[FA Worldmusic] Fw: Reject Racism! Support The Marcel Khalife Concert in San Diego!

[Dmitri Vietze]

----- Original Message -----
From: Zahi Damuni
To: Al-Awda-San-Diego at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 2:37 PM
Subject: Reject Racism! Support The Marcel Khalife Concert in San Diego!


ACTION ALERT

For Immediate Release
October 4, 2007

Reject Racism! Support The Marcel Khalife Concert in San Diego!

Many thanks to all those who have thus far made reservations for the Marcel
Khalife concert that will take place at the beautiful and friendly Birch
North Park Theater on Sunday October 14, 2007 in San Diego. Khalife opened
the first leg of his tour in several venues across Canada to rave reviews.
Here is one such review:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071002.KHALIFE02/TPStory/T
PEntertainment/Music/

Khalife's concert tour will have 18 venues in the US, three of which are in
California. It also includes two nights at the Kennedy Center in Washington,
DC. San Diegans are in for a great experience!

For those who plan to attend, please go to
http://al-awdasandiego.org/marcel/khalife.html for information on how to
obtain your tickets.

As you may know, the original venue at the Salvation Army's Joan B Kroc
Theater, was cancelled this August, six months after we believed we had
secured the venue by paying the required deposit in February 2007, following
the renters instructions we were provided, as well as working communications
with the management.

Al-Awda San Diego considers the venue cancellation by the Salvation Army,
its late timing, and the manner in which it was conveyed, as a violation of
our agreement and insulting and dismissive to our community, our
organization and Marcel Khalife, the artist. We consider this a form of
cultural discrimination. The Salvation Army it seems insists on viewing a
cultural event through a political lens because our organization, the
presenter of the concert, advocates for the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Such a view is politically racist and we do not tolerate it.

For additional background information concerning our interaction with the
Salvation Army, please go to http://al-awdasandiego.org/salvation_army.html

What You Can Do

1. Show your rejection of the Salvation Army decision by attending the
concert which will take place in San Diego at the Birch North Park Theater
on Sunday October 14, 2007. Support the artist, our community and Al-Awda by
rejecting racism. Please go to
http://al-awdasandiego.org/marcel/khalife.html for information on how to
obtain your tickets.

2. To support the concert and help defray some of the costs incurred due
to the change of venue, please consider the available sponsorship
opportunities described at: http://al-awdasandiego.org/marcel/sponsors.html

3. Write to the Salvation Army to express your opinion at their decision.
Here
are some suggested talking points:

*The Palestine Right to Return Coalition's advocacy for the natural,
inalienable and fundamental right of Palestinian refugees to return to their
land and homes of origin is based on universal values. Point out that the
right to return to one's home is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, International Law, and that, for Palestinian refugees, this
right has been affirmed more than 130 times by the United Nations since
General Assembly resolution 194 of 1948.

*Marcel Khalife is a UNESCO artist for peace. His concert is being hosted by
The Palestine Right to Return Coalition in San Diego because it is
consistent with the organization's advocacy.

*The venue denial by the Salvation Army is a form of cultural
discrimination. The Salvation Army insistence on viewing a cultural event
with a political lens is because the presenter of the concert is an
organization which advocates for the rights of Palestinian refugees. Such a
view is racist, outrageous and intolerable.

* The Palestine Right to Return Coalition's mission is based on universal
values. To characterize these values as sectarian is to say that they should
not apply to Palestinians. The Salvation Army's opposition to the
application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Palestinians is
politically motivated racism.

Please address your correspondence to:

Captain John Van Cleef, Administrator
The Salvation Army Kroc Center San Diego
Tel: 1-619-269-1401
Fax: 1-619-255-7206
Email: John.Van.Cleef at usw.salvationarmy.org

Ms. Cathie Hyatt, Manager
Joan B. Kroc Theatre, Performing Arts Center
The Salvation Army Kroc Center San Diego
Tel: 1-619-269-1551
Fax: 1-619-255-7206
Email: Cathie.Hyatt at usw.salvationarmy.org

Ms. Kathy Lovin
The Salvation Army Western Territory
Long Beach, California
Email: Kathy_Lovin at usw.salvationarmy.org
Tel: 1-562-491-8751

Please cc your correspondence to alerts at al-awdasandiego.org

Al-Awda San Diego
The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
Email: info at al-awdasandiego.org
WEB: http://al-awdasandiego.org