I Don’t Have to Tell You Things are Bad…

I don’t have to tell you things are bad.

Everybody knows things are shit – it’s a gd depression.
Nobody can find work and if they do they’re scared of being harassed, exploited or losing that job.
Everybody’s exhausted or too tired to care much, to speak something even if they knew what to say.
Governments and Corporations are running wild in the streets.
Hardly anyone anywhere seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it.
We know the air is unfit to breathe, the waters are unfit to drink.
And we sit inside, on our phones and laptops, scrolling and swiping.
Tweets and Stories telling us about what that shithole 45 has done, said, fucked up, and we can only watch in disbelief, smh, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Yeah, shit is bad – worse than bad – fucking dystopic, catastrophic, apocalyptic.
So what do we do?
We don’t go out anymore.
We hide in our rooms, where we are safer, trying to forget our responsibilities, our privileges.
“Please, just leave me be.
Let me have my tofu and my coffee-maker, and I won’t say anything…
Just leave us alone.”

Well, I will leave you alone but I know that is not what you really want right now.
That’s why you are still reading.
So what is to be done?
I don’t want you to protest, or to write to some official because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to protest about or what to write.
I don’t know what to do about this gd depression, about nuclear war, about the drones, about all the refugees, about the NSA, about the trump nazis, about our dying Earth and her Animals or about the prison industrial complex.

So what, then?

Well, I am going to make a few assumptions about you:

1. You know about intersectionality and the need to prioritize voices that are too often spoken over, spoken about, spoken for, or just flat out ignored.
2. You care a fucking great deal about commonalities of oppression among people, animals and the planet, wishing to help rectify injustices, to help transform situations of abuse into empowering teachable moments.
3. And you dream about building genuinely inclusive communities of consent, where white-colonial attitudes do not dominate conversations but instead are led by voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.

And the clearest example of all 3 of these coming together has got to be:

Defending Palestine: Liberating the People, the Land, and Animals,
happening May 3rd to 6th of 2018

Organized by Palestinian Animal League (PAL) (who you may remember won our Burning Phoenixes Award), the only locally-run animal protection charity in Palestine.

Yes, the same crew who just recently created Sudfeh (not only the very first vegan cafeteria of any Arabic university in the world but also a completely not-for-profit initiative where all proceeds are split equally between support for animal protection projects and providing student scholarships).

For more on what PAL is all about, see a really informative interview with them here.

The Defending Palestine event is happening in occupied Palestinian territory, focusing on the shared struggle for land & liberation for all.

Now, you, Reader, have a few ways that you can get involved in helping this happen.

• Attend! The event is open to everyone! Participation in the full 3-day conference (including food and accommodation, but not travel costs) is €120/$150. Join us and gain a new perspective on Palestine, the international animal rights movement, and your own work as an activist! CLICK TO APPLY NOW
  • And for all us vegans, don’t doubt PAL has got you covered for your stay.
    Check out their handy resource right here as proof.
• Sponsor! If you cannot physically travel to Palestine for this event, consider donating money to support their efforts and to help others attend in your place. Maybe someone going will apply for ELK’s report back! cash fund and write about their experience on this life-changing trip.
  • If you are apart of any organization, PAL is happy to host you! For a €100, a booth will be set up for all three days of the conference and you can customize it to your desires. To reserve a stall, please email at info@pal.ps
• Volunteer with ELK! We will be chipping in to help make this event happen with all the success it deserves, and that means getting the word out online AND helping secure enough funding for all that is required in hosting international guests for 3 days. So if you want to give your time, then contact us ASAP on how you can help.

Any questions? 
More event details are provided below, so give it a read.

Who’s going? Among the many international attendees will be passionate animal rights activists, environmentalists, human rights advocates, those interested in the intersection of all these causes within the context of occupied Palestine.

Where exactly is it happening? At the Youth Village in the West Bank of Palestine. The conference also includes tours to three cities that have been essential in developing the work of the Palestinian Animal League: Bethlehem, Jericho, and Ramallah. 

Programme: While the conference schedule & list of speakers is yet to be finalized, here is what you can expect so far: 

1. Learn! Each morning will consist of engaging and thought-provoking lectures by speakers, activists, and experts from across Palestine and around the world.
2. Contribute! Mornings will also include round-table discussions, involving all conference participants in conversations around animal rights in both Palestinian and international contexts.
3. Explore! In the afternoons, conference participants will be transported and guided around communities of Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah, and Jerusalem to see first-hand the intersection of animal and human rights in Palestine.

Accommodation: The Youth Village is an educational, environmental, sports and entertainment village established by the Sharek Youth Forum. It is located west of Ramallah on 35 acres of land near the village of KuforNemah. Created so as to act as a centre of awareness, the village provides environmental and cultural education for youth and children, protects the land, promotes environmental investments, and provides the youth with outdoor experiences. Click here for more info.

So this is your ticket – if you want to go, please follow this link by clicking here.

See you there…

ELK