Over 600 Attend Birzeit Convention Banquet 
Dr. Moustafa Barghouti Keynote Speaker

The Birzeit Convention Banquet was held in Anaheim, Calif., and was attended by about 600 people.
The keynote speaker was Mustafa Barghouthi,M.D., president of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, and director of the Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HDIP) in Ramallah, Palestine.
Dr. Barghouthi is an active participant in the building of a democratic Palestinain civil society and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Palestinian stuggle. He is the Secrtary of the Palestinian National Initiative, or Mubadara, a recently established democratic opposition movement in the realm of Palestinian domestic politics, co-founded along with Dr. Haidar Abdel-Shafi, Ibrahim Dakak and Dr. Edward Said.
Other speakers of the evening included Suhail Kassis, Adel Hagekhalil and Wael Rabie. Kassis is one of the founders of Birzeit Society, a past president of the national board, a past chief financial officer, a past Southern California chapter president, and a long time supporter of the society. Hage Khalil is the president of the Southern California chapter, the secretary of the national board, and the chairman of the 7th National Convention for Birzeit Society. Rabie is the national president of Birzeit Society. He has been an active member of the society for many years, and served as past president of the New York chapter and post national cheif financial officer.
During the evening there was also a special presentation of the documentary film, "The Wall,” produced by Issa Eways. "The Wall" depicts the struggle of the Palestinian people under the Israeli occupation. The professional documentary focuses on the construction of the separation wall by Israel and its impacts on the daily lives of Palestinians. 
The Wall is tearing Palestinian towns and villages apart and threatening the forced expulsion and incarceration of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into isolation. The internationally declared illegal Wall disrupts the daily lives of Palestinians, restricts access to agricultural lands, schools, medical facilities and family members. The Wall disregards all international human rights and laws.
One focus of the banquet was the convention resolution.
The Sa’id Music and Dance Company provided some of the evening’s entertainment, with a Arabic Folkloric dance Dabkah performance, and there was music and dance by the David Wahhab Band, and singer Maurice Raed and Azzar Abood.