Peace is built person by person, group by group, nation by nation. In commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Peace, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice invites University of San Diego students, faculty, staff, as well as the San Diego community, to join in celebrating this day of nonviolence and reconciliation.

The event will feature live music, food vendors and a march for peace. Local and campus organizations working for peace and social justice will provide information and ways to get involved. Participants in this celebration of peace will observe a moment of silence followed by a dove release.

Tuesday, September 20, 2012

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, Garden of the Sky

12:15-2:15pm

Cost: Free

Source: https://www.sandiego.edu/about/news_center/events/events_detail.php?_focus=39327

Photo credits: sandiego.edu

Please join the University Of San Diego Trans-Border Institute for a reception to welcome the academic year, the new dean of the Peace Studies School and to celebrate Mexico’s independence. Come learn about Trans-Border Institute’s new projects and upcoming event programming.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, Room G & Terrace

5:00-7:00pm

Cost: Free and open to the public

Source: https://www.sandiego.edu/peacestudies/tbi/news/events/eventlist.php?_focus=42072

Jane Ellen Bergman Memorial Lecture Series Presents Cherie Blair

Cherie Blair—human rights barrister, part-time judge and wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair—gives her perspectives on life, learning and the law. She discusses highlights from her own career and explains the critical role of lawyers in promoting human rights and rule of law to create a more equitable and sustainable future.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

University of San Diego, Warren Auditorium, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

Schedule

5:30 p.m. — Doors open
6:00 p.m. — Presentation in Warren Auditorium
7:00 p.m. — Reception in Hilton Loggia

Admission is free, but reservations are required to attend the lecture. Reserve by Monday, September 17, 2012.

Presented by the University of San Diego School of Law and Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.

Source: http://www.sandiego.edu/law/news/calendar_of_events/event_details.php?_focus=42208

Photo credits: theolivepress.es

Saturday, September 8th

WHERE: Institute of the Americas (University of California, San Diego

4:00pm— Screening of Reportero/Reporter (Directed by Bernardo Ruiz) preceded by Silencio  Forzado/Forced Silence

5:30pm— Panel Libertad De Expresión y Persecución a Periodistas/ Freedom of Expression and Persecution of                                        Journalists [With: Lynne Walker, Adela Navarro, Bernardo Ruíz, Carlos Dada, Mariclaire Acosta (as Moderator)]

                   Trans-Border Institute (University of San Diego)

8:00pm— Screening of Al Otro Lado/To The Other Side (Directed by Natalia Almada)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

WHERE: Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT)

4:00pm— Screening of Vol Special/Special Flight (Directed by Fernand Melgar)

5:30pm— Panel Migración y Centros de Detención/ Child Migration and Detention Centers [With: Fabienne Venet, Gisele Bonnici, Michelle Brané, Uriel González (as Moderator)]

                   El Faro, Playas de Tijuana

8:00pm— Screening of Una Frontera, Todas Las Fronteras/ One Frontier, All Frontiers (Directed by David Pablos)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

WHERE: Institute of the Americas (University of California, San Diego)

4:00pm— Screening of Vol Special/ Special Flight (Directed by Fernand Melgar)

 5:30pm— Panel Migracion y Centros de detention/ Child Migration and Detention Centers [With: Fabienne Venet, Gisele Bonnici, Michelle Brané, Kevin M. Keenan (as Moderator)]

                  Centro Cultural La Raza, Balboa Park

 8:00pm— Screening of Una Frontera, Todas Las Fronteras/ One Frontier, All Frontiers (Directed by David Pablos)

Source: Trans-Border Institute, Ambulante, Ford Foundation

Photo: ambulante.com.mx

Where:  UC Riverside, University Theater

When: 10:00 am- 5:00pm , May 25, 2012

In light of the recent protests across UC campuses including Berkeley, Davis, and UC Riverside on January 19th, 2012, many feel the imperative to publicly respond and engage in a dialogue about the state and future of protest and policing on UC campuses. It is hoped as well that the symposium will address the function of policing and explore alternatives models for dealing with violence, maintaining social order and creating a system of community accountability.

Continuing the discussion from part I of this event, come listen, learn and engage with a variety of UCR student activists, faculty, and guest speakers as they discuss these topics; addressing the ways in which police have functioned in the past and how they currently interact with the UCR student and faculty body as well as the greater outside community. Several speakers will be presenting on current issues pertaining to protesting and activism here on campus and how the police and administration have responded in the past to such actions. The keynote speaker for the day will be political activist, scholar, and author, Angela Davis.

The event is free and open to all.

**Early arrival is advised to obtain your seats**

Public parking is available on campus for $8 for a day pass

Program for the Event:

10:00 – 11:45
Speakers:
Pat Morton, Chair of the Art History, UCR
Jennifer Doyle, Professor of English, UCR
Shaheen Nasser, UCR undergraduate student
Taher Herzallah, student activist & Alumni, UCR
Dylan Rodriguez, Chair of Ethnic Studies, UCR

break for one hour

1:00-2:45
Greeting by Dean Stephen Cullenberg of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Science
Speakers:
Farah Godrej, Associate Professor, UCR
Ken Ehrlich, Artist/Lecturer, Art Department, UCR
Randall Williams, independent scholar and author of Divided World: Human Rights & its Violence
Mike Davis, Professor of Creative Writing, UCR
Gina Dent, Associate Professor, Feminist Studies, UCSC

Question & Answer period followed by coffee, tea & refreshment break

3:00- 5:00
Live Performance by Faze Lucciano – hip hop artist/producer
Speakers:
Vorris Nunley, Associate Professor, English, UCR
Brittnay Proctor, Alumni, UCR
Martha Escobar, Assistant Professor of Chican@ Studies, Cal State Northridge & UCR Alumni
Rachel Herzing, Development Director, Critical Resistance
Angela Davis, Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, UCSC
Question & Answer

Guiding Questions for Panels 1 & 2:
What has been the history and function of policing in our communities and on our campuses?
Should the university campus be a sanctuary free of administrative and police repression and surveillance?
What is the relationship between administrative power and policing? How has the administration
functioned to enhance or delimit dissent on our campus?

Guiding Questions for Panel 3:
How can we create safer and more secure communities and campuses that are free from police and economic violence?
What alternative forms of accountability and justice can we implement and practice to better serve all members of our communities?

Organized by Setsu Shigematsu

Co-sponsored by: CHASS Dean’s Office, Center for Ideas & Society, Ethnic Studies and the Media & Cultural Studies Department

Contacts: geoff.cohen@ucr.edu, setsus@ucr.edu, laura.lozon@ucr.edu

Photo source: occupyeverything.org

RIVERSIDE, CA.— A massive student protest erupted at UC Riverside Thursday after hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest rising tuition costs.

Students from as far away as Berkeley and San Diego came to join in the demonstrations.

The students were protesting the ongoing tuition hikes as well as other budgetary related measures, such as the steady increase in the Regents salary despite budget cuts.

The students were also asking the Regents to extend the very limited public comment section of meeting a mere 20 minutes so that concerned students could effectively convey their demands.

At which point, the students successfully disrupted the Regents meeting by staging a sit-in protest.

The students made the following statement while linking arms, “We the students, ask that the regents open their meeting to a public forum.”

The group of demonstrators then began to list their concerns and invited the regents to join in the people’s assembly.

UC officials left the meeting room within minutes.The Regents switched their meeting to another room in the building.

Once the demonstrators left the Regents returned to the room to resume the meeting, this time with no public access.

Later in the day, nearly 100 officers from the Riverside Police Department and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department joined 100 UC campus officers already outside the Regents meeting.

At one point during the protest, police begun to fire pepper sprays bullets and rubber bullets at the demonstrators.

Several individuals were hit with the bullets, a number of other students claim to have been hit by batons during the confrontation.

One student, Anthony Lascano was struck by the pepper spray balls. He told the Press-Enterprise, “I saw another woman protester getting touched by officers, so we moved one of the barricades we were using over to defend ourselves against the police. They started pulling the barricade away, and one of them opened fire with the paint gun.”

Press-Enterprise has a video of the clash that shows one protester being dragged away by police around the 1:40 minute mark.

UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White told several media outlets that he blamed the sit-ins and arrests on a handful of overly aggressive students.

The organizers and supporters wrote the following letter regarding the demonstration:

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Community Members,

We are writing to have our voices heard and call people to action to defend public education. Our futures are being mortgaged in order to maintain bloated administrative salaries and further privatize critical social services across this state, country, and around the world.

In the past decade alone the UC has seen a 342.2% increase in tuition and fees. This trend directly corresponds with a period of exorbitant administrative growth and devastating cuts to instruction, support services and staff, and other critical UC programs. On December 13, 2011 Governor Jerry Brown announced another $100 million in cuts to the UC system, which brings the total to $750 million this fiscal year alone.

The annual fees for attending a UC were $3,859 in 2001-2002; now they are $13,218, and estimated to increase substantially within the next four years. This trend runs completely contradictory to the 1960 CA Master Plan which calls for tuition-free public higher education in this state. Quality, accessible public higher education is a cornerstone for establishing social and economic equality on local to global levels and as such demands our active support and protection.

Our public institutions of higher education are being actively privatized and glutted by regents, trustees and administrators who are deeply invested in large private business interests. These people and the interests they represent want to continue profiting from a drive to remake our public institutions in the image of private-for-profit models.

We are asking that all of us continue to take a stand and fight back to defend our public institutions against the betrayal of many of those charged with their protection. As the students, faculty, and staff who run California’s public colleges and universities, it is our responsibility to assert every day that these are OUR SCHOOLS and that we are not powerless to further the mission of maintaining affordable, accessible and quality public higher education not only in this state, but around the world. An accessible educational experience is important for people everywhere to be able to obtain if they so choose that we might construct a more equitable, just and peaceful world for everyone.

The UC regents are invested with the responsibility of “managing” the UC system. They have insistently refused to engage in constructive dialogue with students, faculty and staff on critical issues that have been repeatedly brought to their attention. Some of them are personal friends and/or business partners of former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger or other influential politicians and that is precisely how they obtained their initial appointment as regents. A vast majority of the current regents have no professional background in public education and a corresponding majority of them maintain direct ties to business interests that seek to develop financially profitable relationships with the UC and other public institutions.

Banks and other corporations get bailed out and we get sold out, time and again. The regents’ silence in Sacramento fits the destructive model of privatization that they have in mind for the UC. As part of this agenda, it also fits their interests to raise the salaries of administrators even as they tell the rest of us that we need to “continue making sacrifices.”

We are the instruments of change and the power to create it lies in our hands. Enough is enough. We will let our voices be heard and continue to demand that the UC regents and administrators be held accountable. Please join us for a day of non-violent protest at the regents’ next meeting, which is scheduled to take place at UC Riverside on January 17-19, 2012. A day of mass mobilization to defend public education is being called for Thursday, January 19, 2012 at UC Riverside. Come join us as we continue the fight to defend and maintain quality and accessible public education not only in this state but around the world.
Sincerely,

Concerned Students, Faculty, Staff and Community Members of UC Riverside

Please click the link & sign the Regent Reform petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/uc-regent-reform

The sister of Feroz Ahmad Malik mourns his death as the funeral procession makes its way through the city of Srinagar. Feroz was killed when authorities indiscriminately opened fire on the city. His death led to massive protests in Srinagar.

The summer of 2010 produced Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years. More than 1,500 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been stranded by the flooding.

Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, in protest to the confiscation of his wares and constant harassment by authorities. Bouazizi’s death became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution inciting demonstrations and riots throughout the region in protest to social and political issues. The public demonstrations eventually led president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali  to step down on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power.

Officials in protective gear check for signs of radiation on children who are from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant in Koriyama, Japan, following the earthquake and tsunami in March.

Bibi Aisha an Afhan woman was disfigured after fleeing her husband’s home. Aisha’s father promised her to a Taliban fighter when she was 12 years old and she was married at 14. After being abused by her husband’s family, she fled to her parents home. In the middle of the night a group of men showed up at her parents house and forced them to give her up. The men took her into the mountains and cut off her nose and her ears, leaving her to die. Aisha was rescued by and taken to a shelter run by the aid organization Afghan Women For Women.

Police spray Ugandan opposition party leaders with colored water during demonstrations in the capital Kampala. President Museveni, in power for 25 years, accused the opposition of trying to spread chaos to avenge their defeat in February’s disputed presidential elections. The tactic of spraying paint at protesters is fairly common in Uganda, spraying protesters a distinctive color makes it difficult for people to escape the authorities.

A student demonstrator is punched by a police officer while participating in a protest in Chile. The student demonstrations in Chile began as a protest over the costs, profits, and fairness of higher education. They continued to attract other segments of Chilean society venting frustration over wages, health care, and other issues.

Pamphlets are hurled by workers and teachers of public education toward congressmen during a protest against a new law on public education during a session of the Chilean congress in Valparaiso on April 20, 2011.

The worst drought in 60 years hit the Horn of Africa region in 2011. Thousands of Somalians fled their homes in search of water, food and aid. Mihag Gedi Farah, a seven-month-old child, is held by his mother in a field hospital of the International Rescue Committee in the town of Dadaab, Kenya.

Women flee the bombing at Oslo. Anders Behring Breivik was the orchestrator behind the pair of attacks in Oslo that killed at least 92 people. Brevik left behind a detailed manifesto outlining his preparations and calling for a Christian war to defend Europe against the threat of Muslim domination.

Occupy Wall Street began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City’s financial district. The movement has since sparked Occupy movements in numerous cities across the United States and the world. The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed and corruption. The slogan of the movement “We Are the 99%” refers to the growing disparity in income and wealth between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population in the U.S.

After a peaceful demonstration at UC Davis, a video spread of an officer in riot gear blasting pepper spray into the faces of seated protesters. In the video, the officer a member of the university police force, sprays the seated students in a sweeping motion while walking back and forth.The incident incited a massive public outcry.

The national security team receives an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1. Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 by a United States special forces military unit.

On 17 February 2011, major political protests began in Libya against Gaddafi’s government. By March of 2011 the country had descended into civil war. A rebel fighter celebrates as rebel forces fire a rocket toward the positions of troops loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.  On 20 October 2011, Muammar Gaddafi was killed by rebel forces in his home town of Sirte.

Sources: Buzzfeed.com, Global Post

DRAFTED BY: Ashly Bloxon

DAVIS.— A peaceful protest at UC Davis today ended with the arrest of 10 students after police officers used pepper spray to force protesters from an encampment in the campus quad.

The students were protesting the dismantling of the “Occupy UC Davis” encampment that had been set up in the UC Davis quad.

Authorities had ordered demonstrators to remove the camp between the Memorial Union and Shields Library and disperse.

UC Davis spokeswoman, Karen Nikos said the campers were given a written warning to remove the tents by 3 p.m. or police would remove them.

The “Occupy UC Davis” protesters refused, shortly afterwards police officers moved into the encampment.

Reportedly, police used pepper spray on a group of students who had sat on the ground and linked arms in an attempt to block officers who were arresting other students.

“Police came and brutalized them and tore their tents down and all that stuff. It was really scary. It felt like there was anarchy everywhere,” said student Hisham Alihbob.

The protest initially involved 50 students and grew to over 200 when police began to attempt to expel the demonstrators.

Chris Wong, a student involved in the protest, said he was one of those sprayed but he looked down and didn’t get a full dose of the pepper spray as many other students did.

The students who have been arrested are accused of failure to disperse and lodging without permission of the owner, both are misdemeanor charges.

UC Davis officials were not available to comment.

IRVINE.— Ten of the eleven students involved in disrupting a speech at UC Irvine were found guilty by a jury today. The students were sentenced to three years of informal probation, no jail time is to be served.

The students were convicted of two misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and disturbance of the meeting.

Before the trial begun the charges against one defendant were dismissed contingent upon the completion of 40 hours of community service at a local soup kitchen.

The students were charged in February after they stood up one by one and disrupted Ambassador Oren’s speech concerning US-Israel relations at UC Irvine.

Prosecutors said the students broke the law by interrupting the Ambassador’s speech, successfully ending the program.

Reem Salahi, lawyer for two defendants, said the students never set out to end the program entirely, they sought only to express their opinion.

The students reportedly modeled their protest after several others where students interrupted speeches, those students were not arrested.

Prosecutor Dan Wagner presented the argument that the students infringed upon both the free speech of both Michael Oren and the rights of the 700 people in attendance by interrupting the ambassador repeatedly throughout the program.

The defense countered with the argument that there were in fact no set of rules regulating the speech, so therefore the students did not break the law by interrupting the speaker.

The attorneys also argued that the charges should never have been filed since the students were cited and disciplined at UC Irvine at the time of the incident.

Several Jewish community leaders however, supported the verdict.

Shalom C. Elcott, president and chief executive of the local Jewish Federation & Family Services said the disruption, “Crossed the moral, social and intellectual line of civility and tolerance,” he continued, “While we accept the right and requirement of a public institution to provide an unfettered forum for diverse points of view, we do not, nor will we ever, support ‘hate speech.’ “

Approximately 150 people attended the verdict, nearly a dozen walked out of the room when the verdict was read.

Shakeel Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California made the statement, “Absolutely unbelievable. I believe the heart of America has died today. I believe this will be used as precedent now to suppress speech and dissent throughout the country. This is the beginning of the death of democracy.”

The event will include fundraising for the Irvine 11, all donations help with legal fees and campaign costs. The Irvine 11 is a group of students who peacefully and publicly voiced dissent during a talk by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.

The event is free to the public.

WHERE: Pacific Ballroom, UCI

WHEN: June 18th at 6:30pm

RSVP ONLINE: http://www.mlfa.org/rsvp

WHERE: Robinson Building Complex, IR/PS Room 3201

WHEN: Thursday, May 27th from 4pm.-5p.m.

José Luis Méndez Martínez holds  a B.A. in International Relations from El Colegio de México as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 1987-1989. From 2004 to 2005 he was General Director for Research at the Presidential Office for Governmental Innovation. He was Executive Director of the Professional Electoral Service and member of the General Executive Board of the Federal Electoral Institute.  He has served as an advisor to several Secretaries of the Mexican Federal Government and consultant to the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Program.

WHERE: Institute of the Americas Building, Deutz Conference Room

WHEN: Wednesday, May 25th from 3:30p.m.- 5:30p.m.

David Makovsky is the Director of the Washington Institute’s Project on the Middle East Peace Process, and Ghaith al-Omari is the former advisor to Fatah/PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and current head of the American Task Force in Palestine.

WHERE: Humanities Building – Room A51

WHEN: Wednesday May 25th from 7p.m.- 9p.m.

 The aim of Brunstetter’s talk is to analyze some of the ethical issues raised by the use of drones using the just war tradition as a basis. He argues that drones offer the capacity to extend the threshold of last resort for large scale wars by allowing a leader to act more proportionately on just cause.  However, while being capable of improving adherence to jus in bello principles of discrimination and proportionality, concerns regarding transparency and indiscriminate strikes (especially with CIA operated drones), may undermine the probability of success in the war on terror.

When: May 20th from 12:30p.m.- 2p.m.

Where: Social Science Plaza B, Room 5250

The lecture will discuss: what should rules for international nonintervention and intervention be if they are to reflect the modern conscience? Three principles will be addressed. The commitment to humanitarian assistance without regard to international borders; respect for the significance of national self-determination; and the reality of  international anarchy and the absence of reliable world government.

When: May 19th from 5:30p.m.- 8p.m.

Where: Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway (SBSG), Room 1517

Speakers include: Paul Amar, Associate Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara, and author of The Radical Parahuman Subjects of Egypt’s Revolution: New Perspectives on the Youth Movements, Police-Military Contentions and Sexualized Labor Behind the Arab Spring. Beshara Doumani, Professor of History at UC Berkeley, will be speaking on his book, The People Want’: Historical Reflection on the Slogan of the Arab Revolutions. Susan Miller author of Libya: Failed Revolution? and Associate Professor of History at UC Davis will also be present on the panel.

When: May11th from 5p.m.-8p.m.

Where: UC Davis, Technocultural Studies Building

The presentation focuses on the appearance and disappearance of bodies in the public sphere. Particularly, the disappearance of the corpses of victims of current narco-violence; the presence of corpses in public space and in the media as a communicative strategy in narco-violence; and the disappearance and re-integration of bodies of undocumented migrants and border-crossers.

When: May 11th, 2011 at 12p.m.

Where: Humanities Instructional Building (HIB) 135

Melody is a United Nations Global Expert with the UN Alliance of Civilizations. She has also worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reporting to the U.S. Congressional Commission on International Religious Freedom.

She has written for the Washington Post, CNN.com, Parabola, The Huffington Post, NPR, Ms. Magazine, and many others.

Where: UCSD, Peterson Hall Rm 104

When: May 12th, 2011 from 11a.m.- 12:30p.m.

Palestine Awareness Week is an effort to educate the campus on the Israeli- Palestine conflict. The group seeks to present the truth on the ongoing conflict and present the withheld facts to the public;  to promote justice, human rights, liberation, and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

The group advocates:

• An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.

 • The establishment of either a fully independent and viable Palestinian state in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or of one secular, democratic state over all of modern-day Israel and Palestine.

• An end to Israel’s system of apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as its system of discrimination against the Arab population within its own borders.

• A solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.

Monday, May 2nd the group presented Ambassador Edward Peck to speak on the ongoing Israeli- Palestine conflict. Ambassador Peck  spoke at length about U.S. relations with Middle Eastern countries. He  focused on U.S. Foreign Policy toward the Israeli- Palestine conflict and how it has had a detrimental effect on peace-making in the region.

Peck stressed that due to several factors the American public is largely unknowledged in regards to the Middle East. Everything is based on “perception” and American preception of the Middle East is largely far from veracity.

He argued Americans lack knowledge about the Middle East because we live in isloation and we are powerful country, which leads the population to feel secure and self content and extremely ethnocentric. Consequently, U.S. foreign policy looks out for its own national interests, not the best interests of another state.

In the context of peace, Ambassador Peck stated “If you were to look at a map of wars over centuries and millenia you would see that virtually every part of the world has been over-run, invaded and occupied by peoples of different languages, histories, cultures and religions. Up until WWII many countries were stilled pacified such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, only within the past few decades attaining independence and ‘peace’”.

Ambassador Peck argued that you cannot logically have peace while being occupied it is simply unattainable, the situation is Palestine a prime example of this phenonmenon.

As far negotiating Ambassador Peck  claimed this as virtually non-existent between Israel and Palestine. He stated, Al-Haq who works with the Palestinian negotiation team claimed there is no negotion going on only begging on the side of the Palestinians.

Peck maintained that Israel has no intentions of negotiating with Palestine and never has. There are currently “526 obstacles” in the West Bank, their main purpose: Security? No, harassment.”

On Wednesday, May 4th Rabbi Yisroel Weiss spoke on the Palestine and Israel conflict.

The Rabbi made it a point to discern between Judeaism and Zionism. Rabbi Weiss claimed that Judeaism has existed for thousands of years while Zionism is a fairly new ideology created in the past 100 years.

Zionism, Rabbi Weiss argued that Zionism was created by a non-religious European faction that sought to create a Jewish state. Zionism is a form of nationalism, a political ideology not a religion, and particularly unrelated to Judeaism.

Zionists use the Torah, the Rabbi claimed, as its deed to the land; continually, they turn to the holy text as a legitimization for their right to the territory.

In actuality, the larger Jewish population rejects Zionism and the legitimacy of the state. He explained that Jewish communities have in fact thrived in practically every Arab country in the past, until about 100 years ago with the creation of Zionism.

Ultimately, Rabbi Weiss urged the peaceful dismantling of the state of Israel as the logical and moral solution to the conflict.