oznik.com news

[oznik] We Are Not Nazis, boycott appeal, and other lebanon updates

hi dears,
a poem by sami shalom chetrit, We Are Not Nazis, with a picture presentation he has arranged, is at
http://www.oznik.com/words/not-nazis-sami-shalom-chetrit.html.
the same page also contains action, aid, and update links about the war on lebanon.
apart from that, please fwd. the appeal below.
love,
oz
----------------------------------------
Palestinian Filmmakers, Artists and Cultural Workers Call for a
Cultural Boycott of Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=315_0_1_0_C
August 4, 2006
Dear Filmmakers & Artists,
During the past few weeks we have borne witness to the escalation of
Israeli aggression into open war on both Palestine and Lebanon.
With Israel's invasion of Gaza on June 27th, 2006, ministries and
educational institutions have been destroyed, as has the plant that
supplies nearly 50 percent of Gaza's electricity. Bridges, roads,
dozens of homes, and hundreds of dunams of agricultural land have also
been destroyed. Sixty-four elected Palestinian legislators, cabinet
ministers and officials have been detained without charge.
On July 12th, Israel brought its campaign of collective punishment and
military violence to Lebanon, with "Operation Just Reward". A complete
assault, via land, sea, and air, of the Lebanese population and
infrastructure has led to total destruction. In just 3 weeks, almost 1
million Lebanese civilians have been displaced and the death toll has
reached 900 Lebanese and 160 Palestinians, with a UN count saying
one-third of the dead are children.
Additionally, in violation of international law, Israel continues to
occupy Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and Syria's
Golan Heights. In violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel
continues to hold 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli
jails and detention centers without due process, among them 130
Palestinian women and 388 children, many of them taken from their homes
in the middle of the night.
We, the undersigned Palestinian filmmakers and artists, appeal to all
artists and filmmakers of good conscience around the world to cancel
all exhibitions and other cultural events that are scheduled to occur
in Israel, to mobilize immediately and not allow the continuation of
the Israeli offensive to breed complacency. Like the boycott of South
African art institutions during apartheid, cultural workers must speak
out against the current Israeli war crimes and atrocities.
We call upon the International community to join us in the boycott of
Israeli film festivals, Israeli public venues, and Israeli institutions
supported by the government, and to end all cooperation with these
cultural and artistic institutions that to date have refused to take a
stand against the Occupation, the root cause for this colonial
conflict.
We call upon you to take a stand in order to appeal to the Israeli
people to give up their silence, to abandon their apathy, and to face
up to their responsibility in the destruction and killing their elected
government is wreaking. To the Lebanese and Palestinians terrorized by
this Army's planes, bombs and missiles, this silence, apathy and lack
of action from Israelis, are regarded as complicit in the ongoing war
crimes, as for those Israeli artists, academics and intellectuals who
continue to serve in the Israeli army they are directly implicated in
these crimes.
We call upon you to give way to action that would replace words spoken
too often and forgotten too quickly. We call upon you to make your
voices heard in calling for an end to this bloodshed and an end to this
oppression that has lasted too long.
To endorse or answer this call for a cultural boycott of Israel please
send an email with your name, position and country to
pal.filmmakers@gmail.com

Signatures (Alphabetical):
Adila Laidi, Lecturer
Anan Brakat, Filmmaker, Arab Cinema School
Annemarie Jacir, Filmmaker
Azza El-Hassan, Filmmaker
Bahia Munem, Filmmaker
Dahna Abourahme, Filmmaker
Dima Abu Ghoush, Filmmaker
Emily Jacir, Artist
Elia Suleiman, Filmmaker
Enas Muthaffar, Filmmaker
Amer Shomali, Artist
Bashar Ibrahem, Film critic,
Faten Farhat, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Ghada Terawi, Filmmaker
Hanna Atallah, Filmmaker
Hanna Elias, Filmmaker
Hany Abu-Assad, Filmmaker
Haya Al-Jareedy, Filmmaker
Hayan Charara, Writer
Hazim Bitar, Filmmaker
Iman Aoun, Ishtar Theatre
Iman Hammouri, Popular Art Centre
In'am El-Obeidi, Media Department, Birzeit University.
John Halaka, Artist
Juliano Mer Khamis, Actor & Director
Kais Al-Zubaidi, Filmmaker
Kamal Boullata, Artist
Karma Abu-Sharif, Writer
Khadijeh.H.Abu-Ali, Filmmaker
Khaled Jubran, Musician
Larissa Sansour, Artist
Leila Sansour, Filmmaker
Liana Saleh, Filmmaker
Lina Bokhary, Artist
Lois Nakhleh, Artist
Mahmoud Massad, Filmmaker
Mai Masri, Filmmaker
Manal Issa, A.M.Qattan Foundation
Mazen Saade, Filmmaker & Writer
Michel Khleifi, Filmmaker
Miguel Littin, Filmmaker
Nabila Irshaid, Artist
Nahed Awwad, Filmmaker
Najwa Najjar, Filmmaker
Nizar Hassan, Filmmaker
Omar Barghouti, Dance choreographer
Omar Qattan, Filmmaker
Osama Al-Zain, Filmmaker
Rana Bishara, Artist
Rania Elias- Khoury, Yabous Productions
Rashid Masharawi, Filmmaker
Reem Fadda, Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art
Riyad Deis, Filmmaker
Rowan Al Faqih, Filmmaker
Rula Halawani, Artist/photographer
Saed Andoni, Filmmaker
Saleh Bakri, Actor
Salim Abu Jabal, Writer
Salwa Mikdadi, Curator
Samia A. Halaby, Artist
Sobhi al-Zobaidi, Filmmaker
Suleiman Mansour, Artist
Suzy Salamy, Filmmaker
Taghreed Mishael, Filmmaker
Ula Tabari, Filmmaker
Vera Tamari, Artist
Wafa Jamil, Filmmaker
Walid Abu Bakr, Writer
(International Endorsers on website)

oznik.com: call it like it is, genocide - emily jacir, 18 apr. 2006

oh dear,
the web link is http://www.oznik.com/words/genocide-emily-jacir.html
skeptics may also do well to read the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/p_genoci.htm
love,
oz
Emily Jacir
18 Apr. 2006
Since the beginning of April, Israel has fired no less then 2000 artillery shells into Gaza. 26 people were murdered. No one said a word. We did not get on the front page of the New York Times, no one condemns their actions.
Meanwhile the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people continues and takes on a multitude of forms - so many in fact that it is hard to keep up or even begin to speak about how all these devices create a massive network of forces to wipe us off the face of the earth....the continued confiscation of lands, the destruction of houses, the constant shelling and shooting, not allowing humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, the cutting of all funding, stripping Palestinian's of their I.D. cards - especially those with Jerusalem I.D.'s (my cousin just had his torn to shreds on the Jordan border by Israelis who told him he will no longer be needing it), closures, strip searches, constant daily humiliation, the creation of ghettos, the construction of the apartheid wall, the denial of basic human rights, the system of permits and ID cards which are akin to South Africa's Pass laws during apartheid which the world condemned, the destruction of olive trees, the destruction of our far
ming economy, denying people entry into the country, the bombing of our soccer field in Gaza so that even in sports and culture they don't want us to exist. (FIFA thankfully is going to build us a new soccer field - thank god for sports organizations - at least they are doing SOMETHING) and on and on and on on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, while the rest of the world celebrated Easter the local indigenous Christian community were denied entry into Jerusalem. Bethlehem is sealed off by a 9m Israeli Wall and the traditional Easter procession from Bethlehem to Jerusalem was impossible for the first time in 2000 years. Israel once again prevented thousands of Palestinians the right to attend Easter celebrations while portraying a false image to the world of tolerance through the use of Christian tourists gleefully wandering around Jerusalem freely - having no idea of what the local situation is or the fact that local Christians - one of the oldest Christian communities in the world will never have that freedom in their own country.
In addition, besides the ring of settlements built around the city of Bethlehem now they are planning one for inside the city - similar to the horrific settlement inside Hebron.
The American/Israeli led campaign to wipe us off the map is succeeding with not a single European government coming to our aid or defense. In addition to Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan whom all are pandering to American interests to the region and are complicit in this genocide. Palestinians fleeing Iraq(because their lives are threatened) are trapped in the no-mans land between Jordan and Iraq as Jordan will not allow them to enter the Ruweished Refugee Camp.
The US and Europe has cancelled all aid until we agree to the principles of the bloody Road Map - which is asking us to agree to our own destruction.
Friends. let us call it like it is, this is genocide.

Since AP, NPR and others are sending out incomplete reports, we thought your news organization would like to make use of the following information:
Contact: If Americans Knew: 310.441.8580 / cell 415.847.1782
In the last two and a half weeks (since the previous suicide bombing) Israeli forces have killed at least 26 Palestinians -- at least 5 of them children -- and injured 161 Palestinian men, women and children. A college student lost her right eye today after being shot by an Israeli sniper last week.
There have been 369 raids by Israeli forces, mostly into the West Bank. Gaza has undergone sustained shelling by Israeli forces and continued closures, resulting in increasing lack of food and medical supplies. According to UN reports, between March 30 and April 12th, Israeli forces launched 2300 artillery and tank shells and 34 missiles into Gaza.
Since the current Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land began in fall 2000, approximately 3,863 Palestinians and 1,084 Israelis and have been killed. Among these have been approximately 720 Palestinian children and 124 Israeli children.
Today, in separate actions, several Palestinian youths were shot, one in the neck. Israeli forces are continuing their ongoing invasions of Nablus and other West Bank cities.
Today is Palestinian Prisoners Day. 9,400 Palestinian men, women, and children are in prison. According to numerous human rights reports, Palestinian prisoners are frequently tortured. Defense for Children International reports that 4,000 Palestinian children have been arrested in the past five years, 400 of them currently in prison, including a fifteen-year-old girl, who has been in prison for over a year after being shot in the stomach by Israeli soldiers. DCI reports that the arrests are increasing.
Additional Information from Defense for Children International:
According to DCI: "The process of arrest and detention of Palestinian children is a process of systematic abuse and mistreatment which flouts international legal standards and denies the basic human rights of detainees first as children and secondly as prisoners...[children are] handcuffed and blindfolded, humiliated and threatened and often beaten and kicked from the moment they are arrested up to and often throughout their interrogation and detention. They are deprived of sleep, food and access to the bathroom until so-called confessions are coerced out of them..."
At 5.30pm on Monday 10 April 2006, at least six artillery shells fired by the Israeli military fell on the family house of Mohammed Rabe'eya Ghaban in Beit Lahiya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. Shrapnel from the shells pierced the skull of Mohammed's eight-year old daughter Hadeel, killing her instantly. The shelling also resulted in the injury of eight other family members, including Hadeel's brothers and sisters:
Rawan Ghaban 1 and a half years old
Rana Ghaban 3 years old
Munir Ghaban 4 years old
Amneh Ghaban 9 years old
Ghassan Ghaban 11 years old
Bassam Ghaban 15 years old
Tahrir Ghaban 17 years old
The children's mother, 35-year old Sofia, was the eighth family member wounded in the attack.
Several neighbours were also injured including:
Jaqueline Mo'ein Maarouf 11 years old
Mariam Maher Al-'Assi 15 years old
for more information:
http://www.imemc.org/
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
http://www.nad-plo.org/main.php?view=pmg_daily-reports
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?docid=484&categoryid=1
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?docid=483&categoryid=1
http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/

[oznik] Final Declaration: The Second Right of Return and Just Peace Conference in Nazareth

hi dears,
this just came in from ilan pappe, and is also archived at:
http://oznik.com/Second-Right-of-Return-Just-Peace-Conference-Nazareth.html
love,
oz
The Second Right of Return and Just Peace Conference in Nazareth, December 16-18, 2005.

Hundreds of Palestinians and Jewish activists gathered on a cold and rainy day in Nazareth for a three days conference on the Palestinian Right of Return. This was the second one, following the successful first ever such conference in Israel that took place in March 2004 in Haifa.

The first day was devoted for the opening session, overshadowed by the refusal of the Israeli authorities to allow Qasim Qasim, a representative of the refugees network in Europe, to enter the country and participate in the conference. Nonetheless, the participants could listen to his speech through a phone call. Other guests came from the occupied territories and the exilic communities around the world.

The second day was a fruitful day of discussions that produced the following declaration (the third day is dedicated to visits to the destroyed villages of Palestine).

Final Declaration

The conference was organized by the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons in Israel, Zochrot (Remembering the Nakbah in Hebrew), The Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies and in cooperation with Ittijah Union of Arab Community Based Associations

By proposing the Right of Return, the organizers wished to reinforce the Palestinian cause and to develop projects for the return of refugees who find themselves in a situation of statelessness. They also wished to put this question into the center of the political debate in Israel, and to counteract a historical policy in Israel that aims to delegitimize the Right of Return. In their view, these attempts are the main obstacle for a just peace.

The Second Right of Return and Just Peace Conference in the city of Nazareth took place simultaneously with a number of similar conferences in Europe, the United States and the Arab world. It was the result of unified efforts and coordination between numerous Palestinian refugee institutions and solidarity movements, who together aimed to face the challenges of Israeli and international peace plans that will prevent the implementation of the Right of Return. Together, the institutions aimed to reinforce a Palestinian and international movement in favor of the return of Palestinian refugees to their towns and villages, of the return of the refugees property, and of the implementation of international resolutions, most notable the UN resolution 194 for the return of Palestinian refugees that is based on international human rights.

The conference has affirmed the commitment of the organizers and the participants to the rights of the Palestinian people, which they are convinced is not negotiable. They have raised their united voice against each plan, whatever party may propose it, that tries to weaken the Right of Return and the rights of the Palestinian people for an end of the occupation, for freedom and independence.

The organizers of the Right of Return and Just Peace Conference are proud of the participation of their Palestinian sisters and brothers from the occupied territories and the Diaspora. They are also very proud of the greeting messages of many Palestinian institutions from the West Bank and Gaza, and refugee camps in Lebanon and in the Diaspora, who have excused for not being able to attend the conference. The conference considers these messages and the participation as a sign for the importance of a new unification of the Palestinian people, wherever they may live, under a shared aim.

The conference also appreciates the participation of progressive Israelis who aim for a Right of Return of Palestinian refugees and Internally Displaced People. They are our partners in developing this project and changing the opinion of the Israeli public, in order to build a foundation for the return project.

The discussions and lectures of the conference insisted on the necessity to revive the memory, and to draw future visions on the human, legal, public and political level. They showed that there exists a potential that will be important to use for developing actions and institutional efforts, and for realizing envisioned projects.

The conference has affirmed its rejection of all projects that will abolish, avoid and destroy the Right of Return of Palestinian refugees. The conference reiterates in front of the world at large that there will be no just peace without the unconditional implementation of the Palestinian Right of Return. The organizers alert the world against the Israeli campaign to obtain international, Arab and Palestinian recognition in Israel as a Jewish State through the elimination of the Palestinian Right of Return.

The conference condemns the Israeli authorities for preventing the representative of the Palestinian refugees networks in Europe from entering the country and from participating in the conference. We pledge not to let go of the issue and we will take all the necessary steps to confront this Israeli policy. We also affirm that the deportation of our brother Qasim Qasim is only going to reinforce our ties with our people in exile and in the homeland; we will all stand together in our campaign for the implementation of the Right of Return.

We call upon the world public opinion to acknowledge that an ethnic cleansing operation took place in 1948 against the Palestinian people and that this policy continues unabated until today.

We ask the Palestinian leadership, on all levels, to relocate the Nakbah of 1948 at the center of its agenda and to derive the necessary and essential conclusions from what happened in the past so as to avert the occurrence of a new Nakbah.

We demand from the Israeli Academia to allow free and critical research according to the international standards of academic openness- on the Nakbah. We call upon it to stop being a mouthpiece for the authorities while silencing any dissenting voices in it.

We leave this conference determined to strengthen our struggle for the Right of Return and to expand the popular participation in the efforts for its realization. We are looking forward to our next and third conference of the Right of Return and the Just peace - dreaming and hoping to see as soon as possible all the refugees returning to their homes and homeland.

[oznik.com] essay: 'Eyb, Heshumah, Infajrat Qunbula: Towards a History of Mizrahim and Arabic

hi dears,
proud to announce, after a long labor, online publication:
'Eyb, Heshumah, Infajrat Qunbula: Towards a History of Mizrahim and Arabic
Zvi Ben Dor
http://oznik.com/toward-a-history-of-mizrahim-and-arabic.html
it's too long to paste, but here's a taste:
"Mizrahim's relations with the Arabic language are as problematic as their relations with the Arabs, perhaps even more so. The foggy zone between Hebrew and Arabic has a history that forces us to look at the entire Arabic-speaking space, not solely at "Israeli Society" as the exclusive theater wherein Mizrahi history takes place."

About: Zvi Ben Dor is an assitant professor of History at New York University. His book, The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Late Imperial China was published by Harvard University Press in June 2005. This essay was is excerpted from Yigal Nizri (ed.), Eastern Appearance : A Present that Stirs in the Thickets of its Arab Past, Babel, Tel-Aviv, 2004. Many thanks to Zvi Ben Dor, Katherine Fleming, Yigal Nizri, and Dirk Hartwig without whose help this translation would still be a draft.
cu ba'adayn,
oz

oznik.com news Message

hello dears,
below:
- help Yesh-Gvul flush out war criminals
- petition in support of refuseniks
- eye2eye: video / audio archive
- poetry events: Charles Olson, Etel Adnan
- sponsor
love,
oz
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help us flush out war criminals
email from Yesh-Gvul
Dear friend,

As you probably know from media reports, Yesh Gvul has taken a f urther step in its campaign against Israeli officers suspected of human rights abuses or war crimes. Operating on material we supplied, a UK law firm has formally filed criminal complaints with the local police, against a number of senior IDF officers. One such, reserve general Doron Almog, narrowly escaped arrest when he remained on board the El Al plane that brought him to London, and returned to Israel without disembarking.

Alongside Almog, more senior figures now under investigation in Britain include IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz, after Israel's judiciary and law enforcement agencies systematically evaded our demands for an investigation into his role in the killing of civilians in the bombing of a Gaza residential building. Having exhausted Israel's judicial process, we decided to take the Halutz case to a foreign court in the hope of getting the thorough investigation denied here in Israel.

That initiative has aroused enormous anger from Israel's political and military leadership, and we have come under furious attacks in the media. On top of the resentment such an initiative would evoke in other lands, it is also a direct challenge to the traditional Jewish reluctance to "wash dirty linen in public", and the equally traditional hatred within minority Jewish communities toward the "moiser" ("snitch"). The publicity has spawned legal initiatives to penalise Israelis who take cases to foreign courts. Equally sinister: hate mail and death threats directed at Yesh Gvul members associated with the case.

As you can imagine, we are currently under heavy pressure, and we're in urgent need of aid, moral and material. We will welcome any declaration of support. We'll welcome it even more if it's backed up with a financial donation, because our already strained resources are simply not up to meeting the challenges and opportunities now created.

Peretz Kidron * Ram Rahat

PS. For full details of our campaign against war crimes in the occupied territories, contact us for a complete brief, including the legal actions we have taken in chronological sequence.

DONATIONS TO YESH GVUL
Israel: cheques to PO Box 91068, Jerusalem 91068
or: bank transfer to: Yesh Gvul, Acct. no. 36666, Bank Hapoalim, King George St., Jerusalem (POALILIT)

You can also make a contribution (tax-deductible in the US) by credit card at www.refusersolidarity.net (click on "Donate Now" and be sure to select "Yesh Gvul projects" as the RSN project) or by sending a check to:
Refuser Solidarity Network
P.O. Box 53474
Washington DC
20009-9474
(202) 232-1100
Be sure to write YESH GVUL on the memo line of your check!
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Petition in support of the occupation refusers
Sign a petition in support of the occupation refusers
And to demand their immediate release
Alex Cohn, Wissam Qablan, Orwa Zidan and Shaul Mograbi-Berger are currently in military prison for their refusal, on grounds of conscientious objection, to serve the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Alex Cohn (19) is currently serving a seventh term in prison, and has spent a total of 124 days in military jail. Alex is one of the initiators of the 2005 Shministim (high school seniors) letter, which was signed by about 350 young people. In this letter they state that they do not intend to serve in the Israeli army so long as it serves the Occupation. In his letter to the Minister of Defense, Alex writes among other things: "It is impossible to serve in the occupation army without taking part in the injustices it causes. The occupation is the result of a policy and not imposed by circumstances. The extent and power of its ramifications for the Israelis and Palestinians cannot be grasped. It is therefore unacceptable by any moral standard. Because one cannot serve in the army without taking part in the occupation, I cannot, in good conscience, enlist."
Wissam Qablan (20) has spent 100 days in prison. He first refused to enlist already in late 2003 and did not appear at the National Induction Base on the appointed day. This year he decided to present himself and he was subsequently jailed several times over on the grounds of his refusal. Wissam says that he refuses to serve in the army because he regards it as a tool used by the government to conduct a policy that destroys both peoples. He will not become part of such an organization.
Orwa Zidan (19) is now spending his second 21-day term in military jail. His brother, before him, was imprisoned too after he refused to serve on conscientious grounds. He was released after five months. Orwa's father, as well, was a CO in 1974, and his mother is active in the Druze refusal movement.
Shaul Mograbi-Berger (19), like Orwa, is currently in jail for a second term of 21 days. Shaul is an activist in the non-violent movement against the separation wall and with the Shministim. In his letter, dated January 2005, to the minister of defense, he wrote, among other things: "For as long as this army is an occupying power, it won�t have room for me. (...) Non-resistance to the occupation, and even more so to military service, is tantamount to approving of the occupation. (...) In making my refusal, I do not follow positive law, according to which it is my duty to enlist for military service, but I am faithful to substantive law. The latter, as I learned during civics classes, is, as its name suggests: the foundation and essence of democracy."
The Forum of Parents ofConscientious Objectors (the Parents Forum) is asking you to sign the petition below in support of the occupation refusers and demanding their immediate release from military prison. (This petition will be published in the press.)

Refuse the Occupation
Now, that the smoke-screen of the disengagement plan has dispersed, it has become clear once again that Israel�s brutal occupation of the Palestinian territories has by no means ended and is in fact gaining force. The Israeli government continues building the separation wall, expanding its illegal settlements and oppressing the Palestinian people in the occupied territories.
Wissam Qablan, Alex Cohn, Orwa Zidan, and Shaul Mograbi-Berger are in military prison for their conscientious refusal to enlist and take part in the occupation and its ensuing oppression. Their imprisonment is meant only to punish them and prevent them from obeying the dictate of their conscience.
We call upon the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff: Allow the jailed objectors to follow their conscience -
Free the Occupation Refusers!
sign at: refusers.petition@gmail.com
For further information: www.refuz.org.il, www.shministim.org.il
Donations: Please write cheques made out to New Profile and send to:
New Profile, POB 9013, Jerusalem 91090, Israel
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Eye2Eye
Dear Friends,
Eye2Eye is the production unit of the Alternative Information Center AIC. Our focus is the production of audio/visual material for television and internet broadcasting. The aim of Eye2Eye is to offer the Israeli and International audiences an accessible representation of the reality of the occupation - independent of mainstream media; emphasizing social, economic, environmental, political and legal aspects of the occupation with a concentration on Jerusalem. The material produced varies from short clips and news reportage to documentary movies.
You can watch the audio/visual clips by intering the below link:
http://www.alternativenews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=235&lang=ISO-8859-1
We'll be happy to have your feedbacks, which will be taken seriuosly.
Best Regards,
Yasser Akawi
-----------------------------------------------------
Etel Adnan reading
Poetry Project at St. Mark�s Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City
131 East 10th st.
Wednesday, 8:00pm
Her latest book, In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country, is a memoir told in lyrical vignettes that explores identity, history, displacement, and war from an Arab American perspective Adnan writes, "Contrary to what is usually believed, it is not general ideas and grandiose unfolding of great events that impress the mind during times of heightened historic upheavals, but rather the uninterrupted flow of little experiences, observations, disturbances, small ecstasies, or barely perceptible discouragements that make up day-to-day living." She'll be reading with Robin Blaser.
A hebrew version dnan's PARIS, WHEN IT'S NAKED, is forthcoming from Andalus publishing, by yours translationally.
http://www.poetryproject.com/calendar.html
(i think i'll just have to visit in NYC to see this)
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OlsonNow
http://olsonnow.blogspot.com/
Thirty five years have passed since the death of Charles Olson in 1970. While all the signs were there when he died, the country he lived in is almost unrecognizable: decades of covert wars, domestic and international imprisonment on a massive scale, and the flexing of imperial muscle that now finds the U.S. military in Iraq reveal that the "pejorocracy" Olson warned of is well entrenched. As almost all forms of knowledge and culture have become administered and poetry has become a profession, the questions Olson raised about the world and the role of poetry and knowledge in it are more pointed than ever.
The first major public event emerging from the project will take place on:
December 3, 2005, from 12 to 7 at the
Poetry Project at St. Mark�s Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City
131 East 10th st.
http://www.poetryproject.com
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to sponsor oznik.com, start your online shopping here: http://oznik.com/shop.html

[oznik] Committee for Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees +++

hi dears,
below:
- Shimon Ballas novel in English
- Arna Free Theatre web site
- Arna's Children DVD
- music: Ani Va'anunu
- a note about this service
- sponsor
-----------------------------------------------------
Appeal of the Israeli Action Committee for the Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees
http://oznik.com/news/050915.html
The Committee is an Israeli organization, which firmly believes that there can be no peace between Israel and Palestine so long as thousands of Palestinian so-called 'security prisoners' and hundreds of administrative detainees continue to be held in Israeli prisons.
Members of the Committee believe that the Palestinian prisoners can and should play a significant role in advancing the peace process and in spreading the message that co-existence in the Middle East is indeed possible - but only if Israeli society pays attention to their hardships and puts an end to the systematic institutional discrimination against them - which exists first at the judicial level, and later on with regard to their imprisonment conditions and parole opportunities.
Members of the Committee are in close contact with a significant number of long-serving Palestinian prisoners, imprisoned even before the signing of the Oslo Accords, who strongly believe in a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Therefore,
The committee members have made it their goal to:
- Work to change the existing norm, whereby parole boards routinely deny parole to long-serving Palestinian 'security prisoners' after they finish serving two-thirds of their sentence;
- Act towards commuting the sentences of long-serving prisoners, especially those whose cases the government of Israel refuses to even discuss with the Palestinian Authority (e.g., prisoners who hold Israeli citizenship);
- Advance a public discussion within Israeli society regarding the problem of the Palestinian prisoners, raising public awareness to their cause;
- Bring about a change in the incarceration conditions of those classified as 'security prisoners,' equating them to those of other prisoners.
In order to achieve these goals, the Committee is already operating, and will continue to operate, both in the public and the legal arenas. In its first year of activity, the Committee aims to represent several Palestinian 'security prisoners' who have already spent over 15 years in jail. The Committee will ask, on their behalf, that their sentences be commuted, and will represent them in parole board hearings. In addition, the Committee intends to launch a public campaign, which will include writing newspaper articles and holding at least one academic conference on the subject.
In order to advance its activities, the Committee needs some financial support. A large part of the activity is done by volunteers, yet the expenses involved in legal representation demand resources. The Committee�s legal dealings are coordinated by Adv. Michael Sfard of Tel Aviv.
Please help us achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. Please distribute this appeal as widely as possible, write letters and articles about the problem of the Palestinian prisoners, and also, please help us cover the expenses of our activities.
Donations can be deposited to The First International Bank (031), account number 246980, Zamarot Branch (064), swift code FIRBILIT.
Cheques by mail (to the order of Anat Matar) can be sent to Anat Matar, 33 Bernstein-Cohen St., Ramat Hasharon 47213, Israel.
For further details:
Tamar Berger: 972-54-5331484 ; tberger@netvision.net.il
Sanaa Salame: 972-54-4805040 ; foadsult@zahav.net.il
Anat Matar: 972-52-8560001 ; matar@post.tau.ac.il
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Other upadtes:
Vehu Aher, Shimon Ballas' novel, is about to come out in English from City Lights Books. I have had the pleasure to help Ammiel Alcalay translate the book. An excerpt, with a forward by Ammiel is online at:
http://fascicle.com/issue01/main/contents_frameset.htm
A new Hebrew edition came out recently from Hakibutz Hameuhad.
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Arna Free Theatre, recreating the children's theatre of Jenin Refugee Camp, now has a web site, where they also sell DVDs of the film Arna's Children (I think the DVDs are PAL - better verify before you buy).
http://www.arnafreetheatre.org
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ANI VA'ANUNU, new album by chenard and chicky, fully freely downloadable:
http://www.freesamplezone.org/fsz040.htm
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sorry for taking a couple of weeks to pass on this message from Committees for the Prisoners, i try to stick to the policy of sending only material that's not available elsewhere, and so much of what i used to pass on and post online now travels through wider regular channels, that i had expected this important call to make the rounds as well... i mean... THOUSANDS of political prisoners and detainees... do consider forwarding.
love,
oz
to sponsor oznik.com, start your online shopping here: http://oznik.com/shop.html

[oznik] u.s. screenings of WALL by simone bitton begin tonight, Friday August 26th.

hi dears,
below:
1. u.s. screenings of WALL begin tonight
2. a couple of other new culture links
love,
oz
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u.s. screenings of WALL by simone bitton begin tonight, Friday August 26th.
RUSH TO SEE IT.
venues:
NYC: http://www.quadcinema.com/
Mineapolis: http://mnfilmarts.org/bell/
Chicago opening Sept. 9th: http://siskelfilmcenter.org/
the film's home page: http://wallthemovie.com/
related:
screening on the actual wall in jerusalem: http://oznik.com/art/040726.html
stop the wall campaign: http://www.stopthewall.org/
comprehensive coverage of the wall, and resources:
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/243.shtml
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also this week:
the beirut Daily Star reviews Benjamin Hollander's book, RITUALS OF PEACE AND THE OTHER ISRAELI
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=17886
Three Cities Against the Wall: Ramallah, Tel Aviv, New York
http://www.abcnorio.org/againstthewall/
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[oznik] Aran's Free Theatre

hello dears,
the following arrived by email from juliano mer-khamis, and that's the contact i have for the Arna Free Theatre association: juliano@netvision.net.il
it's also up on the site.
Also, hebrew readers, kindly check out http://oznik.com/beta
love,
oz
THE ARNA FREE THEATRE
We, the members of the �Arna Free Theatre� association, wish to announce that we intend to recreate the children�s theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp.
In the spirit and memory of Arna Mer Khamis we want to rebuild the theatre destroyed by the Israeli army in 2002.
Arna Mer was born in 1929 to Jewish parents in what was then called Palestine. Soon after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, she began a lifetime of campaigning for peace, justice and human rights in her homeland - which most often meant acting and speaking out uncompromisingly for the rights of the Palestinian people.
It was at the time of the Palestinian uprising, or �The stone Intifada�, that Mer-Khamis saw the need to establish centres in the Jenin refugee camp for children affected by the violence around them. In 1988 she founded the organisation �Care and Learning� to respond to their needs.
In 1993 Arna was awarded �The Alternative Nobel Prize� in Sweden for her work. She used the award to build and finance a children�s theatre in the camp. This theatre enabled the children to: �bring the sun back into the palace�� as their first play was called.
Arna Mer-Khamis died in February 1995 after a lengthy struggle against cancer.
In August 2005 we met with friends and colleagues of Arna, community leaders in Jenin Refugee Camp, and the local staff of a child rehabilitation centre about recreating Arna�s children theatre in Jenin in order to educate, encourage, and empower the children; that is: to provide them with a �real� childhood, with creative means of expressing themselves, with some light and hope.
In its rehabilitation role the theatre will also be used, in conjunction with the rehabilitation committee in Jenin, for speech therapy and various therapeutic drama programs and as a space for the committee to expand their work, rehabilitating disabled children.
Let Arna�s cry for justice, freedom, and peace echo in the hearts and minds of the children of Palestine once again.
We call upon relief and welfare organisations as well as social, political, educational, and cultural NGO�s, not to mention private citizens, to support us in our effort by donating funds, services/expertise, and relevant materials. No donation is too small. Non-profit conduits are available throughout Europe.
"Our principle is to serve the child: to turn the pyramid [of education and authority] upside down"
�Arna Mer-Khamis (1930-1995)

Members of the �Arna Free Theatre� association:
Abed Al-Raeq Abu Al-Hayja : Deputy Governor of Jenin area and Director of the �Local Committee for Rehabilitation Of The Disabled Child�- Jenin Camp.
Amer Rahhal : Program Manager in the �Local Committee for Rehabilitation of the Disabled Child� - Jenin Camp.
Armando Darita: Filmmaker based in the UK working on alternative media projects and stories not covered in the mainstream media.
Dror Feiler: Musician, artist and composer. Chairman of the executive committee of EJJP (European Jews for Just Peace).
Frida Röhl: Actress director of the Tribunalen theater in Stockholm
Hiba Darwish: Media Coordinator Public Relations Office, Bir Zeit University
Jonatan Stanczak: Swedish and Israeli citizen, pediatric nurse at �The Children�s Hospital� in Stockholm and board member of �Jews for Israeli Palestinian Peace� in Sweden.
Juliano Mer Khamis: Lives in Haifa, an Actor, director Of the film �Arna�s children�, was involved in Arna�s project In Jenin (1992-1997).
Mawan Isa Wishahi : Member of the �Local Committee for Rehabilitation of the Disabled Child�, and a member in the �Ministry of Youth�.
Mishmish Ori- Dress designer for cinema and television, was involved in Arna�s project in Jenin (1992-1997).
Nazmi Salem : Member of the �Local Committee for Rehabilitation of the Disabled Child�-Jenin camp

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