ACTION ALERT

For Immediate Release
October 4, 2007

Support The Marcel Khalife Concert in San Diego!

Many thanks to all those who have thus far made reservations for the Marcel Khalife concert that will take place at the beautiful and friendly Birch North Park Theater on Sunday October 14, 2007 in San Diego. Khalife opened the first leg of his tour in several venues across Canada to rave reviews. Here is one such review: Nothing Can Hold Back the Middle Eastern Dylan

Khalife's concert tour will have 18 venues in the US, three of which are in California. It also includes two nights at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. San Diegans are in for a great experience.

For those who plan to attend, please go to http://al-awdasandiego.org/marcel/reserve.html for information on how to obtain your tickets.

As you may know, the original venue at the Salvation Army's Joan B Kroc Theater was cancelled this August, six months after we believed we had secured the venue by paying the required deposit in February 2007, following the renters instructions we were provided, as well as working communications with the management.

Al-Awda San Diego considers the venue cancellation by the Salvation Army, its late timing, and the manner in which it was conveyed, as a violation of our agreement and insulting and dismissive to our community, our organization and Marcel Khalife, the artist. We consider this a form of cultural discrimination. The Salvation Army it seems insists on viewing a cultural event through a political lens because our organization, the presenter of the concert, advocates for the rights of Palestinian refugees. Such a view is politically racist and we do not tolerate it.

For additional background information concerning our interaction with the Salvation Army, please go to http://al-awdasandiego.org/salvation_army.html

What You Can Do

1. Support the Marcel Khalife concert in San Diego by attending. The concert will take place at the Birch North Park Theater on Sunday October 14, 2007. Support the artist, our community and Al-Awda. Please go to http://al-awdasandiego.org/marcel/reserve.html for information on how to obtain your tickets.

2. To help defray some of the costs we incurred due to the change of venue, please consider the available sponsorship opportunities described at:
http://al-awdasandiego.org/marcel/sponsors.html

3. Write to the Salvation Army to express your opinion of their decision. Here are some suggested talking points:

*The Palestine Right to Return Coalition's advocacy for the natural, inalienable and fundamental right of Palestinian refugees to return to their land and homes of origin is based on universal values. Point out that the right to return to one's home is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Law, and that, for Palestinian refugees, this right has been affirmed more than 130 times by the United Nations since General Assembly resolution 194 of 1948.

*Marcel Khalife is a UNESCO artist for peace. His concert is being hosted by The Palestine Right to Return Coalition in San Diego because it is consistent with the organization's advocacy.

*The venue denial by the Salvation Army is a form of cultural discrimination. The Salvation Army insistence on viewing a cultural event with a political lens is because the presenter of the concert is an organization which advocates for the rights of Palestinian refugees. Such a view is racist, outrageous and intolerable.

* The Palestine Right to Return Coalition's mission is based on universal values. To characterize these values as sectarian is to say that they should not apply to Palestinians. The Salvation Army's opposition to the application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Palestinians is politically motivated racism.

Please address your correspondence to:

Captain John Van Cleef, Administrator
The Salvation Army Kroc Center San Diego
Tel: 1-619-269-1401
Fax: 1-619-255-7206
Email: [email protected]

Ms. Cathie Hyatt, Manager
Joan B. Kroc Theatre, Performing Arts Center
The Salvation Army Kroc Center San Diego
Tel: 1-619-269-1551
Fax: 1-619-255-7206
Email: [email protected]

Ms. Kathy Lovin
The Salvation Army Western Territory
Long Beach, California
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 1-562-491-8751

Please cc your correspondence to [email protected]

Al-Awda San Diego
The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
Email: [email protected]
WEB: http://al-awdasandiego.org