Seaside: Inside the Occupation

Inside the Occupation, a talk with Retired Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar and Dr. Rolla Alaydi, Monday, Feb 16, 4 pm to 6 pm at the Peoples Center for Progressive Change, 1238 Fremont Blvd., in Seaside, CA.

The speakers will discuss the flagrant violation of international humanitarian law by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S. complicity in genocide in Gaza, and the connection between Israeli counterterrorism tactics and those being used by the Department of Homeland Security in their deployment of ICE and CBP agents on the streets of Minneapolis and other U.S. cities.

Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar spent over two decades in Special Forces with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Jordan, and the Philippines. After retiring from the U. S. Army, he worked as a contractor with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, where he witnessed IDF soldiers and other U.S. contractors fire indiscriminately at starving Palestinians. He resigned in protest and has since been speaking out on atrocities and potential war crimes by Israel.

Rolla Alaydi is an American citizen and Professor of Education who was born in a refugee camp in central Gaza. She has lived and worked in Northern California for over seven years. The past two years of her life have been spent fighting for the survival of her 21 family members amid a siege in Gaza that the United Nations describes as “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”

Justin Loza, President of Veterans For Peace Chapter 46, will moderate the discussion and Q&A that follows.