ANSWERS TO ALL THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS! PLEASE SHARE WIDELY! WE WANT PALESTINE TO BE A PROMINENT ISSUE AT THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM!
What is the World Social Forum?
How do I register to attend/participate in the WSF?
How do I register an activity?
Upcoming WSF Meetings
What is the WSF Free Palestine Committee? (+ links to the WSF Palestine Facebook Page and other important documents/sites)
What other issues are being covered at the WSF?
The World Social Forum 2016
9-14 August, Montreal
Another world is needed. Together, it is possible!
Come join Canadian Friends of Sabeel at the 15th edition of the World Social Forum (WSF). Spend six days immersed in the largest global convergence of individuals, social movements and organizations seeking peace, justice, and equality for all.
Register to participate in thousands of activities!
Join CFOS' WSF team! Send us at email at info@necefsabeel.ca!
Send in a proposal for your own activity (organizations, collectives, and artists only)! The deadline is May 15th.
Canadian Friends of Sabeel is working together with other Palestinian and Palestinian solidarity groups to ensure that the Palestinian cause gains a prominent place in the WSF. We want to make sure tens of thousands of people walk away from the WSF with a deeper understanding of the conflict and how to help support a just peace. For this to happen, we need as many of us at the WSF as possible, engaging, educating, and mobilizing attendees. Please do register for the Forum, contact us to get involved through CFOS, or sign up to present an activity! There is a great deal of diversity at the WSF. This is our chance to help thousands of people who already care deeply about justice to gain a more profound understanding of the Palestinian cause, correct their misunderstandings, and turn themselves into allies. Follow the links in this email to learn all about the WSF, how to get involved, and how to put on your activity.
What is the World Social Forum? The World Social Forum (WSF) is the largest gathering of civil society actors seeking to find solutions to the problems of our time. Started in 2001 in Brazil, the WSF brings together in each of its editions tens of thousands of participants to more than a thousand activities (workshops, conferences, artistic performances ...) on various themes (social, economic, and environmental justice; human rights, democratization ... ). At the WSF, activists and social justice groups from across the globe come together to learn from each other, network, and plan for change.
The fifteenth edition of the World Social Forum will be held this summer (August 9-14) in Montreal. It is the first time the World Social Forum will be held in a Northern Country. CFOS will also be participating in the World Forum on Theology and Liberation, a thematic forum within the WSF, which will take place on the 8th and 13th of August.
How do I register to attend/participate in the WSF? Once you register, you will be able to explore and follow different organizations, groups, and individuals also signed up at the forum and get updates on or get involved in the areas that interest you. Do add CFOS' program coordinator as your friend once you're in: https://fsm2016.org/en/participants/sharonedaniel/. We will have our organizational profile up in a few days!
How do I register an activity?
Except for a few large conferences and an opening march, most of the WSF's activities are self-organized/managed. Any organization, collective, or artists can register an activity. As long as the activity is not in conflict with the WSF's Charter of Principles, it will be approved, and space will be allocated to your group. The WSF steering committee has worked with the city's universities and the city itself to secure different spaces for the Forum. Individuals and groups send in their proposals to the steering committee. The deadline for sending in your proposal is May 15th!
In order to present an activity, you have to follow all three steps below:
1) register to attend/participate as an individual
2) register your organization
3) send in your proposal/register your activity https://fsm2016.org/participer/activites-autogerees/
Only organizations or collectives can present activities. Individuals cannot. An organization or collective is any informal or formal, official or unofficial, group with a common purpose. You do not need to be registered anywhere or have formation recognition from any institution.
In addition to encouraging groups to prepare activities to present at the WSF, the WSF Free Palestine Committee also wants to ensure that Palestine is well represented at theWSF Opening March on August 9th! Whether you are an individual attending or part of an organization or collective, do make sure you show up to the Opening March with your Palestinian flags, posters and artistic creations to make some serious noise!
The WSF Free Palestine Committee's purpose is to:
• Inform, promote, and raise awareness about the Palestinian cause at the WSF (in Montreal and in remote locations)
• Mobilize actors to present activities at the WSF (workshops, lectures, performances, etc)
• Coordinate these activities to create coherence
• Foster the coming together and sustainability of activities/operations at the WSF
We currently have six subcommittees/teams:
BDS, Mobilization/Communication, Programming and Convergence, Grand Conference, Facilitation + Opening March (everyone is on this last one)
What other issues are being covered at the WSF?
Whatever the people bring! We will only know exactly what activities will be available at the WSF after the period for registering activities has ended.
The following list will give you an idea of some of the other active self-organized/directed committees currently at work. List of other self-directed WSF Committees and contact http://bit.ly/1ThSWK0
See you at the World Social Forum this summer!
The Canadian Friends of Sabeel, a project of Necef Sabeel Canada, is committed to standing in solidarity with Palestinians, and raising awareness in Canada of the struggle of Palestinian Christians, while joining all people in Palestine and Israel striving for peace with justice toward reconciliation.
In order to present an activity, you have to follow all three steps below:
