To the participants in the 2nd Haifa Conference For the return of Palestinian refugees And for the Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine Haifa, Al-Midan Theater, 28-30/5/2010
The preparatory committee is welcoming all those interested in participating in the conference.
As preparations to the conference are progressing, we update our welcome letter with more details of the program and the procedures. This dispatch was last updated on 2/5/2010.
This update is written to highlight both the progress in the preparation of the program and the growing interest in the conference, as many international delegations are signing up.
Program Outline
We are still working on the program of the conference, but we are able to publish a tentative outline that may help you make your plans.
Coming to Haifa
We recommend international guests to make their travel plans to arrive in Haifa by Thursday 27/5, so that we will be able to care for their accommodation in due time and they will have time to rest and participate in the whole program.
Friday, May 28
We expanded the Friday program to allow the best utilization of the time of the international delegations for networking with local activists and organizations.
10:00 Special interest networking meetings, according to prior coordination: Political parties, Feminist organizations, Religious dialogue, Social science, Physicians for Human Rights, etc.
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Walking tour in Haifa.
16:00 Workshops: Getting to know the participants + Homage to Haifa
18:00 Reception: Films, Food
19:00 Opening Session: Key political speakers, Cultural program
Between the speaker: Ghada Karmi, Ilan Pappe, Muhammad Kana’ane and a speaker from the 67 occupied territories. Special greetings from guest delegations from five continents.
Saturday, May 29
09:00 – 10:00 Gathering and registration + Breakfast
10:00 – 10:30 General meeting – Welcome + Distribution to workshops
10:30 – 12:15 Three parallel Workshops
12:30 – 14:15 Three parallel Workshops
14:30 – 15:30 Lunch
15:30 – 17:15 Three parallel Workshops
17:30 – 18:30 Presentation of workshop results in plenum
18:30 Dinner
19:00 – 22:00 Cultural Event
Sunday, May 30
10:00 Trip to the Galilee: The destroyed villages and the unrecognized villages.
10:00 – 15:00 – Consultations for the establishment of an international coalition.
Proposed Subjects for Workshops
The exact subjects for the workshops are still under discussion. Some of the issues that are likely to be handled are:
The return of Palestinian refugees – how to bring it back to the center of the political struggle and how to promote its implementation?
Different views about the nature of the future Democratic Palestine: One man one vote, Bi-National state, Islamic perspective, Socialist perspective.
International aspects of the struggle: BDS, International Solidarity, The Arab Communities in the West, Jewish support for the Palestinian cause, Lessons from South Africa.
The role of Palestinian political prisoners and participation from the prisoners in the discussion.
The vision of a democratic secular Palestine.
The Democratic solution to the Palestinian cause and the struggle for the future of the Arab World: The Lebanese example, Social and National struggle in Egypt, Confronting imperialist hegemony, Arab Unity,
There will be special workshops for activists to participate in discussing experiences and building together for future struggle:
Connecting Palestinians in struggle between 48, 67 occupied territories and the Diaspora.
Building the international solidarity movement.
Arab-Jewish partnership in struggle.
Languages: All major discussions will be held in Arabic, Hebrew and English with simultaneous translation.
Additional Details
· Registration
– We will thank you if you contact us to let us know that you are coming and what parts of the conference you are interested to attend to help us make our preparations.
– There are no registration fees to the conference.
– All the conference is paid for by donations and your contribution will be appreciated.
· Accommodation
– Activists from Haifa and the region will host guests from other areas.
– We request guests to inform us of their interest in accommodations.
· Tours
– Guests from abroad interested in tours to familiarize themselves with other aspects – political and social – of the struggle, are requested to inform us. We will be ready to help in organizing guided tours and more political encounters.
Information:
The Preparatory Committee ror1state@gmail.com
Yoav Bar yoav_bar@mail.com
Sahar Abdo sahar_abdo@yahoo.com
· Participation in absentia
Unfortunately the conference dates could not be suited to the schedules of all those who found interest in it. Even worse, many of those people that are most interested in participation, Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza and from the Diaspora, are prevented by Israel from coming to Haifa. We welcome participation in absentia in the following ways:
Publishing articles, studies, and position papers about the right of return and the democratic secular state at the conference website.
Support and greeting letters to the conference will be posted on the website and we shall read them out at the opening session.
We welcome the initiative to hold preparatory or parallel events in other locations.
We call on all supporters of the goals of the conference to contact us in order to work together for the building of an international coalition for the return of the Palestinian refugees and for the Democratic Secular state in Historic Palestine.
THE HAIFA CONFERENCE WEBSITES:
www.ror1state.org – Site of the 1st conference.
www.awda1state.org – Site of the 2nd conference.