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Gaza Summer School

This past summer, we turned up the heat to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza and to Free Palestine! We educated, agitated, and mobilized our communities like never before. Inspired by the courageous campus encampments that have swept across colleges nationwide, CODEPINK led Gaza Summer School, a transformative, summer-long online education series empowering CODEPINK members to become a powerful advocate for Palestine. Through bi-weekly classes, students gained in-depth knowledge and vital skills to make a real impact. Led by dynamic leaders, each session kicked off with a 30-minute deep dive into the history and current realities of Palestine, followed by a dynamic 30-minute skills training to arm us with the tools to drive change in our community. 

After every class, students received a set of materials and resources to amplify our demands for a Free Palestine. Educate your community, agitate those in power, and organize bold actions with the session recordings and resources below!

Summer School Resources

Monday June 3 @ 8pm ET

TOPIC: OUT OF SESSION: Disrupting Congress at Home

Course Description and Key Takeaways: Equip yourself to inform others on Palestine and learn how to disrupt your member of Congress when they’re back home this Summer!

Course leaders: Moataz Salim & Julia Norman

SCHEDULE:
-30 min teach in on subject related to Palestine with an introduction to educational materials
-30 Min teach in on how to host a teach-in at congress offices or their officials houses

Educational Materials

Disrupt Congress at Home: Toolkit (Google Doc)

Additional Resources

Bird-Dogging Guide: Get Them on The Record by Indivisible

Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit by the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

How to Locate Your Congressperson's Office

Black Alliance for Peace Sample Teach in Agenda

Monday June 17 @ 8PM ET

TOPIC: Building Resistance By Cultivating Community

Course Description and Key Takeaways: This week's lesson is all about the local peace economy! We saw the power of the local peace economy at the student encampments - all the mutual aid, skillsharing, art spaces, medical tents, and the many other ways people kept each other safe and well while there. These are real skills rooted in ways of being fostered in the local peace economy. Come learn how to take your power back from the war economy by cultivating community as an act of resistance at Gaza Summer School!

Workshop leaders: JODIE Evans and EMILY Franko

Educational Resources:

The Local Peace Economy Workbook

Download a free digital copy

Purchase a physical copy

Building Resistance By Cultivating Community LPE Resource

Additional Resources: 

Local Peace Economy website

Local Peace Economy Wiki - stories of the local peace economy

Local Peace Economy Community Calls

Sign up to join our bi-weekly calls here!

CODEPINK Radio Ep. #242: The Local Peace Economy

PINK Tank articles about the local peace economy

When the Tents Go Down…

War Is Weaponized Confusion

Monday July 1 @8PM ET

TOPIC: Decolonizing Environmentalism

Course Description and Key Takeaways: Decolonize your environmentalism with one of Palestine’s foremost experts on Palestine’s ecosystems. Plus, learn how you can use social media for movement building from CODEPINK’s social media team.

Course leader: Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Founder of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Tim Biondo, Digital Communications Manager

SCHEDULE:

-30 min on Decolonizing Environmentalism
-30 min on Social Media Skills for Movement Building 

Educational Resources:

Palestine Natural History Museum

Monday July 22 @8PM ET

TOPIC: Gaza, Freedom Flotillas, & Peacemaking 

Course Description and Key Takeaways: Learn about the history of the solidarity movement to break the siege on Gaza and take a workshop on de-escalation when taking action.

Course leader: Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright

SCHEDULE:

-30 min on Gaza, Freedom Flotillas, & Peacemaking
-30 min on De-Escalation skills

Additional Resources:

Gaza is Our Human Responsibility: 14 Years Since the Gaza Flotilla Raid

Monday August 5 @ 8PM ET

TOPIC: Art and Resistance in Palestine

Course Description and Key Takeaways: Hear how artists and performers in Palestine channel collective creativity into resistance with Chicago-based artist, Mary Hazboun. Plus, skill up with a workshop on organizing in the belly of the beast with CODEPINK co-director Danaka Katovich.

Course leader: Danaka Katovich & Mary Hazboun

Mary Hazboun is a multidisciplinary Chicago based Palestinian artist who practices “The Art of Weeping” as an act of processing grief and somatic healing of bodies through drawing. Graduated from DePaul University in 2017 with a Master’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies. Mary’s work highlights the nuanced traumas of women and their resistance against different forms of oppression that is manifested in the military machine, patriarchal societies, and forced migrations. She uses art as a way of emptying blocked emotions, opening internal space, and pouring in trauma informed introspections as a form of healing. Mary was born and raised in the city of Bethlehem and moved to the U.S in 2004.

Danaka Katovich graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science in November 2020. Since 2018 she has been working towards ending US participation in the war in Yemen. At CODEPINK, she oversees all advocacy campaigns and facilitates our local organizing in the Midwest and in Europe. Her writing can be found in Jacobin, Salon, Truthout, CommonDreams, and more. 

SCHEDULE:

-30 min on Art and Resistance in Palestine
-30 min on Movement Building in the Belly of the Beast

Additional resources:

Check out Mary Hazboun’s website and instagram.

Danaka's presentation, CODEPINK Organizer Training

Monday August 26 @ 8PM ET

TOPIC: Palestine, Repression, & Looking Ahead 

Course Description and Key Takeaways: Survey the state of the opposition we face as a movement for peace, justice, and liberation in Palestine. Close out Gaza Summer School by reflecting with classmates on what you’ve accomplished and looking ahead!

Course leader: Rania Salem

Born and raised in Chicago, Rania Salem is a Palestinian woman from Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine. Her family is originally from a village called Jrash that was ethnically cleansed in 1948 then her family was internally displaced to Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. Rania is an active poet, a program coordinator with the IL Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee rights, and a community organizer with the U.S Palestinian Community Network.

SCHEDULE:

-30 min on Palestine, Repression, & Looking Ahead
-GAZA SUMMER SCHOOL GRADUATION: Member report backs and more