The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)
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100 years since the Balfour Declaration; 70 years since the partition of Palestine; 50 years of occupation; 10 years of the siege on Gaza. ― American Muslims for Palestine, 2017
May 26 – June 25, 2017
Sponsor an Orphan this RamadanPalestine Children’s Relief Fund This Ramadan, Give Hope to Orphans in Gaza Make a difference during the month of Ramadan by supporting the PCRF’s Gaza Orphan Sponsorship Program. Throughout this month, millions of people all over the world will fast from sunrise to sunset and provide charity to those in need. Please consider making the…
May 26 – June 25, 2017
Feed Families in Gaza This RamadanFrom our friend Anees in Rafah: Donate to send food packages to needy families. The project has raised more than half of its $5,000 goal; please help them over the top in this Ramadan Challenge. Hello from Gaza Ramadan is just a few weeks away – and we need your help to provide support and care…
May 21, 2017
Clearing Misconceptions about IslamSunday, May 21 Madison Marriot West 1313 John Q. Hammons Drive, Middleton WI 2:00-5:00 pm Cost: Free Contact: Masood Akhtar, 608-332-0189 For more info see: Madinah Community Center or Facebook.com
May 21, 2017
Open Doors For Refugees Second Annual Community PicnicOlin Park Shelter, Madison 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm Celebrate and support Madison’s cultural and ethnic diversity. Connect with refugees who are making their home here. Free and open to the public. Food: A potluck with a great array of international foods. Eating utensils and beverages provided. Fun: Art activities for all ages, games for…
#ObliteratedFamilies – Al-Khalili Family
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind.
#ObliteratedFamilies – Al-Hashash Family
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. Eid of martyrs Al-Hashash family, Rafah, in the al-Hashasheen…
Israeli police kill 16-year old Palestinian girl in Jerusalem
International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) News, May 8, 2017 Updated: On Sunday afternoon, Israeli police shot and killed a 16-year old Palestinian girl near the Damascus gate in Jerusalem. Although the Israeli police spokesperson claimed that the teen attempted to stab a security officer, that account has been disputed. The child has been identified…
Israeli Soldiers Execute Palestinian Girl in Occupied Jerusalem
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), May 8, 2017 As part of the Israeli policy to use excessive and lethal force against Palestinian civilians, who are suspected by Israeli soldiers of intending to carry out stab attacks against the soldiers, on Sunday, 07 May 2017, Israeli forces killed a girl at the southern entrance to…
MRSCP Supports the UW Associated Students of Madison
MRSCP asks you to contact University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank and Vice Provost Patrick Sims in support of the recent resolution by the Associated Students of Madison (ASM) calling for divestment and investment transparency. Because this broad social justice resolution included support for Palestinian lives affected by the Israeli occupation, it was immediately repudiated…
#ObliteratedFamilies – Al-Najjar Family
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. I don’t want to remember that day Al-Najjar family,…
Is It True That Not a Single Senator – Including Progressive Dems – Cares About Palestine?
The pro-Israel letter 100 U.S. senators sent to the U.N. fails to mention Israel's illegal occupation or settlements Ben Norton & Adam Johnson, AlterNet, May 2, 2017 Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr All 100 members of the U.S. Senate sent a letter to the United Nations on April 27 that spread misleading pro-Israel myths.…
June 2 – 3, 2017
Havens Center FORWARD 2017:
Where Do We Go from Here?Understanding the Current Crisis & Building Social Justice in the Midwest FORWARD is an annual gathering of community activists, students, and educators committed to social justice. This year’s gathering, which will take place on the weekend of June 2-3 at Edgewood College on the shores of Lake Wingra in Madison, WI, will focus on…
May 6, 2017
Amy Goodman Talk and Book Signing1:30 PM – 3:30 PM Madison College – Downtown 211 N Carroll St, Room 240 The Madison College Journalism Program, WORT-FM Community Radio, and The Progressive magazine present a live talk and book signing with Amy Goodman from Democracy NOW. The free event celebrates the paperback release of Democracy NOW – 20 Years Covering the…
May 6, 2017
WNPJ’s Spring Assembly – La Farge9 AM – 4:30 PM Kickapoo Valley Reserve 3661 State Hwy 131 La Farge, WI 54639 Join the CONVERSATION Build COMMUNITY Take ACTION Join the Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice (WNPJ) and WNPJ member groups for our annual Spring Assembly Meeting. This year’s meeting will focus on Divesting & Investing on core issues…
May 4, 2017
Film: “Tickling Giants”Free speech is not settled law, and democracy is not easily won Elvehjem Building L150 455 N Park St University of Wisconsin-Madison 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CDT Please join the University of Wisconsin-Madison Middle East Studies Program for a showing of Tickling Giants, a powerful story of the “Jon Stewart of Egypt” and…
ASM unanimously approves contentious divestment proposal to mixed reactions from campus
Student council also approved resolution calling for community control of police Peyton David, The Badger Herald, Apr 27, 2017 Peyton David/The Badger Herald After five hours of debate and nearly 50 people appearing before open forum, the University of Wisconsin Associated Students of Madison unanimously approved the contentious divestment proposal. The heated resolution resulted in…
University of Wisconsin – Madison Divestment Resolution
[pdf-embedder height=600 url=”http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/PressRelease.04.26-1.pdf” title=”PressRelease.04.26 (1)”] [pdf-embedder url=”http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/03-Resolution-for-Divestment-04-30-17-AMENDED.pdf” title=”03 Resolution for Divestment 04-30-17 AMENDED”]
Leaked report highlights Israel lobby’s failures
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 28 April 2017
#ObliteratedFamilies – Siyam Family
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. “She carried me in her arms from al-Abbasiyye” Siyam…
Netanyahu Cancels Meeting After German Official Visits Protest Group
Israel has come under increasing criticism for seeking to silence groups that are critical of the 50-year military occupation of the West Bank. The Israeli Parliament passed a law in March barring entry to Israel for foreigners supporting a boycott of the country. IAN FISHER, The New York Times, APRIL 25, 2017 Sigmar Gabriel, the…
#ObliteratedFamilies – Al-Kilani Family
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. “Don’t worry. This is routine for us.” Al-Kilani family,…
Update April 21-24, 2017
Juan Cole ProgramsApril 21, 2017 WORT 89.9 FM A Public Affair: Juan Cole On The Middle East 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Listen to the program Professor Juan Cole will be Esty Dinur’s guest on A Public Affair, WORT’s daily hour-long talk program, for a wide-ranging discussion of issues, wars and prospects in the Middle East. April…
#ObliteratedFamilies – Shuheibar Family
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. “She was called Fulla” Shuheibar family, Gaza City 3…
April 26, 2017
Film Benefit for Open Doors for RefugeesBarrymore Theater Atwood Avenue, Madison 7:00 pm [Map] Discussion following the film Open Doors For Refugees presents Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature FIRE AT SEA, Gianfranco Rosi’s award-winning documentary about the heavy toll of the migrant crisis, and the price of freedom. This fundraising event is sponsored by Open Doors for Refugees, a…
April 22, 2017
Peace Contingent in the Madison Climate MarchSaturday, April 22 1 pm Lisa Link Peace Park, 452 State St, Madison 2 pm State Capitol Building Join the Peace Contingent in the Madison Climate March Please join with MRSCP and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in a Peace Contingent as part of Madison’s Climate March. We will assemble at 1 pm…
Update: Feds Drop Charges against AMP staffers
American Muslims for Palestine, April 22, 2017 (WASHINGTON DC 04.21.2017) — The federal government has dropped the charges against AMP staffers Taher Herzallah and Kareem El-Hosseiny. Stephen Rickard, Deputy Chief of the misdemeanors section in the U.S. Attorney’s office notified the men’s attorney Ann Wilcox on Friday evening. Filing what is called a “nolle prosequi,”…
#ObliteratedFamilies – Foreword by Rajah Shehadeh
During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. Don Paterson, the prize winning Scottish poet, has never…
April 27, 2017
One Book, Many Communities: “Returning to Haifa”Thursday, April 27 Alicia Ashman Library [Map] 733 N. High Point Road, Madison 7:00 – 9:00 pm “Returning to Haifa” by Ghassan Kanafani (in the collection Palestine’s Children) “Returning to Haifa” tells the story of a Palestinian couple forced to flee Haifa in 1948 without their infant son. Returning to Haifa for a visit for…
Israel sunk in ‘incremental tyranny’, say former Shin Bet chiefs
“You live in a democracy, and suddenly you understand it is not a democracy any more” Peter Beaumont, The Guardian, 6 April 2017 Ami Ayalon, ex-head of the Shin Bet intelligence services, suggests Israel has a dynamic ‘of ongoing war’ and ‘like 1984, there’s always an enemy’. (Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) Two former heads of…
#ObliteratedFamilies – Introduction by Amira Hass
Rubble of the Maadi house During the 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, 142 Palestinian families lost three or more members. Some of the families were wiped out entirely. The #ObliteratedFamilies project tells the stories of some of these families, their loved ones who were killed and those left behind. Behind every erased Gazan…
Update: April 2, 2017
Rachel Corrie Commemoration: Intimate Portraits of Gaza’s LostSt. James Church 1128 St. James Ct, Madison 2:00 pm [Map] Please RSVP to Michele Bahl at mibahl02 at yahoo.com by Friday, March 31. Intimate Portraits of Gaza’s Lost is based on the #ObliteratedFamilies project by French photographer Anne Paq and Palestinian-Polish journalist Ala Qandil. The project profiles Gaza families partially or entirely annihilated…
March 29, 2017
Islamophobia in America with Reza AslanWednesday, March 29th, 2017 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm Location: Wisconsin Union Theater Cost: Free Reza Aslan is an internationally renowned writer, commentator, professor, producer, and scholar of religions. His books, including his #1 New York Times Bestseller, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, have been translated into dozens of languages around…
March 27, 2017
Confronting Antisemitism and Islamophobia : From the Middle Ages to Today[pdf-embedder url=”http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/news_confronting_antiseminim_islamophobia2017.pdf”]
Palestinian teen killed by Israeli fire in Gaza
The Israeli army said it detected three people near the security fence and fired at them. A cousin said the 18-year-old was on the farming land that his family owns. Al Jazeera, 22 March 2017 A Palestinian teen has been killed and two other men wounded by Israeli fire in southern Gaza, according to health…
Free Issa Amro
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, call on you to strongly oppose David Friedman’s nomination as US Ambassador to Israel. Dear United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Palestinian activist Issa Amro, who has been recognized as a Human Rights Defender by the European Union…
UN official resigns after pressure to withdraw Israel apartheid report
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 17 March 2017
A message from Cindy & Craig Corrie
Painting by Malak Mattar; read more about her painting at We Are Not Numbers. March 16th, marks the 14th anniversary of the day our daughter Rachel stood in Gaza with other international activists and challenged the Israeli military’s illegal confiscation of Palestinian land and the demolition of Palestinian homes. Rachel’s life was stolen that day,…
U.N. Report: Israel Imposes ‘Apartheid Regime’ on Palestinians
Reuters, Newsweek, 3/15/17 A U.N. agency published a report on Wednesday accusing Israel of imposing an “apartheid regime” of racial discrimination on the Palestinian people, and said it was the first time a U.N. body had clearly made the charge. Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman likened the report, which was published by the U.N. Economic and…
Israel lashes out at Palestine activists
Charlotte Silver, The Electronic Intifada, 15 March 2017
Amira Hass: Introduction to #Obliterated Families
Gaza: A gaping wound #ObliteratedFamilies Behind every erased Gazan family is an Israeli pilot. Behind every orphaned child who has lost his brothers and sisters in the bombing is an Israeli commander who gave the order and a soldier who pulled the trigger. Behind every demolished house are the Israeli physicist and hi-tech specialist who…
Unlearning apartheid apologism: A Jewish response to Israeli Apartheid Week
Stop conflating anti-Zionism and criticism of the State of Israel with anti-Semitism Rya Inman / Spectator Sophie Edelhart, Eliza Moss-Horwitz, Jack Snyder, Columbia Daily Spectator, March 5, 2017 Nearly two years ago, the three of us arrived on this campus as Jewish teens inoculated with an intense fear of the Israeli/Palestinian debate. We had been…
Activists pull out of Chicago LGBTQ conference over Israel pinkwashing
Jimmy Johnson, THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA, 22 January 2016
New Israel Law Bars Foreign Critics From Entering the Country
“It’s going to be a giant sign up by the door of the Jewish state: ‘Don’t come unless you agree with everything we’re doing here.’ I don’t know what kind of democracy makes that statement.” A banner calling for the boycott, divestment and sanctioning of Israel hanging from the Manhattan Bridge in New York during…
Banksy Customizes A West Bank Hotel, Offering Rooms With A View Of The Wall
Bill Chappell, NPR, March 3, 2017 A doorman stands at the entrance of The Walled Off Hotel in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Friday. Dusan Vranic/AP There’s no pool, but there is a piano bar that exudes “an air of undeserved authority.” That’s part of the promise at The Walled Off Hotel, the artist…
Banksy’s Murals Turn Up In The Gaza Strip
Krishnadev Calamur, NPR, February 26, 2015 Banksy’s work is now in the Gaza Strip. The artist, who uses public spaces for his often-provocative murals, posted images that he said were of art he created in the Gaza Strip, along with a two-minute video of life in the Palestinian territory, titled “Make this the year YOU…
March 13, 2017
The impact of UN recognition on Palestinian public opinion206 Ingraham Hall UW-Madison [Map] 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. UW Middle East Studies Program presents Nadav Shelef (Professor, department of Political Science, UW-Madison) speaking on “The impact of UN recognition on Palestinian public opinion.” In the fall of 2012, the United Nations General Assembly recognized Palestine as a “nonmember observer state.” His talk will present…
In Their Own Words: Palestinians Champion BDS
Facebook: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement Please like, watch and share this video — made in Palestine. Help us get it seen. It’s called “In Their Own Words: Palestinians Champion BDS,” and features Palestinians of different ages, genders and backgrounds expressing why they champion the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and call for…
Bernie Sanders: On Anti-Semitism, Israel, and the Palestinians
Bernie Sanders, Common Dreams, February 28, 2017 Speech to this year’s J Street conference Sen. Bernie Sanders delivers a speech during J Street’s 2017 National Conference at the Washington Convention Center on February 27, 2017. (Photo: Mark Wilson/AFP) Thank you for inviting me to address you here today. It’s a pleasure to be here with…
Gaza’s Kids Need Your Help
Rafah Children in the Samira Project at the Rachel Corrie Memorial Library. (Photo: Jeff Bright) Please Support the Samira Project for Traumatized Children The Gaza Strip, one of the poorest and most densely populated places on earth, has been described as the world’s largest open-air prison. For nearly eleven years it has been tightly sealed…
Film: Gaza in Context
Arab Studies Institute Home Film Research & Resources Team Booking/Contact The Full 20-Minute NarrativeRead Script | Credits “I did not think it was possible to examine in 20 minutes what Gaza in Context does with such compelling clarity: Israeli policies toward Gaza and Palestine, which are inseparable; the core problems affecting Gaza and the deliberateness of the policies that have led to Gaza’s disablement; Gaza’s centrality…
