Anna Baltzer (born 1979) is an American

public speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

for

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

Overview

After graduating from Columbia, Baltzer traveled to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

in 2003 on a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

grant to teach English in

Ankara, Turkey Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, makin ...

. Since then, she has traveled to the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

as a

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

for the ''International Women's Peace Service'' to document

human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and support nonviolent resistance. Her publications have documented Palestinian living conditions while on assignment in the

for the International Women's Peace Service. Since the summer of 2005, she has been touring around the United States and abroad with a presentation and has written a book (Witness in Palestine) describing her experiences, observations, and photographs from eight months of documenting

human rights violations Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

in the West Bank.

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

's review of Baltzer's book states, "Even those who are familiar with the grim reality of the

occupied territories Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

will quickly be drawn into a world they had barely imagined by these vivid, searingly honest, intensely acute portrayals", while

Tanya Reinhart Tanya Reinhart ( he, טניה ריינהרט; July 1943 – March 17, 2007) was an Israeli linguist who wrote frequently on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She contributed columns to the Israeli newspaper ''Yediot Aharonot'' and longer articles ...

author of "Roadmap to Nowhere" call it "Moving and vivid." Mark Chmiel, teacher at

St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

and

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate program ...

and author of "Elie Wiesel and the Politics of Moral Leadership", has also written about Baltzer's book. On October 28, 2009, Baltzer was a guest on

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

, alongside

Mustafa Barghouti Mustafa Barghouti ( ar, مصطفى البرغوثي; born 1 January 1954) is a Palestinian physician, activist, and politician who serves as General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), also known as al Mubadara. He has been ...

Political activism

Baltzer's activism centers around nonviolent protests, as well as providing documented information to those interested in the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other eff ...

for the purpose of education and encouraging dialogue towards taking action on the issues. She claims that critical information doesn't show up in the United States mainstream media. According to Balzter's own account, when she first went to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on a free

birthright trip Taglit-Birthright Israel ( he, תגלית), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a not-for-profit educational organization that sponsors free ten-day heritage trips to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adult ...

in January 2000, she saw "a beautiful picture of Israel" but nothing of what was happening to

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. "A Jewish student-life coordinator at

Hillel Hillel ( he, links=no, הלל, lit=praise) is a Jewish masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Hillel the Elder (110 BC–10 AD), Babylonian sage, scholar, and Jewish leader * Hillel, son of Gamaliel III (3rd century), ...

, called the SJP event very well organized and well attended. It seemed very non-threatening and very non-violent. (Speaker) Baltzer made an extra special point that just because she was anti-Israeli ''policy'', it doesn’t mean she is anti-''Jewish''."

Publications

Baltzer has over 29 published articles online, and additionally has both letters and articles published in: ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

The Exponent The ''Purdue Exponent'' is an independent student newspaper that serves Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is published on Mondays and Thursdays during university semesters by the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, and is Indiana ...

If Americans Knew If Americans Knew is a nonprofit organization based in Riverside County in Southern California, that focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the foreign policy of the United States regarding the Middle East, offering analysis of America ...

, United Civilians for Peace (Melbourne, Australia), Information Clearing House,

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal The ''Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal'' is the largest daily newspaper in northeast Mississippi. It was first published in 1872. It is based in Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, Unit ...

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

, Leaf Chronicle,

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

,'' In April 2007, Baltzer wrote a piece called ''Whose Responsibility?''. In this article she writes that while internationally people place blame on the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

for the flooding that caused five people to drown to death and left many more injured and missing, they are only part of the problem. She stated that per the

Palestinian Center for Human Rights The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR, ar, المركز الفلسطيني لحقوق الإنسان) is a Palestinian human rights organization based in Gaza City. It was founded in 1995 by Raji Sourani, who is its director. It was es ...

, the reason the

cesspool A cesspit (or cesspool or soak pit in some contexts) is a term with various meanings: it is used to describe either an underground holding tank (sealed at the bottom) or a soak pit (not sealed at the bottom). It can be used for the temporary co ...

collapsed was because of project delays by the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ( ...

. Her article also states that while Israel had said they would be withdrawing from Gaza, they have not and gives several examples as to why she thinks that Gaza is under the control of Israel and imprisoned by them. Additionally, in May 2007, she wrote an article titled "''Dedicated and resilient women on both sides of the Green Line''". In this article she writes about the struggles that people who live in Palestine face. One of the examples that she presents is that of her friend Fatima Khaldi. She talks about Fatima's hardships growing up with a physical handicap and without a father, and tells us how despite her incredibly difficult life she became an activist who founded Women for Life (WFL), and is empowering other women like her. In an article published in September 2008, Baltzer wrote an article titled "''Where are the American voices"?''. In this publication, she states that America has openly condemned illegal settlements, and yet they continue to provide Israel with 10 million dollars a day. She states that Israel gives money to their citizens if they live in settlements on Palestinian land, and that money comes from American tax dollars.

Recognition

Baltzer, was given the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee's Annual Rachel Corrie Peace & Justice Award In addition, she was given a Certificate of Commendation from the ''

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscon ...

'' in 2009. In 2011, she received the Inspiration for Hope Award from the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

, along with author and Pulitzer Prize Winner

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

and Palestinian-American student activist Sami Kishawi.

References

External links