Madison Rafah Journal

Nasser Abu Bakr, Agence France Presse, Apr 27, 2009

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Monday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

"A Jewish state, what is that supposed to mean?" Abbas asked in a speech in the West Bank's political capital of Ramallah. "You can call yourselves as you like, but I don't accept it and I say so publicly."

Abbas said the topic was "extensively discussed" and rejected by the Palestinians during a November 2007 international conference in Annapolis, near Washington, at which the two sides relaunched peace negotiations.

Netanyahu has demanded the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state as part of an eventual peace deal.

Such a move would amount to an effective renunciation of the right of return of refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when Israel was created, a cherished principle of the Palestinians.

(Read on …)

Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War, declaring the city its "eternal, undivided capital." The move has not been recognised by the international community and all foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv

Agence France Presse, Apr 27, 2009

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has begun construction on some 60 new housing units in Jewish settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, the anti-settlement Peace Now group said on Monday.

"The works aim to build 60 housing units for Orthodox religious Jewish families right next to the Palestinian neighbourhood of Arab al-Sawahra," Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran told AFP.

"The works began two months ago as part of development of East Talpiot," one of a dozen Jewish settlements that Israel has built in east Jerusalem since conquering that part of the city in 1967, she said.

"They aim to complete a belt of Jewish neighbourhoods that will surround east Jerusalem and we are against this project, which is harming the hopes for peace," she said.

(Read on …)

Saturday, May 16
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Goodman Atwood Community Center
149 Waubesa Street, Madison

Sponsored by Madison East High School Students for Justice in Palestine

A vegetarian Middle Eastern dinner will be served at 6 pm with a cooking demonstration by Chef Sabi Attiyeh of baklava and dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), followed by a presentation with slides by Lora Gordon, recently returned from two months in Rafah and Gaza. Entertainment will be provided by the East High School jazz quartet.

Funds raised will go to the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) for Gaza relief. Tickets: $15 in advance. For reservations contact Bill at kursk1(at)tds.net. Supported by the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project; for more information visit call (608) 238-1227.

Mama’s Sweet Baklava
Suheir Hammad

(Read on …)

Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26
First United Methodist Church
203 Wisconsin Ave.
Madison, WI

The David P. Lyons 2009 Lecture in Theology will be presented by Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub on Saturday, April 25th. Two Lectures will be given and by Dr. Ayoub: "A Unity of Faith and Purpose among the Three Abrahamic Faith Communities" at 10 am and "The Road to World Peace: Dialogue and Diplomacy, Not Confrontation and War" at 1 pm. There is a $50 registration fee for Saturday's lectures that includes a box lunch.

He will also preach at First UMC's worship services on Sunday, April 26 at 9:30 and 11 am.

Dr. Ayoub is a world authority on Islam and Muslim-Christian relations. Since 1999 Dr. Ayoub has served as one of the U.S. State Department's ambassadors to various parts of the Middle East and SE Asia to comment on American society and institutions, Islam in America, and inter-religious dialog. From 1988-2008 Dr. Ayoub was Professor and Director of Islamic Studies at the Temple University Department of Religion. After retiring from Temple, he now serves as an Adjunct Professor at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut. For more information see www.fumc.org.

Thursday, April 23th
7:00 to 9:30 PM
107 Psychology Building
UW-Madison
Dr. Najat Rahman will give a lecture about the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and the significance of his poetry. The lecture will be followed by a question and answer session.

Friday, April 24th
7:30 to midnight
On Wisconsin Room, Red Gym
UW-Madison
This is a cultural night that will include UW-Madison poets reciting their work as American poets interacting with Darwish for the first time, a lecture by Dr. Rahman, Arabic music, poetry recitation in Arabic and English, and a fantastic art exhibit from Palestine. Free food reception included.

When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we are running out of time to save a two-state solution

Yousef Munayyer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Apr. 19, 2009

The settlement of Ariel, which sits deep inside the Palestinian Territory of the West Bank, voted overwhelmingly for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party in the recent elections. The reasons are straightforward: Likud has vowed to protect and expand settlements, and its platform denies the existence of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

These facts run contrary to stated U.S. policy toward the peace process, but the new government of Israel and the residents of Ariel and other settlements who voted for Likud do not seem to care.

Every American administration since Jimmy Carter's has taken a position against settlements in the West Bank. They are not only illegal under international law, but they also jeopardize Israel's long-term security, stability, and prospects for peace with its neighbors.

Settlements and the security structures that surround them debilitate the livelihoods of Palestinians, cut them off from each other, and make a viable Palestinian state unachievable. From 1994 to 2004, after the start of the Oslo peace process, which was based on the principle of two states, the settler population grew a striking 89 percent.

(Read on …)

Broom Street Theater
1119 Williamson Street
Madison
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm (admission $9)
Sunday Matinees at 2 pm (Admission $6)

Call (608) 244-8338 for reservations.
For more information e-mail birdsarehands(at)gmail.com
or see Broom Street Theater

Against the backdrop of occupied borderlands torn asunder, The Birds That Are Your Hands: 13 Ways to Start a Fire Under Siege is a play that explores disparate yet overlapping tales of tyranny and resistance, from the Occupied Palestinian Territories to the U.S.-Mexico border, illuminating the intricacies of empire erection and the walls that sever the very bodies who build them.

From stony hills laden with olive trees to the blurry haze of a line in the sand among saguaros; from the bullet riddled corridors of an ancient holy city to the metallic prison of a modern metropolis, a tangled collage of stories unfurl drawing attention to the hands of those enclosed by borders, those making the crossing, and those who capitalize on the construction: wielders of stones, bakers of bread, upholders of state. Shepherds emerge alongside Goliaths’ patrol, lovers find themselves to be terrorists, and Ingrid thinks we should all just lay down our arms and play violins.

The politically-charged, provocative performance interrogates coercive population control, racialized state violence, and militarized borders. It does this while foregrounding the voices and stories of those so often deemed "collateral."

(Read on …)