Looking for some ideas for your December 27th through 31st actions? We've collected some of our favorites here. Whatever you choose to do just remember to plan a time for taking an action photo that visibly displays the banner. If possible, choose an iconic or meaningful location for your action -- a place which represents what matters to you and your community.

Action Ideas

• Walk, March, or Rally: You can coordinate a solidarity march with the Gaza Freedom March and carry a banner with one of our suggested slogans like "LIFT THE SIEGE ON GAZA", "FREE GAZA" or "Remember Gaza".  You may even want to have all marchers lie down and make the shapes of the letters that spell out "FREE GAZA" at the end of the march for a great aerial image.  In San Francisco, the Bay Area Action Network for Palestine will be marching across the Golden Gate Bridge on Dec. 31. Consider marching across a bridge in your city, to symbolize building bridges rather than walls, or march to the Israeli Embassy/Consulate, the Federal Building, or another symbolic place. Don't forget a banner and a camera!

• Candlelight vigil: Candles make a subtle and beautiful display. Find an public location (Embassy, Consulate, Federal Building -- you know your community) and read the names of Gazans, a statement from Alice Walker or a statement about the one-year since the assault

• Protest at a government office: Don't forget your Congressperson. They need to hear from you.  Only 33 brave representatives refused to vote for the Congressional resolution urging Obama to throw the Goldstone Report on Gaza into the circular file.  Chances are your Congressman wasn't one of them.  (You can research this here by inputting your Congressperson's name, scrolling to the votes of 11/3/09, and looking for House Resolution 867).  You can picket their office with signs saying "Congressman X Votes No Human Rights for Gaza.  Support the Gaza Freedom March!"  or "Congressman X -- End the Siege of Gaza.  Support the Gaza Freedom March!" or "Honk for Human Rights for Gaza."   Morning rush hour is a particularly good time for a picket -- lots of passing cars. When your picket is over, take one of your signs up to your Congressperson's office and ask the staff to give it to him/her as a message from constituents.

• Organize a film showing: For $9.95, you can get a copy of Anna Balzer's incredible DVD Life in Occupied Palestine, which provides an excellent introduction-in a down-to-earth, non-alienating way-to the occupation in Palestine. See here for more details. Another excellent film is Occupation 101, an award-winning documentary about the causes of the conflict, life under occupation, and the role of the US. You can get it for as little as $16 here. Or you can lighten it up with Slingshot Hip Hop, $25here, a documentary about hip hop artists performing under occupation.

• Take Action at AHAVA Stores! Because Ahava is hiding the ugly truth—its products actually come from stolen Palestinian natural resources in the Occupied Territory of the Palestinian West Bank, and are produced in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. Don’t let the “Made in Israel” sticker fool you—when you buy Ahava products you help finance the destruction of hope for a peaceful and just future for both Israelis and Palestinians. Visit www.stolenbeauty.org for action ideas!

• Host a house party: Eating is one of the easiest ways to bring people together (especially during a busy holiday season!). Host a dinner with food from the Middle East. Ask your friends to bring something along, so you don't need to cook all week. Set aside a few minutes before or after the meal to explain the latest on Gaza and the Gaza Freedom March, and then link it all together with a great group photo at the dinner table.

• Teach-In: December 27th through the 31st will be an excellent teaching opportunity! Do some online research about Gaza and invite your participants to learn more about the issue and discuss why ending the siege on Gaza is critical for international action on this issue and plans to continue working on this issue. Make a New Year's resolution to recommit yourself to the cause. 

• Faith Celebrations: Connections between the world's diverse religions and the situation in Gaza are numerous and strike a strong moral chord. This is a great way to gather people together who already have a community in which they discuss the big questions -- now is the chance to add lifting the siege of Gaza to the list.

• Invite Government Officials: December 27th through December 31st will be great days to directly engage government officials and call for real action on lifting the siege of Gaza. Who in your country has influence on Middle East policy? Consider inviting your mayor, representatives, or perhaps even prime minister or president. Whoever you try to invite, just be sure to give them plenty of advanced notice, be polite, call back if you are not hearing from them, and maybe even visit their office to demonstrate how much you care about their participation.

• Art Installation: Provide art supplies and invite your participants to create art—maybe something that speaks of the importance of your iconic place. If you have time and support, perhaps on a piece of land post 1450 graves with names of the dead on each one, or a name and photo (if found) of the dead mounted in an exhibition in a line that people walk through. Recently in Paris protesters against the siege built a pyramid of items banned from entering Gaza. It may appeal to passersby. And each demonstrator could easily bring something from home that's on the forbidden list -- matches, light bulbs, tea,
  notebooks, etc. Doesn't have to be a pyramid, could just be on a table or on the ground. 

• Read a Play: SEVEN DAYS FROM A GAZA DIARY, a dramatic reading for three voices passages from the diary of Khulood Ghanem, adapted and edited by Edward Mast. Reading time: 45 minutes. A riveting personal account of the first seven days of Israel’s assault on Gaza, written by a young woman living under the bombing.  The reading is comprised of excerpts from the diary of 27-year old Khulood Ghanem, who wrote about her experiences throughout Israel's 22-day assault on Gaza this past December and January. A rare insight into a young woman's attempt to grapple with extraordinary events. “ . . . . at this moment I could see nothing, all I remember was the biggest explosion I have ever seen, I started to run away but to where?  The sound of bombs and explosions was horrible, the ground was moving up and down, I said, it is not a joke, it is a real, the war has started . . . . “ For script, go here or email Linda Frank workforjustice@comcast.net 

• Do a public mural: Convene a group of artists to do a chalk sidewalk mural in a public place.

• Make Aerial Art: Take activism beyond the brain and into the heart by hosting an aerial art event. All you need is a group of people and a camera to spell out Free Gaza or Gaza.

• Music and Poetry: Perhaps you know some local musicians or poet who might want to join the effort. Or, you could invite participants to bring instruments themselves and create music.

• Letter writing: Encourage your participants to sign and/or write letters to government officials to end the siege of Gaza.