An Evening of Palestinian Hip Hop

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Written by AUPHR AUPHR

Published: 02 November 2011 02 November 2011

An Evening of Palestinian Hip Hop
Friday, November 4, 2011
Salmon Street Studios, 109 SE Salmon St., Suite C, Portland, OR 97214

Slingshot Hip Hop Film Screening
followed by Q&A with Director Jackie Reem Salloum
5:30 pm

The documentary film Slingshot Hip Hop (2008), screened as part of the Middle East Studies Center Film Series, braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.

Palestinian Hip Hop Performance by DAM
8:00 pm

Based in Lod, Israel, Palestinian Hip Hop Artist DAM was founded in 1999 by brothers Tamer and Suhell Nafar and their friend Mahmoud Jreri, and their songs are largely about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and poverty. The group’s name is the Arabic verb for “to last forever/eternity” (دام) and the Hebrew word for “blood” (דם), but can also be an acronym for “Da Arabian MCs.”

These events are free and open to the public--all ages.
Both are co-sponsored by the Portland State University Arab Persian Student Organization and Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, Zulu Oregon Universal and the Lincoln Arabic Studies Program.

BOATS SAILING NOW TO GAZA! SPREAD THE WORD.

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Written by AUPHR AUPHR

Published: 02 November 2011 02 November 2011

ACT NOW!!


BOATS SAILING  NOW TO GAZA! SPREAD THE WORD.


Israel and the US outsourced the siege of Gaza to Athens last summer by preventing 8 boats in the Freedom Flotilla 2-Stay Human from sailing from Greek ports toGaza. Despite this we were able to bring world-wide attention to the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Our efforts in Greece only fueled our determination to challenge the imprisonment of the people of Gaza. We said we would continue to sail and so we are!!!

At this moment, two boats are in international waters in the Mediterranean heading to Gaza.  One boat, the Saoirse from Ireland, includes parliamentarians among its passengers.  The other, the Tahrir, carries representatives from Canada, the U.S.,Australia, and Palestine.  The U.S. Representative on the Tahrir, Kit Kittredge, was a passenger on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope mission in Athensin July.  A journalist from Democracy Now is on the Tahrir also. Civil society organizations in Gaza await their arrival, and look forward to the delivery of letters collected from thousands of U.S. supporters in the To Gaza With Love campaign. 

We need your help to make this mission a success. Please take these actions immediately.

1. Check these websites for updates:  US to Gaza, Irish Ship to Gaza and Canadian Boat to Gaza,  watch  or listen to Democracy Now for live coverage from the Tahrir..  Look for twitter hashtag #Freedomwaves.

2. Spread the word far and wide – send this alert to your contacts.

3. Call the State Department  and the White House- demand that they take immediate action to ensure the safe passage of these boats and to put an end to the siege of Gaza.

Call the State Department:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 202-647-5291
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro 011-972-3-519-7575
Office of Israel/Palestinian Affairs Paul Sutphin 202-647-3672
Office of Consular Affairs, Kim Richter 202-647-8308

and the White House: 202-456-1414

email President Obama at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Here are some talking points or suggested messaging:

Gaza has been under siege since mid-2006, depriving 1.6 million people of their liberty and basic human rights.  Although the siege has been condemned by the United Nations, the Red Cross, and many national governments, nothing has been done to ease the plight of these civilians.  Civil society has had to act where governments would not.  Two ships with 27 passengers from 5 countries are sailing to Gaza to confront the Israeli naval blockade, and to bring medical supplies and letters of support.

As Americans we insist that our government (which sends Israel $3 billion in military aid every year), demands that Israel insures the ships’ safe passage and ends its illegal blockade of Gaza. There is absolutely no excuse to subject 1.6 million people to collective punishment. Ask your local press to cover this story.  Up-to-date information will be available at www.ustogaza.org, www.irishshiptogaza.org  and www.tahrir.ca


FORWARD THIS ACTION ALERT TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS, PLEASE INCLUDE THE PRESS RELEASE.

THANKS
FELICE GELMAN, JANE HIRSCHMANN AND ANN WRIGHT

Maxine in Gaza: Reflections on health and justice issues in Gaza.

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Written by Maxine Maxine

Published: 22 October 2011 22 October 2011

Maxine for Gaza Health
I'm a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. I view health as not just the absence of disease, but the presence of well-being through peace, justice and each person's and community's rightful share of resources. We are DOING health when we work for peace and justice for all!

Follow my blog at: maxine-gazahealth.blogspot.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011

The six of us, the WA/OR PSR health delegation,  arrived in Gaza this afternoon.  There are the details and there are the impressions.
One detail is that I am writing this in the very dimly lit hotel room--that is all the light there is (it's like candlelight--2 faint lightbulbs).  Apparently the hotel has its own generator which is essential as most of Gaza has electricity only ~ 50% of the time.  We overlook the Mediterranean Sea which presents interesting contrasts--the beautiful sea, its cool breeze, the familiar sound of the surf.  Yet, the beach, like much of the Gaza streets is piled with trash, and out over the water, on the horizon is a row of lights.  I am told they are Israeli surveillance boats--always present. It's quite disturbing.  That Israel has the ability (which they exercise at will) to monitor and to attack at any moment is a fact of life here in Gaza.  We were shown a building that was recently bombed (with "surgical precision") right in the middle of Gaza City, on a block of apartments, the street where children play.  The "crime" for which this particular building was bombed, nobody knows.  It's a way of life thing, they tell us.

Read more: Maxine in Gaza: Reflections on health and justice issues in Gaza.

Occupy Wall Street not Palestine!

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Written by BNC Secretariat BNC Secretariat

Published: 15 October 2011 15 October 2011

Occupy Wall Street not Palestine!
We are part of the world’s 99% yearning for freedom, justice and equal rights!

If a people one day wills to live                     fate must answer its call
And the night must fade                               and the chain must break
– Abou-Al-kacem El-Chebbi (Tunisia)

Occupied Palestine, October 13 -The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the largest Palestinian civil society coalition struggling for Palestinian rights, is proud to stand in solidarity with the movements struggling for a new world based on democracy, human rights and economic justice. From New York to Athens, from Madrid to Santiago, from Bahrain to Rome, these huge mobilisations provide a much needed reminder of something that Palestinians have always known – that another world, a dignifying one, is possible and ordinary people can create it.

Our aspirations overlap; our struggles converge. Our oppressors, whether greedy corporations or military occupations, are united in profiting from wars, pillage, environmental destruction, repression and impoverishment. We must unite in our common quest for freedoms, equal rights, social and economic justice, environmental sanity, and world peace. We can no longer afford to be splintered and divided; we can no longer ignore our obligations to join hands in the struggle against wars and corporate exploitation and for a human-friendly world community not a profit-maximizing jungle.

The Occupy Wall Street movement and its counterparts across the US, Europe, Latin America and elsewhere are — at least partially — inspired by the Arab Spring for democracy and social justice. Leaders of the Arab popular revolts tell us that they, in turn, were largely inspired by our own, decades-old struggle against Israel’s occupation of our land, its system of discrimination that matches the UN’s definition of apartheid, and its denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return home.

Read more: Occupy Wall Street not Palestine!