Madison Rafah Journal

Commemorating the life of Rachel Corrie

Sunday, March 21
4:30-5:30 pm Silent Auction viewing and bidding
5:30-6:30 pm Vegetarian Dinner by Lulu's restaurant
6:30-9:00 pm Program
Fellowship Hall, First United Methodist Church
203 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison [Map]

A benefit dinner and program sponsored by the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project and Madison Playgrounds for Palestine.

Tickets for the dinner and program are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. All proceeds will help provide Palestinian children with a new playground in Beit Sahour, West Bank through Playgrounds for Palestine, and a water purification system for a school in Rafah, Gaza through the Maia Project of the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA).

Besides information on these two humanitarian projects, the program will mark the seventh anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death on March 16 with (Read on …)

Photo: Laura Durkay

Edgewood College
Predolin Humanities Center [Map], Room 307
Madison
7:00 pm

Josh Brollier, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, will give a talk with slides about this historic January 2010 march where 1300 delegates from 43 countries tried to break the siege of Gaza from Egypt.

Sponsored by Pax Christi, Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, and Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. For more information email rafahsistercity (at) yahoo.com or call 238-1227.

Voices of the Peacemakers: From Roots to Reconciliation
May 23- June 5, 2010
Delegation Leaders: Anna Baltzer and Cathy Sultan
Co-Sponsored with the National Peace Foundation

This delegation will explore Palestinian and Israeli efforts to achieve peace and a resolution to their conflict based on justice. The delegation will feature meetings with Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers — leaders of civil society groups, grassroots organizers, religious leaders and more. Given the current situation in the West Bank, the delegation will focus on learning about the current challenges facing nonviolent activists resisting occupation. May also marks the annual commemoration of Israel’s independence and the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) and the birth of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Your participation as an eyewitness to the situation will enrich your understanding of the conflict and empower your work back in the United States.

As with all delegations, you will meet with ‘ordinary’ Israelis and Palestinians, and people and organizations working for peace and justice. Delegates will confront and analyze the US role in the conflict and wrestle with ways to translate your experience to others when you return home.

(Read on …)

Overture Center/International Festival
Saturday, March 6, 11 am – 6 pm

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project crafts committee is looking for volunteers to sell Palestinian crafts, olive oil soap, and olive oil at the Festival. These sales provide crucial support to the producers, especially to women in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza. We would also like to expand the project if possible.

If you are interested in helping, especially if you would like to be an active member of the committee, please contact Tsela Barr at tsela[at]tselabarrdesign.com. If you know someone else who might be interested, please send their contact info to Tsela.

Olive oil sales have been picking up and if anyone is interested in working specifically on that (there is a lot of direct marketing to individuals, stores and groups) please contact Amal at amaljo[at]gmail.com

Wednesday, Feb. 24
6:30 p.m. EST (5:30 pm CST)
The Palestine Center
Washington, DC

"The Return of Talk" is the final part of a six part documentary series entitled Chronicles of a Refugee. It explores the relationship of leadership and representation among Palestinians, notably Palestinian refugees worldwide. Giving both historical context and debate over future strategy the film is a comprehensive look at the meaning of political leadership for a people facing exile, occupation and ongoing dispossession. Given the importance of the 60th anniversary of the dispossession of Palestine in 1948, this film is a timely documentation, combing grassroots, activist and elite perspectives on the history and strategy of the Palestinian national movement.

Adam Shapiro is a human rights activist and documentary filmmaker. He was co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine. He has made the documentaries About Baghdad (2005), Darfur Diaries: Message from Home (2006), Becoming Nadya (2007) and Nowhere to Flee (2007).

Watch this event live from anywhere in the world. Can't make it to this event? Stay connected with the events of the Palestine Center even if you cannot make it to Washington, D.C. You can see the events live on our blog. You can also view the video of this and all other Palestine Center events shortly after they take place.

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010
7 pm, Room B1B
Lowell Center, UW Madison [Map]

Aziz Abu-Sarah is a former Fatah Youth Member and now a veteran Palestinian peacebuilder. Kobi Skolnick is an ex-Kahana settler turned Israeli peacemaker. Together they talk about their path-breaking peace work across enemy lines.

National tour sponsored by The Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at George Mason University. Local sponsor Kavanah UW student group.

Biographies
Aziz Abu-Sara
Kobi Skolnick