Meetings: 7:00 - 8:30 pm the second and
fourth Thursdays of the month at the Woodstock
Public Library. Contact:

Who We Are
In the News

The Middle East Crisis Response is a group of Hudson Valley residents joined in support of human rights for Palestinians and an end to the US's aggressive policies in the Middle East. (read more)

Donating to Mideast Crisis

Even a small donation helps our efforts. Make checks out to "MECR" and send them to: MECR, Box 1362, Woodstock, NY 12498.

Local Groups We Support

Children of Occupation Project
local women artists and teachers working for peace in the Middle East.

Hudson to Gaza Freedom March
Hudson Valley residents traveling to break the siege of Gaza.

Hudson Valley Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
ending Israeli apartheid though economic means.

Woodstock Peace Economy
promoting peaceful manufacturing in Woodstock.

Our Blogs

Articles
published about
The Middle East.

Events
our group has
organized.

Other Blogs

Al-Awda-NY Convoy
to Gaza

Doctor in Galilee
"a physician struggling to alleviate his people's lot"
-Desmond Tutu

Eyewitness Reports
from Palestine by Anna Baltzer

Gaza Views
follow Felice Gelman's trip to Egypt and Gaza

George Salzman
former American Jew living in Oaxaca, Mexico

Joan Nestle:
67 year old Jewish lesbian fem, writer, archivist

Mondoweiss
Jewish writer for the American Conservative questioning Zionism

Raising Yousuf:
Unplugged - diary of a Palestinian mother

Shalom Rav
Random Blogthoughts by Rabbi Brant Rosen

Sunshine
Fida's blog from Rafah

Tales to Tell from Gaza
by ISM member Sharon Lock

Podcasts

Palcast: podcasting the occupation.

ClassWars podcast.

Background

Mapping the Israeli Apartheid in the West Bank.


Find out which Israeli and international corporations are directly involved in the occupation: in the construction of Israeli colonies and infrastructure in the occupied territories, in the settlements' economy, in building walls and checkpoints, in the supply of specific equipment used in the control and repression of the civilian population under occupation.


Read Joel Kovel's book Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel Palestine that was censored by the Israeli Lobby. Listen to his interview on "Democracy Now!"


Read about Rachel Corrie, the 23 year old American peace activist, who was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer as she knelt in front of a Palestinian home. A memorial as well as a tribute to Rachel Corrie were put in the Poughkeepsie Journal. Read more in Common Dreams.

Watch a video of Jim Page singing "I'd Rather Be Dancing."


Listen to Ilan Pappe, Israeli historian, talk about apartheid and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.


Listen to: "They're Building a Wall" by David Rovics.


Songs For Mahmud


Watch a short clip from "A Palestinian Woman," a new release from Red Hill Films.


Watch the "Shame of Ertas" on YouTube.


Listen to Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli air force pilot who refused to serve in Palestine. He spoke at Bard and on Activist Radio.


Read the "Two-States or One State" public debate between Uri Avnery and Ilan Pappe.


Read: MuzzleWatch
Tracking efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy.


What YOU can do for justice in Palestine.


Bekah Wolf: Beyond the Rhetoric
The Realities of the Israeli Occupation and Prospects for a Just Resolution in Palestine

Sunday, November 22
2:30 PM

United Methodist Church
1 Grove Street, New Paltz 12561

An American-Israeli, Bekah Wolf is a graduate of New York University with an MS in education from Long Island University. She co-founded the Palestine Solidarity Project, an organization based in the West Bank village of Beit Ommar and dedicated to supporting popular, non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Print out a PDF flyer for the event.

We are going to Gaza!

It looks like twelve residents of the Hudson Valley will take part in the Gaza Freedom March from Dec. 25 to January 4. We will be part of the Code Pink effort to break the siege.

You can help us raise money for the march by sending your donation to: MECR, Box 1362, Woodstock, NY 12498. Please write "Gaza" on the memo line to make sure it goes to our trip.



"Dov Hikind, a member of the New York State Assembly, was in this disputed city on Wednesday looking for property to buy. He said he was most excited about a new apartment complex overlooking the Old City called Nof Zion.

At noon, Mr. Hikind led a group of about 50 American Jews in laying a cornerstone for the next phase of Nof Zion, with construction scheduled to start next spring. “I want to buy here,” Mr. Hikind said. “I might make a deal while I am here this time.”

More than a real estate deal, though, it would be a statement: Nof Zion, a private Jewish project, is in Jebel Mukaber, a Palestinian Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, in territory Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war..." -NY Times 11/10/09

Call Assemblyman Hikind and tell him what you think:

718-853-9616



The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Anna Baltzer & Mustafa Barghouti Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
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Tristan Anderson (US Citizen) was critically injured and is in intensive care. Other friends there reported that the Israeli soldiers were not in any danger when they fired new kinds of projectiles and other weaponry. Tristan was actually to the side and was hit while standing and observing the attack by the Israeli soldiers on the Palestinian and International nonviolent and unarmed demonstrators. So far in the last 9 years over 6000 Palestinians and several Internationals were murdered by Israeli occupation forces (including a 23 year old American student Rachel Corrie)...

Let us test if the new US State Department is more open to human rights than the old fascist state Department. Email them your thoughts. This link will take you to the state Department comment page.

Mazin Qumsiyeh


Dear Friend,

I am writing you today because hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are suffering terribly following the recent Israeli attacks paid for by your tax dollars and mine.

Even before this horrifying assault, there were tremendous shortages of food, medicine, electricity, and fuel because of the Israeli blockade that has been going on for nearly two years. We must do everything we can to stop the immoral acts of the Israeli government and our own government's political and financial support.

But right now, the children desperately need our immediate help. I'm asking you to make a contribution to the Middle East Children's Alliance to help meet the most basic needs of children in Gaza...

Thank you so much for your support,
Noam Chomsky



Blinded by white phosphorus in Gaza.
The invasion Congress voted to praise.


Israel Killing Palestinians in Gaza
With US Weapons

(Print PDF Flyer)


"Let's see this for what it is." said UN spokesman Chris Gunness. "Fifty-six percent of the Gaza Strip are children. Let us not cause suffering of innocent children."

  • Contact your congressional representatives and demand that the US government pressure Israel to stop starving Gazans, end the siege, and respect basic Palestinian rights.

    Senator Charles Schumer District Phone: (212) 486-4430
    Senator Hillary Clinton District Phone: (212) 688-6262

From US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation



Israeli patrol books shooting at Palestinian
fishermen off the Gaza coast.