The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)
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A quick guide to Israeli public relations
We haven’t heard reports of deaths, we’ll check into it. The people were killed, but by a faulty Palestinian rocket or bomb. OK, we killed them, but they were terrorists. OK, they were civilians, but they were being used as human shields. OK, there were no fighters in the area, so it was our mistake. But we kill civilians by accident, they do it on purpose. OK, we kill far more civilians than they do, but look at how terrible other countries are! Why are you still talking about Israel? Are you some kind of antisemite?
— Adam Johannes, Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, Aug 3, 2014
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Palestinian child’s drawing (GMHF) We are launching a project to help Rafah build a Mental Health Library of professional books requested by providers. This is a critical need: the Gaza Strip — one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with two thirds of the population refugees and half younger than 16 years…
Gaza boy needs specialized medical treatment abroad 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…
Granate Sossnoff, Jewish Voice for Peace, May 24, 2016 This is easy and important. We just released a 90-second video showcasing the #StolenHomes campaign, which is working around the world to get Airbnb to stop hawking rentals in illegal settlements. Airbnb has shown that we’re going to need to really work for this change. And…
Having failed to stop the rise in worldwide support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality, Israel is now launching a desperate and dangerous fight back. Take action now: Sign our appeal to the UN about Israel’s war of repression on BDS At Israel’s request, governments in the…
Jewish Voice for Peace On May 9th, 2016 the Israeli government confirmed that it has refused to renew travel documents for Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement — a nonviolent, Palestinian-led movement for equality, freedom, and justice. This is a blatant act of political repression that effectively imposes a travel…
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation Dear Friend, This is very exciting! We are witnessing a benchmark moment in the fight for freedom, justice, and equality for Palestinians. For years, we have worked to cultivate a shift in the way people talk about and relate to Palestinians; educating and empowering Americans to push for…
Dr. Milena Rampoldi, MintPress News, June 2, 2016 Israeli soldiers and relatives of new Jewish immigrants from the U.S. and Canada, wave Israeli flags to welcome them as they arrive at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. (AP) I interviewed Jennifer Loewenstein, a journalist with years of experience in the Middle East.…
An Israeli military checkpoint near Abu Dis. Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, The Progressive, May 10, 2016 Jeff Halper, anthropologist and Israeli peace activist, does not shy from unconventional positions. In his latest book, “War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification,” he argues that nations around the world allow Israel to continue its repression of…
Wednesday, May 4, 2016 7:00 pm DeLuca Forum, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery 330 N. Orchard Street, Madison Book Signing to Follow In his new book, War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification, Jeff Halper argues that Israel’s need to continuously suppress and dispossess the Palestinians has led to the militarization of everyday…
This is a big deal. Senator Patrick Leahy, along with 10 Congressional representatives, has written to the State Department, urging them to investigate “gross violations of human rights” by Israel and Egypt. This letter happened because Rep. Hank Johnson organized it — but it got 11 signatories, including, crucially, Senator Leahy himself — because we…
Hello from Gaza. My name is Anees Mansour, one of a group of volunteers working with at-risk children in Rafah, Gaza. With your help we’ve already done so much this year, we’ve put on a summer camp, a series of educational workshops, art therapy and performance sessions. From the photos below you can see some…
7:00 – 9:00 pm The Crossing 1127 University Ave. Madison, WI Linda Sarsour is a working woman, racial justice and civil rights activist, every Islamophobe’s worst nightmare, and mother of three. Ambitious, outspoken and independent, Linda shatters stereotypes of Muslim women while also treasuring her religious and ethnic heritage. She is a Palestinian Muslim…
Noga Kadman speaks about her book Erased from Space and Consciousness: Israel and the Depopulated Palestinian Villages of 1948 7:30 pm, Elvehjem L150, UW-Madison Campus. “Poignant, sensitive, and compassionate, Kadman’s deeply-informed inquiry exposes graphically the process of ‘demographic Judaization’ of Palestine, in physical reality and cultural comprehension.” – Noam Chomsky A dramatic transformation took place…
March 16 marked 13 years since 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of the Nasrallah family home in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine. While some measure of accountability and justice has been achieved for UK citizens Tom Hurndall and James Miller,…
Sunday, April 3, 7 pm, Christ Presbyterian Church 944 East Gorham Street, Madison WI You are invited to the annual Rachel Corrie commemoration: Dessert and an Eye-Witness Report Featuring a local activist just returned from volunteering with Operation Dove in the South Hebron Hills, Palestine Free and open to the public; beverages and desserts…
AIPAC and their right-wing allies are coming for our right to boycott — and they’re trying to legitimize illegal settlements at the same time. Tell your Representative to stand for peace. TAKE ACTION! AIPAC is meeting this weekend in Washington DC, but we already know what’s at the top of their agenda: legislating away our…
As anti-BDS forces are trying to get various levels of government to “outlaw” BDS, it appears that some corporations are getting the message. Landmark boycott victory as G4S says it is leaving Israel Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 10 March 2016 G4S has been protested by Palestine solidarity campaigners worldwide.G4S, one of the world’s biggest…
http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Standstill-Poster-1.pdf Standstill is the story of two people forced by political and social upheaval to confront the past, in order to move forward in life despite inertia from different circumstances. The Mohawk Arihote is a stranger in his own land, while the Palestinian Wedad is most definitely a stranger in a strange land. Majdi El-Omari…
Participants at the Madison Central Library Librarians and Archivists with Palestine In January 2016—and beyond!—readers in cities and towns around the world came together to discuss Suad Amiry’s memoir Sharon and My Mother-in-Law and, in some cases, hear from author Amiry herself. After a launch event with Amiry in Brooklyn, NY, reading groups in North…
Click image for full screen Visualizing Palestine creates data-driven tools to advance a factual, rights-based narrative of the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Our researchers, designers, technologists, and communications specialists work in partnership with civil society actors to amplify their impact and promote justice and equality. Launched in 2012, VP is the first portfolio of Visualizing Impact (VI)…
This is from the Middle East Children’s Alliance project assistant in Gaza, who tells us that the program now has 220 children enrolled over two shifts. Photos are taken with consent, and A’hed’s first name is used with the family’s approval. [slideshow_deploy id=’409’] [slideshow_deploy id=’409′] Related articles: Samira Project Children’s Counseling Samira Counseling Photos…
Jewish Voice for Peace members in the Madison area are hosting an exciting event which we hope you will join: Does Free Speech Apply to the Conversation on Israel? A panel featuring Rabbi Michael Davis of Chicago and Two UW Madison SJP Students Sequoya Public Library, 4340 Tokay Blvd. (at Midvale), Madison WI Monday, February…
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Saturday, February 13 Red Gym, On Wisconsin Room UW-Madison Campus 5:00 PM Students for Justice in Palestine presents Palestinian Culture Night! We will showcase a part of Palestinian culture through music, dance, and henna tattoos! We will begin the night with a Debka performance by Chicago based Firqat Al-Watan. Debka is a traditional Palestinian folk…
Tarab NYC, January 19, 2016 We know that military occupation, ethnic cleansing, racism, and colonialism are incompatible with queer liberation and with fundamental human rights. We are EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED that the National LGBTQ Task Force has chosen to welcome back the reception hosted by the organization “A Wider Bridge” on “LGBT Life in Israel”. The…
Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom Dr. Steven Salaita, Author & Professor The Palestine Center, Washington, DC 1:00-2:00 pm EST In the summer of 2014, renowned American Indian Studies professor Steven Salaita had his offer of a tenured professorship revoked by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Salaita’s employment was terminated in response…
Central Library 201 W Mifflin St, Madison 7:00 pm The first “One Book, Many Communities” event of 2016 will take place next month, focusing on Palestinian architect-humorist-scholar Suad Amiry’s Sharon and My Mother-in-Law. The “One Book, Many Communities” project, coordinated by Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP), is a book club that violates boundaries and borders. It launched…
Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, November 17, 2015 Adalah-NY is proud to announce the release of a new short video featuring eight leading artists, all with ties to New York, stating their support for the cultural boycott of Israel and calling on cultural workers to commit to Palestinian rights by…
Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) — Rafah [slideshow_deploy id=’1004’] [slideshow_deploy id=’1004′] Related articles: Samira Project Children’s Counseling A Samira Project Success Story
Thursday, November 19, 2015 7 p.m. Sterling Hall 1310 Ahmed Hamad is a Palestinian activist from Gaza who will be speaking on his personal experiences in occupied Gaza and how living under such oppressive conditions affects the Palestinian people. Todd St Hill is an organizer with We Charge Genocide’s Cop Watch program, which trains and…
John Quinlan, Forward Forum KSUN Channel 983, November 2, 2015 John Quinlan talks with Sahar Abbasi Baidon, a mother of four and Women and Children Activities Coordinator at the Madaa Silwan Creative Center in East Jerusalem. Sahar came to Madison on a national tour of Room Number 4, a photographic campaign prepared by the Madaa…
Josh Ruebner, US Campaign to End the Occupation, October 30, 2015 If so, click here to download a template to print out stickers to distribute. Fits templates for Post-It Super Stick Labels #2800-N or Avery 5395. Thanks to designer Tsela Barr of member group Madison-Rafah Sister City Project for designing this resource.
Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, October 25, 2015 Assaf Gavron The leftwing movement of criticism of Israel is getting more and more mainstream by the second. Everyone is walking the path; they’re just getting there a little later. The Washington Post, a hotbed of neoconservative ideas for the last 15 years, has another article harshly critical of…
Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, October 24, 2015 Glen Weyl We’ve long predicted that liberal Zionists will start coming out for boycott because there’s no other peaceful way to end the conflict; and they will even abandon Zionism in the name of a peaceful transition to democracy. This has now happened in the Washington Post: the week…
Sunday, November 1, 2015 First Unitarian Society 900 University Bay Drive, Madison 1:00 – 2:30 pm “They left me in the room for 5 hours with my hands tied behind my back and my legs tied to each other. When I refused to confess, they slapped me and tightened the hand ties more and more.”…
October 23, 2015 by A Public Affair Today Esty Dinur talks to Leila Abdelrazaq, author of the newly released “Baddawi.” Her new book tells the story of a young boy raised in a refugee camp, trying to find his way in the world after fleeing his homeland after the war in 1948 established the state of…
Institute for Middle East Understanding, Mondoweiss, October 22, 2015 (Screenshot: MSNBC) Last week, MSNBC aired a map (above) showing the loss of Palestinian land to Zionist settlers and then to Israel from 1946 to the present. Following criticism from Israelis and their supporters, MSNBC apologized and stated that the map was incorrect. But was it?…
October 21, 2015 by A Public Affair Pledge Edition: Karma Chavez talks with Steven Salaita about his new book, “Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom.” His new book addresses his controversial termination from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and important issues that affect both higher education and social justice activism.
“ In our work with people in Gaza, we have been told repeatedly that the issue of the prisoners is a vital one for the entire Palestinian resistance movement that cuts across political divides. Shireen Issawi like all political prisoners needs to know that she is not forgotten and that she is in our hearts.”…
Madison365 staff, Oct 30, 2015 Palestinian American author Leila Abdelrazaq wrote the graphic novel Baddawi, which describes her father’s experience in a refugee camp during the Lebanese civil war. Leila Abdelrazaq, a Palestinian-American writer, cartoonist, and Palestinian rights activist, was a featured speaker Oct. 23 at Central Library for the Wisconsin Book Festival. The Madison…
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One year on, the children of Gaza still face suffering and trauma. Jon Snow has returned to the territory on the anniversary of the conflict. He found children scavenging in the ruins of a mosque destroyed in last year’s bombardment.
Karma Chavez, WORT 89.9FM A Public Affair, September 9, 2015 Today Karma Chavez talks with Palestinian activist Haitham Salawdeh. Haitham is a relative of the infant killed by Israeli settlers who fire bombed their house in the West Bank last month. In late July, 18-month old baby Ali Saad Dawabsheh was burned to death in…
Fighting Bob Fest is right around the corner and MRSCP is preparing some fun activities to show Progressive leaders that foreign policy matters and that PEP (Progressive Except on Palestine) is not acceptable. This year’s main Saturday event will be held at Breese Stevens Field on East Washington Avenue in Madison. Because the event is…
Joy First, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, August 26, 2015 Voices for Creative Nonviolence engaged with a number of Wisconsin peace groups to organize an 8-day 90-mile walk across southwest Wisconsin from August 18-25. The purpose of the walk was to call attention and make connections between the militarized police violence at home and the military…
Gaza Mental Health Foundation At the request of the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP) has agreed to raise funds for the Samira Project in Rafah. This project was requested by the Rafah branch of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees. It will provide psycho-social counseling for 150 children with…
Raymond Deane, The Electronic Intifada, 31 July 2015
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), July 2015 [pdf-embedder url=”http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_july_2015_english.pdf”]