-Hilliard took exception to President Barack Obama’s assertion, at Cairo, that the “U.S. is not a self-interested Empire.” She said the evidence proves otherwise; and, that the White House could “immediately” demand that Tel Aviv government “end the siege of Gaza.” She also described some of the history of Palestine going back to 1948. Ms. Verheyden-Hilliard underscored how the current Far Right Israeli government treats the people of Gaza “as terrorists,” and smears individuals who dare to speak up for human rights in Gaza, by regularly subjecting them to “threats, lies and demonization.” She praised the humanitarian convoys to Gaza, all the volunteers involved in that laudable effort, and the leadership on this seminal issue of justice and human decency as exemplified by the actions of the British MP, the Hon. George Galloway. Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of the Muslim American Society, served as the moderator of the affair. For more info on this fundraiser, its sponsors and the critically important convoy to Gaza, go to: http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/ For background on the current humanitarian crisis in Israeli-Occupied Gaza, please see:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/ and
http://www.phrmg.org/ and
http://www.wrmea.com/ and
http://justiceandaccountability.org/ and http://www.endtheoccupation.org/ and
http://www.amnesty.org/en/gaza-crisis and
http://www.hrw.org/en/features/israel and
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2009/0905057c.html