Madison Rafah Journal

Sunday, February 8
Dardanelles Restaurant
1851 Monroe Street, Madison (Directions)

6:30 pm: Snack bar reception, $5 per person. Please RSVP by Friday, Feb. 6 to Joy First at jsfirst (at) tds.net or phone 222-7581.

7:15 pm: Talk, free and open to the public, no RSVP needed. Co-sponsored by MRSCP, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Madison Pledge of Resistance, Madison Chapter of American Jews for a Just Peace, and United Nations Association-USA Dane County.

Kathy's presentation will cover her recent visit to Rafah and Gaza.

She is active with the Catholic Worker movement and since becoming a pacifist has refused payment of all federal income tax for 25 years. She helped coordinate the Voices in the Wilderness campaign on Iraq. She is currently co-coordinator of Voices For Creative Nonviolence. You can read more about the breadth of Kathy's activism in Wikipedia and Yes! magazine.

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The Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) is bringing Ahmad and his mother to Madison for treatment at American Family Children's Hospital. See the PCRF web site for information about their health care programs and to donate.

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is looking for volunteers to help in Madison with driving and other support. Those interested can contact Kathy at madderhorn2 (at) sbcglobal.net.

Defence for Children International-Palestine Section, April 1, 2008

Ahmad, nicknamed “Misho”, is 16 years old and lives in Block 2 of Jabalia Camp in the North of the Gaza Strip. On 1st March, during the recent Israeli military operation codenamed “Warm Winter”, he was seriously injured by shrapnel from a missile launched by Israeli tanks invading northern Gaza. For two weeks Misho was thought dead, as his identity was tragically mistaken for that of his friend Mohammad, killed in the same missile attack. He was lying in Al Shifa’ hospital, his body so wounded that everyone failed to identify him and his parents assumed he had been killed. Misho is alive, and has been reunited with his parents, but he is in need of specialized medical assistance. He has been referred to receive professional medical support abroad, as the damage to his brain and spine has hampered his ability to speak and he is paralyzed on the right side. Gaza’s hospitals, affected by the Israeli imposed blockade, are not sufficiently equipped to support his rehabilitation and the Palestinian Ministry of Health cannot fully fund the treatment needed for his recovery.

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63 Members of Congress call on the Administration to address overwhelming humanitarian needs

Thank Tammy Baldwin for signing this letter, and urge her to do more to help Gaza, specifically to call for ending the siege.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 63 Members of Congress have sent a letter (text below) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting immediate action by the United States to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The letter discusses the need for the opening of border crossing into Israel to allow supplies to enter Gaza, as well as for the critically ill to be transported out of Gaza to receive medical treatment. The letter also reminds the Administration that rebuilding Gaza will depend on the international community making significant financial contributions.

In the letter, the Representatives request that Secretary Clinton, or her staff, share with the signatories the actions take to date and the strategy that will be pursued to address the humanitarian crisis. The letter requests that conversation take place prior to Congress recessing on February 13, 2009.

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Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
The 10th day of war

Reem Wishah, Jan. 5th, 2009

Bureij refugee camp, located in Middle Gaza, is an overpopulated camp of mostly very old houses crammed next to each other. The zigzag streets that separate some of these houses at most allow one large-size person to pass alone. Although relative calm prevails in the camp, the sound of the Israeli war planes and bombardment interrupts people talking and chatting and the live broadcasts of battery-charged radios. Some people light fires to warm themselves and make some tea in front of their houses, while children play after getting permission from parents.

Suddenly, the scene comes under fire and a terrified panic overcomes everyone. Shouts of rage mixed with fear fill the air. Houses are not shelters anymore since everyone knows that civilian houses have become targets of the indiscriminate Israeli fire.

The Abu Jbarah family was asleep inside their old, small house. Three of them are now asleep forever after an Israeli Apache helicopter fired nine missiles at it. Neighbors rush to rescue them from under the rubble. The father and two of his sons were ripped in pieces. In the neighboring houses, a 28-year old man, a boy and his father were seriously injured. The boy dies soon after.

Pieces of fresh flesh and a big pool of warm blood mark the cold, dark scene. People depend on torches and cars lights to illuminate the carnage, since electricity is completely cut off in the entire middle Gaza.

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Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
The first day of the war

Reem Wishah, Dec. 27th, 2008

The sun felt wonderfully warm on that morning after many rainy and cloudy December days. As usual I got up very early, and opened the doors to the balcony and the windows to air out the house. I lit a candle under the lavender oil pot to spread a relaxing aroma in the house, and told my mom to get prepared for our morning coffee together before leaving for my classes at Al Azhar University in Gaza City.

The coffee and lavender aromas soon were mixed wonderfully together, and mom and I exchanged our sweet conversation about our plans for the day. After enjoying the coffee in two of our lovely cups, which mom has kept safe for over 40 years, I excused myself to finish some paperwork. Mom seized a rare opportunity to watch TV while the electricity was on.

Everything was relatively quiet around us, in spite of the dangerous military situation in the Gaza Strip. It may seem abnormal to say that the normal situation is to have danger. But this was the end of the 8-month truce between the Palestinian factions and the state of Israel that occupies us. And when one lives in a conflict area it is logical to be always in danger.

At 11:15 in the morning of Dec. 27th, the walls of the house began shaking and curtains blew left and right. I found myself rushing out of my study room to the TV sitting area, to check on my mom and my pregnant sister-in-law, who was asleep. Our eyes were like big question marks. Even the TV did not provide us with any clue. No breaking news to explain why huge consecutive explosions are everywhere. These terrifying explosions lasted for one minute and 45 seconds. It seemed much longer.

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Monday, January 26, 7:30 pm
Wisconsin Union Theater
UW-Madison
Reception to follow

Amira Hanania is a lead journalist for the Ma'an News Agency, the only independent news network in the Palestinian territories. She is the subject of the recent documentary film Live from Bethlehem, which will be screened before her lecture. Ms. Hanania advocates for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, challenges Western stereotypes of Palestinian political opinion, and confronts propagandistic journalism in all its forms. Come see Live from Bethlehem and then hear a true heroine of independent journalism.

This is part of the Distinguished Lecture Series at UW-Madison. Click here for ticketing policy.

For a recent article about Bethlehem, see "Israel to annex lands from Bethlehem villages in order to expand Gush Etzion settlement bloc"

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