USPCN in the News – US Palestinian Community Network Media

The US Palestinian Community Network regularly comments to the press regarding issues affecting our community. For general media contacts, or to set up an interview, please contact us at

The USPCN in the News page archives press coverage of USPCN events, activities, and commentary.

2013

2012

  • by Noura Erekat, from Jadaliyya. In September 2011, a group of young Arab women, myself included, conspired to organize a DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival (DC-PFAF). Inspired by the gigantic models established in Toronto, Chicago, London, Houston, Ann Arbor, and Boston, we decided to emulate this model in Washington, DC. We believed it would also provide an on-going artistic project for young Palestinian organizers, many of whom are active with the US Palestinian Community Network-DC (USPCN-DC).

2011

  • Challenging AIPAC and Confronting “US Interests”, by Monadel Herzallah, Sara Kershnar, Max Ajl and Kristen Szremski, Electronic Intifada, May 23, 2011. “Rather than pitching Palestinian emancipation as amenable to imperial US national interests, activists and community organizers must take our role seriously and recognize that there is an inherent problem with negotiating Palestinian rights in Washington.”
  • Palestinian Youth: New Movement, New Borders by Noura Erakat, Al Jazeera English, May 4, 2011. “In late February, the USPCN’s DC Chapter staged a protest in front of the PLO General Delegation Office – not just to demand inclusion in a revived PNC election, but for the annulment of Oslo and the termination of the Palestinian Authority (PA), among a longer list of pointed demands.”

2010

  • Palestinian Youth Unite Against Normalization with Israel, International Middle East Media Center, April 28, 2010. “In commemoration of the anniversary of the Nakba, and as an expression of our commitment to resisting Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid in accordance with international law, we (Palestinian youth organizations signed below) declare our rejection of normalization with the Israel on all levels.”
  • University students commit to sweeping boycotts, Ma’an News, April 28, 2010. “In anticipation of Nakba commemoration day next month, Palestinian student and youth groups across the West Bank and Gaza signed a memorandum enacting a massive boycott of Israeli products and programs.”
  • Bringing Palestine to the US Social Forum, by Andrew Dalack, Electronic Intifada, April 6, 2010. “The USSF’s National Planning Committee (NPC) is dedicated to creating a space wherein the struggles of communities of color and indigenous populations can be heard and deliberately addressed. The participation of the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) in the NPC signifies a momentous shift for both the Left movement in the US as well as for Palestinian rights activism.”

2009

  • Tour depicts Israel’s Kafkaesque punishment for Palestinians by Audrey Hoak, Workers World, November 25, 2009. “A national tour organized to highlight the use of administrative detention, an inhumane punishment aimed at Palestinian political prisoners, visited a number of U.S. cities from Nov. 3 to Nov. 20. Administrative detention is a cruel form of arrest that offers the accused man, woman or even child no charges to dispute, no trial and no limit to their maximum sentence….” Download PDF
  • ‘Administrative detention’– cruel practice, cruel euphemism by Susie Kneedler, MondoWeiss, November 24, 2009. Coverage of the USPCN/PSG/Addameer national tour: “Ala Jaradat, human rights activist of Addameer, spoke last week to 100 people at Ohio State University’s Committee for Justice in Palestine about the campaign against the Israeli military’s practice Administrative Detention…” Download PDF
  • Center for Constitutional Rights Forum on Israeli Detentions by Fran Korotzer, Next Left Notes, November 23, 2009. Coverage of the USPCN/PSG/Addameer national tour: “On November 12, at the Center for Constitutional Rights in N.Y.C., people gathered to hear a talk by Ala ‘Jaradat, former Palestinian political prisoner and activist, on tour for the Palestinian organization, Addameer…” Download PDF
  • Political Prisoners’ Rights Activist Visits Twin Cities from Palestine by Katrina Plotz, Twin Cities Indymedia, November 13, 2009. Coverage of the USPCN/PSG/Addameer national tour: “This week nearly 70 people packed into a classroom at the University of MN to hear a presentation from Ala Jaradat, the program manager for Addameer, a Palestinian prisoner support and human rights organization in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah….” Download PDF
  • Solidarity with Palestine by Sara Flounders, Workers World, November 12, 2009.  “Wesam Ahmad, program officer from Al Haq—an independent legal and human rights organization based in Ramallah—addressed a packed meeting at the Solidarity Center here on Nov. 4. The meeting was co-sponsored by Al-Awda New York, Palestine Right to Return Coalition; International Action Center; Nord Sud XXI; and the U.S. Palestine Community Network, New York Chapter…” Download PDF
  • Jerusalem mayor’s speech divides DU groups by Joey Bunch, The Denver Post, November 3, 2009. “The divide over Jerusalem was as clear as the busy street that divided protesters in Denver Tuesday night, as about two dozen people gathered on each side of Iliff Avenue…” Download PDF
  • Citizens’ arrest, disruption of Olmert in San Francisco, The Electronic Intifada, October 23, 2009. “Twenty-two activists were arrested at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s speech to the World Affairs Council on 22 October between 6:30 and 7:30pm at the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square in San Francisco. Inside the auditorium, activists began disrupting the event by placing Olmert under citizens arrest.” Download PDF
  • Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago by Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada, October 16, 2009. “Approximately 30 activists — mainly students from area universities — disrupted a lecture given in Chicago by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday which was hosted by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. While Olmert’s speech was disrupted inside the lecture hall, approximately 150 activists protested outside the hall in the freezing rain.” Download PDF
  • Medical Aid Convoy Breaks Gaza Blockade by Andrew Pollack, Socialist Action, August 2009. “On July 4 over 80 supporters of Palestinian liberation left JFK Airport in New York to join what would end up being a delegation of over 200 in the Viva Palestina-United States (VPUS) convoy to Gaza. Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Latin@s, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and whites embarked on a trip to bring medical aid as part of the broader goal of breaking Israel’s genocidal siege…” Download PDF
  • International Effort to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, Fight Back! News, July 6, 2009. “The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat has issued an international call for signatures to a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon calling upon him and the United Nations to uphold their responsibilities and place pressure upon the Israeli regime to free Palestinian prisoners…” Download PDF
  • US losing ‘war for hearts and minds’ of Muslims by Anwar Iqbal, Dawn (Pakistan), January 11, 2009. “The Gaza conflict appears to have widened the traditional divide in the United States between the left-leaning liberals and the mainstream politicians and has also dealt a severe blow to US efforts for winning the hearts and minds of Muslim masses…” Download PDF
  • Anti-War Groups Unite Against Israel’s Assault on Gaza by Jeff Nall, Toward Freedom, January 9, 2009. “Leading organizations and activists in the anti-war movement have issued unified condemnation of the Israeli assault on Gaza that has left more than 750 killed, including numerous children, and thousands seriously injured…” Download PDF
  • Anger in the Streets over Israel’s War by Lichi D’Amelio, Socialist Worker, January 6, 2009. “January 3 saw the third and largest in a string of demonstrations to take place in New York City since Israel’s assault on the people of Gaza began a week ago…” Download PDF

2008

  • Palestine Popular Conference Meets in Chicago by Bill Cecil, Workers World, August 21, 2008. “Under the slogan “Reclaiming Our Voice, Reasserting Our Narrative,” hundreds of Palestinians living in the U.S. gathered in Chicago Aug. 8-10 for the first Palestine Popular Conference. It was the fruit of two years’ work in cities across the country…” Download PDF
  • Interview with Noura Erakat (Video) (Audio), the Arabic Hour, July 19, 2008. An interview about the upcoming Palestinian Popular Conference.