"Feel free to hate me and to doubt me, but until you stood behind my plate, . . you could never out me" Murs
2009-10-15, 10:22 p.m.

Two more protest follow-ups and some music. I'm not sure what's up with my rap/hip hop kick. Not generally my scene, but I've been coming across some cool stuff.

Protest follow-up one; Answers to some questions I was asked by our school newspaper;
1) What year are you?
I am a second year graduate student

2) How were you involved in Tuesday night�s protests?
I participated by wearing red tape over my mouth stating the name of a war crime committed by the state of Israel inside of the auditorium, and also helped watch over student actors in our street theater piece in front of the auditorium.

What groups are you affiliated with?
I am a member of the NOLA Palestine Solidarity group,
a diverse group of people from Greater New Orleans working for a just peace in Palestine.r

3) What was the goal of Tuesday night�s protests?
My own personal goals were to provide a second opinion on the proceedings of Tuesday night, and to make sure that Olmert, as well as the university, knew that there are people in the Tulane and New Orleans community do not support a man who a
s the Israeli Prime Minister killed thousands in Lebanon and Gaza, committed war crimes including illegally using weapons against civilian targets and deliberately attacking hospitals and medical staff in the Gaza strip. Furthermore, as prime minister of Israel he continued the illegal building of settlements in the West Bank, and presided over the death of thousands in Gaza and Lebanon. While inside the auditorium Olmert spoke of his support of peace but his actions far from follow.

4) Do you think you achieved those goals?
By just being there, we were able to achieve those goals. We might not have changed anyones mind, in fact, in answer to your question below, we were the target of much vitriol. But I hope that our being there caused those who were threatened by our presence a chance to maybe think seriously about some of the reasons we decided to protest that night.

5) How do you think you and the other protesters were received by students?
There were some who appreciated the fact that we were there. Some came up to us afterward to talk, and yet others wanted to know how they could be involved, or how they could learn more about the issue. The majority of students though were highly threatened by our presence. Several students threw things at our street theater actors, and one person even made as if to urinate on them. At one point, as I was standing silently to the side of our street theater piece, someone came up to me and started yelling at me. He was angry that we were there, and felt that we were not facilitating discussion, but rather that everything that need be said was said inside the auditorium. Discussion is not one sided, as Olmert, and the 'question and answer' session were in that auditorium. Our demonstration allowed for discussion by presenting those facts which Olmert chose to ignore. Furthermore, as part of our demonstration we had fliers with information, and while this particular person chose yelling and then walking away as a form of discussion, others did actually come and speak to us, and discussed their concerns with us. Many more were surprised by our presence, and while they might not have talked to us then, I am certain many went home to learn more about what was going on. I don't see that as stymieing discussion. Olmert's speech was a very narrow presentation of this conflict, and if one person went home after seeing us while walking out of the speech, and decided to learn more than just what they heard inside, our job was accomplished. Those in Palestine live under extreme oppression every single day, unable to travel freely and blocked from access to basic necessities, especially in Gaza. Their basic human rights such as the children's right to education, are constantly violated by Israel. The least we could do as individuals cognizant of this reality was spread the word, and challenge war criminals and corrupt leaders like Ehud Olmert, and those who support them.

6) What do you say to people who say that these demonstrations stymie discussion rather than encourage it? (answered above)

Please let me know if you have any more questions. I did not feel comfortable speaking for the group as far as group goals, but did forward your questions to some of our main organizers.

Follow up 2:
A letter written by one of the actors for the street theater piece we did.

"My first direct action as a means for social change
By Alison McCrary, October 14, 2009

The rhetoric of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi promoted revolutionary direct action as a means to social change.
Tonight, I participated in my first non-violent direct action. Though I�m usually passive and non-confrontational, I believe it is sometimes necessary to foster a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. Sometimes issues need dramatization so that they can no longer be ignored.

Though I believe this, I�m usually not one to act on it. When others act, I have always taken on the objective role of a legal observer to ensure that protesters� First Amendment rights are not violated. While I passionately believe in the issues folks are usually protesting, I often laugh at us as well and how crazy others probably think we are. Tonight, I was one of the �crazy ones.� I put on a new hat and experienced a powerful, deeper, spiritual, and emotional transformation. I gained a better understanding of compassion, oppression, and love for all people no matter what and gained a greater and personal understanding of the oppression of the Palestinian people. Through my direct action, I was forced to face an issue that I have known about but quite some time but had never confronted on a deeper level.

Over the past week, I felt called to act to challenge the presence of a war criminal in my city. Ehud Olmert, the former Prime Minister of Israel, was scheduled to speak at Tulane University in New Orleans. As the Israeli Prime Minister from 2006-2009, Ehud Olmert, waged wars on the people of Lebanon and Gaza, initiated an illegal siege against the people of Gaza, continued the illegal construction and expansion of settlements, continued the illegal construction of the apartheid wall in the West Bank, and continued the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem.

The United Nations Goldstone Report concluded that the Israeli military operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole in furtherance of an overall and continuing policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population, and in a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed at the civilian population. The destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems, concrete factories and residential houses was the result of a deliberate and systematic policy which has made the daily process of living, and dignified living, more difficult for the civilian population.

With Olmert�s scheduled visit, those who believe as passionately as I do about the dignity of the human person and human rights bounced around ideas of ways to challenge Olmert�s presence in our beloved city. While hesitant and nervous because I knew we would face arrests because the university was private property, something deep inside moved me to act. I expressed my desire to do something more with my classmate, Nikki Thanos, and we discerned together.

A group of about twenty of us started off with a peaceful protest with signs on the campus. We were interviewed and videotaped by Fox, WWL, and other news networks. The protest grew to about forty people. When the doors to the auditorium opened, about fifteen of us entered separately and peacefully sitting throughout the auditorium.

When Olmert began speaking, I placed a piece of thick red tape over my mouth that read �White Phosphorus.� Causing horrific burns, Israel has used white phosphorus shells to screen its assaults on the heavily populated Gaza Strip. Other activists covered their mouths with red tape stating other things that Olmert did not talk about during his speech. When Olmert started speaking about the importance of profits and political power for Israel over human rights, each of us, one by one, stood up and walked out. Each time one of us stood up, half of the room would turn around to look. Though not planned as such, this created a statement and made people begin to question the words coming from his mouth.

After leaving the auditorium, some joined in the larger crowd of protester. I went to the bathroom for a �costume change.� I put on a headscarf for the first time, a long black skirt, and a shirt covered in wet red splattered paint resembling the blood of the Palestinian people. Three of my close friends did the same. Coming from different directions, we all made our way to a space in front of the auditorium several feet from the protesters. With tombstones behind us stating the number of people killed by Olmert�s actions, we assembled figuratively as dead bodies on the wet ground in the humid heat. As participants exited the auditorium, they passed us. The environment one of the most hostile environments I have ever encountered. I felt more vulnerable and at risk of being harmed as I lay there peacefully that when I lived one of the largest and most dangerous slums in South America. Educated students yelled at me, called me a f***�in Palestinian and other slurs, spit on me, and one man tried to urinate on me. During the 45 minutes of laying on the cement, I prayed for each person passing and challenged myself to love each of them as individuals even if I disagree with their actions. I prayed for all of those who live in areas of conflict and for the education and understanding of more privileged people.

Had it not been for dedicated team of legal observers, about four people guarding me standing directly in front of me, and respectful police performing their duties, the likelihood of leaving physically unharmed would have been slim to none. When everyone had exited the auditorium, we got up, cleaned up, and headed home.

Back to our regular privileged selves, we no longer had to directly face the oppression and hostility because of what we believed. However, brown, disempowered, and poor people everywhere cannot just get up and clean up the way I did and never be oppressed in that way again. It is something they face every minute of every day and I am thankful for the gift of being able to understand this oppression from my privileged point of view and to have had the opportunity to be in so solidarity in a silent and peaceful way with others tonight."