The venue and time of the Manchester University Action Palestine public meeting with Professor Norman Finkelstein have changed as University Management closed the venue to the public capitulating to JSoc pressure.
1. Details of the meeting
2. Letter from Action Palestine
3. Template letter of complaint to University of Manchester.
1. Public Meeting PROFESSOR NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
on: “How to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
DATE: Tuesday 08/11/2011 at 18:00
VENUE: Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street (Near Albert Square / Behind Circular Central Library)
Norman Finkelstein is a world renowned and outspoken Jewish American academic, a fierce critic of Israel and the son of Holocaust survivors. He has published several important books including ?mage and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict , The Holocaust Industry and This Time We Went Too Far: Truth and consequences of the Gaza invasion.
Professor Finkelstein will be discussing Israel? relationship with America and Palestine? UN bid for statehood followed by a Q&A session where attendees will have a chance to ask the prestigous speaker questions about the conflict and his personal experiences.
This is a great opportunity to hear one of the worlds foremost commentators on the Arab-Israeli conflict speak in Manchester.
Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, M2 5NS on the same day 08 November, 18.00.
Ticket Information:-
Call any of the following numbers with you name, number and email address.
This will be added to a registration list for the event and on the day you will be asked to pay the ?3 and will be given a ticket to go into the event.
Tanzil Chowdhury 07540764666
Matiin Nasir 07895690964
Arash Sajedi 07545191512
Aneeqa Khan 07583690587
Please invite friends, family and all friends of Palestine.
In Solidarity.
Manchester Action Palestine Chair,
Sana AbuRawa
2. Message from Action Palestine
Dear Friends,
We hope this message finds you well and you are looking forward to NORMAN FINKELSTEIN lecturing on 憇olving the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Today, Martin Conway (martin.conway@manchester.ac.uk) and Pat Sponder (pat.sponder@manchester.ac.uk) of the university management and the Union Director capitulated to pressure from JSOC to limit attendees of the event to students only, depriving the public of seeing one of the world抯 foremost commentators on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Members of the JSOC shoddily argued that the talk would endanger the safety of Jewish students, all the while promising to attend with some members promising to picket the event.
The management issued an ultimatum to Action Palestine that either the talk would have to be limited to students (an unfair and logistical nightmare contacting all non-students who have reserved tickets) or cancel the meeting.
We have therefore decided to move the venue from the University altogether to the much more accessible and welcoming Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, M2 5NS on the same day 08 November, 18.00.
In light of these developments, we have had to limit seats to 300 (possibly 320) but it shall be open to all people. We are trying to provide a weblink and over flow room and will update you accordingly. Sincere apologises but unfortunately, we cannot control our 憆epresentative university� from bowing down to a small extremist minority.
You shall be contacted regarding the status of your reservation shortly. In the meantime, we would be grateful if you could please write a short letter of complaint to Martin Conway and Pat Sponder. See template below which you can sign with your name and send.
The demands put on us before, in which we have been fully complaint, have transgressed into completely unreasonable and show the University of Manchester in a very negative and uncompromising light.
Regards,
Action Palestine
3. Letter of complaint.
Dear Martin Conway/Pat Sponder,
I would like to complain about your decision to showcase the Norman Finklestein lecture to students only, particularly as many non-students had already reserved tickets.
With such a prestigious speaker as Professor Finklestein, it is unreasonable to make this event exclusive to students and potentially jeopardise relations between the student and non-student populace in Manchester. It is also deplorable that the University administration has capitulated to pressure from a student society over the 慳lleged safety concerns� of certain students despite the very same students likely to attend and even picket the event.
This displays a blind obedience on part of the university, defeats the notion of making knowledge accessible and shows you personally and, as an institution, very poorly.
It is very unfortunate that the University of Manchester no longer adheres to being an institution which is open, not only to its students, but the wider community.
Regards,
[Name]