Madison Rafah Journal

The Madison production of the play My Name is Rachel Corrie, featuring Brittany Jordt in the title role, will be performed in Door County from July 25 to 27:

Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26 at 8 pm
Ephraim Village Hall
9996 Water Street

Sunday, July 27 at 2 pm
Baileys Harbor Town Hall
2392 County Hwy F

$7 general admission, $3 students

For ticket and general information call 608-278-0483 or e-mail rafahsistercity (at) yahoo.com. Tickets will be available at the door, or you can reserve tickets by leaving your name and phone number, the performance you wish to attend, and the number of tickets desired. Your reservation will be confirmed by return call. Tickets must be picked up and paid for at least one-half hour before play time.

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Dear Members and Friends of MRSCP,

The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has forwarded this call from the United for Peace and Justice group for an urgent national effort to speak out against a military attack on Iran by the U.S., Israel or both.

They suggest five actions below…but in particular, we want to ask you to please participate in the FIRST one: phone calls to Congress and Senators Feingold and Kohl. On Monday, peace groups in Milwaukee will be raising this issue with a march on the offices of Feingold and Kohl (as well as Rep. Gwen Moore) so this is a GREAT time to reinforce the message!

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Bush is ratcheting up the rhetoric on Iran. He says "All options are on the table." Congress is considering a resolution to blockade Iran – an act of war.

What can we do to stop it?

Join us as we hear from a panel of experts:

• History of US policy – Joe Elder
• US covert operations – Allen Ruff
• Middle East context – Tsela Barr
• The nuclear issue – Jeff Patterson
• Why we shouldn’t go to war – Majid Sarmadi

Discussion and brainstorming on working for a peaceful world will follow. Bonnie Block will moderate.

Tuesday July 15, 2008
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Lowell Hall, Room B1-A/D
610 Langdon St., Madison

Co-sponsored by: Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Madison Pledge of Resistance, United Nations Association-Dane County Chapter, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Health Writers, Madison-Rafah Sister City Project and more.

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ACTION ALERT
July 2, 2008

Washington Report Correspondent Mohammed Omer Hospitalized Following Detention by Israeli Soldiers at Allenby Bridge Crossing

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer, Gaza correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and co-recipient of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, was hospitalized with cracked ribs and other injuries inflicted by Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan into the occupied West Bank.

Omer was returning home to Gaza after a European speaking tour and the June 16 London ceremony at which he accepted the prestigious Gellhorn Prize.

Journalist John Pilger (c), a member of the Martha Gellhorn Prize judges panel, congratulates co-recipients Dahr Jamail (l) and Mohammed Omer. Photo Paul de Rooij.

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Reference: 63/2008
Date: 01 Jul 2008

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continues to violate freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This includes restricting journalists and media institutions from working freely, as well as killing, miming and torturing journalists. On Thursday, 26 June 2008, the IOF severely beat and humiliated Mohammed Omar Al Mghayar, a young prize-winning journalist who lives in and reports from the Gaza Strip.

According to the 24-year-old journalist's sworn testimony, officers from the Israeli security services (Shin Bet) assaulted him when he was returning from a trip to Europe. Al Mghayar began his visit in London, where he was awarded the 2008 Martha Gelhorn Prize for Journalistic Excellence. He continued his trip to Sweden, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands where he spoke before parliaments. It is noteworthy that a delegation from the Dutch embassy facilitated his travel from Gaza and accompanied Al Mghayar on his outbound journey from the Gaza Strip to Jordan.

On Thursday, 26 June 2008, at approximately 9:40am, the journalist arrived at the Allenby Bridge that joins Jordan and the OPT, but is controlled by Israel. The IOF arrested him, forced him to take off his clothes, beat him severely, and insulted him in front of other travelers. During the two-hour interrogation, he was threatened at gunpoint to his face. A Dutch delegation was waiting for him at the Bridge; however, while he was under interrogation, the IOF told the delegation that he had not arrived at the crossing yet.

The beating, accompanied by mental and physical exhaustion, caused Al Mghayar to lose consciousness and he was transferred to a hospital in Jericho, West Bank. After medical treatment, he was moved to the Erez Crossing that connects Israel with the Gaza Strip. There, the IOF confiscated his camera charger.

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US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, July 2nd, 2008

It’s bad enough that Congress passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 two weeks ago, spending $165 billion more on our country’s illegal war on and occupation of Iraq well into 2009.

To add insult to injury, after closely reading the bill, we discovered that Congress snuck in a last-minute earmark for $170 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel!

The culprit: Representative David Obey (WI-7), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, who has received nearly $225,000 from “pro-Israel” PAC’s and more than $200,000 from the military-industrial complex since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Yes, the same David Obey who can be seen in this video berating peace activists for wanting to cut off funding for the war in Iraq.

Yesterday, the US Campaign sent Rep. Obey a sharply-worded letter protesting his decision to slip this earmark for Israel into an unrelated bill at the last minute, thereby preventing any public scrutiny or debate. To view a copy of the letter, please click here.

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