Madison Rafah Journal

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 …)

14th April 2009

Louise Edwards
Compliance Investigation Unit (London)
Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1227
Liverpool L69 3UG

To the Charity Commission,

I have been travelling for many weeks in North Africa and the Middle East, Europe, and North America. I have returned to a London address I seldom visit to find a blizzard of correspondence from you. Your correspondence, when read together, as I have just done, seems to represent a wildly disproportionate and inappropriate reaction to our recent delivery of aid to the suffering Palestinians in Gaza, and must raise the question: Why?

The peremptory letters from you, and by you I mean the Charity Commission, are full of bluster and threat, issuing absurd deadlines to people it does not seem to occur to you are not even receiving your letters, either because they are working abroad (Ms Razuki and Mr Al-Mukhtar), travelling abroad on high profile political business (myself), or you are writing to them at the wrong address.

In my own case, Easter Saturday opened with your, latest, threat to go before a High Court judge in a bid to force me to appear before you. That will not be necessary. I look forward to telling you to your faces what I think of you. Which is this.

I have become increasingly concerned about the abuse of your powers displayed in your brazenly obvious political double standards. About your attempts, under the guise of regulating British charities, to police the democratic efforts of political activists in Britain in a way never envisaged by parliament. About your preparedness to waste large sums of public money in political stunts, either at the behest of others or in the hope that you are properly anticipating their wishes. And above all, in the context of this issue, your almost laughably obvious prejudice against the Palestinian cause and against Britain’s two million-strong Muslim community.

Just one example will suffice for now, although I have more, much more. (Read on …)

Agence France Presse, April 15, 2009

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has informed the United Nations it will refuse to cooperate with a probe of war crimes allegedly committed during the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a senior official said.

“Israel has informed the UN Human Rights Council it will not cooperate with an investigation based on a biased resolution,” the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

He said a letter to this effect was sent last week.

Israel had claimed earlier the probe sought to tarnish Israel’s reputation.

“The investigation has no moral ground since it decided even before it started who is guilty and of what,” foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said earlier this month. (Read on …)

Madison Memorial High School
201 S. Gammon Rd.
Madison, WI
Art Gallery
April 15, 2009
7:45 – 8:15 am

The art exhibit/exchange project between the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza City and Memorial High School in Madison will open officially on Wednesday from 7:45 – 8:15 am in the Art Gallery at Memorial High School.

The project consists of artwork done by teenage students at Atfaluna (both “happy times” and images of the recent war) and artwork done by Memorial High School students reflecting on what they learned about Gaza and Palestine doing the project.

It will also feature some photos, profiles and letters from some younger Atfaluna students, and some crafts and olive oil for display and to take sale orders.

People will be able to bid on the Atfaluna artwork in a “silent auction”, with all funds raised going to Atfaluna. Copies are on display for the security of the original artwork, but the originals will be sold.

Enter at the main entrance on the south side of the school; the gallery is right across from the school office. You can visit the exhibit any time during school hours if you register at the office. The display will run for about two weeks.

Eyewitness Stories & Photos

Anna Baltzer, Jewish-American granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, will present her slides, stories, & book Witness in Palestine, recounting first-hand experiences with the conflict while living with Palestinians in the West Bank.

First United Methodist Church
203 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison
7:00 pm Wednesday, April 15

Free and open to the public. Booksigning to follow talk.

Co-sponsors: American Jews for a Just Peace/Madison, Justice for Palestine, Madison
Friends Meeting, Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, Pilgrims of Ibillin, Playgrounds for
Palestine-Madison, Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative, and Yahara Friends Meeting

For more info: www.annainthemiddleeast.com; call 238-1227 or e-mail
rafahsistercity(at)yahoo.com

A Personal Journey through Occupation and Jewish Identity

Tuesday, April 14th
8:00pm
Friends’ Co-op
437 West Johnson St.
Madison
(between Bassett and Broom Streets)

Shaarei Shamayim will be sponsoring and the Friends Co-op will be hosting Anna Baltzer, a Jewish-American granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, who will give a talk on the Israel/Palestine issue. This will be a chance to hear her stories and perspective, and have a discussion.

Her book Witness in Palestine and Palestinian arts and crafts will be on sale, and free kosher-for-Passover snacks will be available.

Anna Baltzer is a Fulbright scholar and volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service. She is touring the U.S. with a presentation and book that describes her experiences documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent resistance to the Occupation.

Anna’s presentation covers checkpoints, settlements, demonstrations, Israeli activism, censorship, the Separation Wall, and more. (Read on …)