The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)
Posts
Mar 30, 2025
❝Random Quotes❞
There are laws in Israel that establish separate educational systems that are funded unequally. According to a 2005 study by Hebrew University three times more was spent on the education of Jewish children than on Palestinian children who were Israeli citizens. ― Second Class Citizens, 2016
Gil Halsted, Wisconsin Public Radio Monday May 10, 2004 (EAU CLAIRE) New Homeland Security rules may prevent a Palestinian Fulbright Scholar from completing his research at UW-Eau Claire. Mohammed Riffi, a mathematician from the Islamic University of Gaza, was deported last month when he tried to return to Eau Claire after visiting family in the…
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:30:43 +0200 From: “Gila Svirsky” (gsvirsky@netvision.net.il) Subject: Anarchy in our souls To: “Gila Svirsky” (gsvirsky@netvision.net.il) Friends, I just spoke to Molly Malekar on her way to the hospital from a demonstration in Bidu, and here is what she reported: “We were about 60 women, only women: roughly 1/3 Israeli, 1/3…
Gila Svirsky, www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org4/21/2004 Dear Alice, You were signature number 2,750 on the petition “Open the Gates to Allow Food into Gaza”, and you added after your name, “This won’t do any good, but here goes.” Thankfully, Alice, you were mistaken: The gates to Gaza have now been re-opened to regular UNRWA emergency food shipments, following…
STOP CATERPILLAR CAMPAIGN — PROTEST IN PEORIA APRIL 23 — BUS INFO BELOW stopcat.org, April 20, 2004 The “Stop CAT” Coalition invites you to join us in standing up for Palestinian human rights and to demand that Caterpillar cease all sales to Israel. This demonstration is part of the April 23 “International Day of Action…
Grainger Hall Morgridge Auditorium UW-Madison 7:00 pm Situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a village established jointly by Jews and Palestinians, all of Israeli citizenship, who are committed to work for peace, equality, and understanding. Aside from the bilingual bicultural primary school of 300 students, the village is home to…
Immanuel Lutheran Church 1021 Spaight Street, Madison 1:00 – 3:30 pm: East High School students 4:00 – 6:00 pm: Benefit Perennial Plant Sale 6:30 – 9:30 pm: Main Program and Bake Sale 8:00 pm: Film and Discussion WORT’s The Morning Buzz with Linda Jamieson at 8 am will discuss the display with one of the…
The Crossing 1127 University Ave., Madison 7:00 pm Muli Linder, an Israeli refusenik who is touring the United States as part of the Courage to Refuse movement, will speak to the public on the costs of war and peace in Israel. Dr. Linder, a medical doctor, was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)…
UNRWA Press Release 1 April 2004 UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Headquarters Gaza website: www.unrwa.org Press Release No. HQ/G/06/2004 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced Thursday it stopped distributing emergency food aid to some 600,000 refugees in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA said…
Tanya Reinhart, Yediot Ahronot, 31 March 2004 — An extensive discussion has already taken place in Israel regarding the cost-benefit ratio of [Hamas leader Ahmad] Yassin’s assassination. But the question of justice has hardly been raised. According to international law, the execution of any person in an occupied territory is not allowed. The Geneva convention,…
William R. Polk, March 28, 2004 Before a few days ago, few people in the West had ever heard of Shaikh Ahmad Yasin, but among Muslim Arabs he had long been a major figure. Who was he, why was he important, why was he killed and what can be predicted as the aftermath of…
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, Mar 14, 2004 A new species of officer is achieving greatness in the Israel Defense Forces. These people did most of their service as occupation officers, and their excellence is a function of the degree of violence and brutality they exercise against the Palestinians. The most striking example of this trend is…
Tuesday, March 9 The Crossing 1127 University Avenue (University and Charter) 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 10 Grainger Hall Morgridge Auditorium (University and Park) 7:00 pm The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is hosting the Madison premiere of The Killing Zone, a 45-minute British documentary about conditions in Rafah and the murders of International Solidarity Movement workers…
Ghadi Karmi, CounterPunch, February 20, 2004 The Sharon government is widely regarded, even by Israel’s friends, as a negative force in the current politics of the Middle East. Its brutal repression of the Palestinians, its intransigence over engaging in the peace process and its defiance of world opinion on such matters as settlement expansion and…
Jennifer Loewenstein, The Electronic Intifada, 17 February 2004 Pictured, Maha, the wife of Ibrahim Aoda Abu Shatat, sits together with baby Zyad in her house during shooting at 3:30 AM. Their house is 40 meters from the border. (Johannes Abeling) The border between Gaza and Egypt passes through a city called Rafah. Israeli tanks regularly…
They’re all women, all Israeli and every day they go to West Bank checkpoints to try to stop soldiers harassing Palestinians. Linda Grant went with them. Linda Grant, The Guardian, 1 February 2004 When I came to Tel Aviv last July to find an apartment to rent for a few months, an estate agent…
Gabriel Ash, The Electronic Intifada, 27 January 2004 Israeli historian Benny Morris crossed a new line of shame when he put his academic credentials and respectability in the service of outlining the “moral” justification for a future genocide against Palestinians. Benny Morris is the Israeli historian most responsible for the vindication of the Palestinian narrative…
Rana El-Khatib, Arizona Republic, January 25, 2004 “Israel good!” were the last words my husband and I heard as we left the final checkpoint within Erez, the border crossing maintained by Israel to control all entries and exits to and from Gaza. I turned back to get a closer look at the soldier. I saw…
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 24 January 2004 Sunset over the Jordan Valley, looking west towards Occupied Jerusalem from Mahis, Jordan (Photo: Ali Abunimah) When does the banishment of an entire people become morally justified? That such a question can even be posed in today’s Israel is dismal testament to the transformation of Zionism into…
Chris McGreal, The Guardian, 19 January 2004 Abu Dis — Fatina Zen stayed until the end, peering down her street through the lashing rain as towering concrete slabs were slotted into place one by one across the middle of the road. She wondered if her son might suddenly appear on the other side to wave…
The entire border of Gaza is surrounded by heavily-patrolled walls and fences. A network of Israeli checkpoints tightly controls movement in and out of the Strip, and between population areas within the Strip. (Jamal Wilson) Laura Gordon, The Electronic Intifada, 15 January 2004 Following the suicide bombing at Erez Crossing that left four Israeli soldiers…
I found these items side-by-side today. The first account of the event is from AP wire services. This is what would be picked up by the Capital Times or State Journal, if they report it at all. The second account is an eyewitness report by a member of the ISM, posted at The Electronic Intifada.…
This article states that the accused shooter of Tom Hurndall has also been charged with smoking pot on duty. For another report of marijuana use by Israeli Occupation Forces, see Kelly Bornshlegel’s Resistance under Occupation. Chris McGreal in Nablus Friday, January 9, 2004 The Guardian In a three-week occupation of the biggest Palestinian city the…
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 1/9/04 The twin girls died one after the other. The first to die was the one who was born first, at the checkpoint. Several hours later came the death of her sister, who was born a few minutes after they finally left the checkpoint, and who managed to reach the hospital alive.…
The Geneva accord won’t bring peace because it signs away the rights of Palestinian refugees Karma Nabulsi, The Guardian, 7 January 2004 This year is the 250th anniversary of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s legendary Discourse on the Origins and Foundations of Inequality. In its dedicatory epistle to the Republic of Geneva, Rousseau, citizen of that virtuous city,…
Mustafa Barghouthi, Palestine Monitor, December 2003 Last week, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon declared that if the Palestinians did not soon take significant steps to curb “violence”, he would begin a unilateral “separation plan” to disengage entirely from any negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. This ultimatum represents the summation of the Israeli government’s skillful media…
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 07:48:29 -0800 (PST) From: Kelly Bornshlegel Subject: Resistance Under Occupation Ringing In The New Year In the midst of an already month-long invasion, the Sheiks announced over the mosques for everyone to yell from their windows and their roofs “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) together for an hour. It began…
Al-Awda, 5 December 2003 The Geneva Accord was signed Monday, December 1, 2003, amid great media and political fanfare. The 50-page document lays out a plan for a presumed “peace agreement” between Israel and the Palestinian people. We, the undersigned, consider this initiative as inconsistent with the prerequisites of a just and durable peace for…
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, Nov 30, 2003 Quietly, far from the public eye, Israeli soldiers continue killing Palestinians. Hardly a day goes by without casualties, some innocent civilians, and the stories of their violent deaths never reach the Israeli consciousness or awareness. If there is one consistent piece of data in the current intifada, it…
David Grogan, American Booksellers Association, Nov 12, 2003 On Thursday, November 6, Madison, Wisconsin’s Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative and a local newsweekly were able to convince Madison Area Technical College (MATC) to reverse its decision to impose restrictions on a speaking event about the Middle East, featuring noted writer and University of Chicago researcher Ali Abunimah.…
Palestinian farmers seek protection against settlers The Globe and Mail, 12 November 2003 Einabus, West Bank – Men with chainsaws turned Fawzi Hussein’s olive into a wasteland overnight – 255 trees cut down at the trunks, fruit-laden branches wilting on a West Bank slope, at the height of the harvest season. The suspected culprits: militant…
Uri Avnery, CounterPunch, November 7, 2003 In the Six-Day War, hundreds of Israeli soldiers were murdered while storming the Sinai desert, the West Bank and the Golan heights. In the Yom-Kippur War, more than 2000 Israeli soldiers were murdered in the defense of the conquered territories. In the 18 year long Lebanon War, more than…
AFP, 04 Nov 2003 BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union scrambled to contain the fallout from a public opinion poll that — to Israel’s fury — labelled the Jewish state the biggest threat to world peace. The United States was just behind Israel in the global danger league, in joint second place with North Korea…
World Food Programme Report, 28 October 2003 . . . Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said that she had been in the occupied Palestinian territories last week. The situation in that region continued to deteriorate. A WFP study showed that more than 50 per cent of the inhabitants of the occupied territories lived…
Rabbis for Human Rights delegation physically attacked by settlers while documenting cut trees Rabbis for Human Rights, 27 Oct 2003 This morning a RHR delegation was attacked by settlers while documenting cut trees. Well known journalist John Ross, age 66, is on his way to Beilinson Hospital. RHR executive director Rabbi Arik Ascherman was also…
October 25, 2003 Thank you for your continuous support and committment towards Rafah City and Rafah People. From the start of the Intifadah, Rafah has suffered more than any other Palestinian city, Since the start of the Intifadah to date, Rafh has suffered ofthe follwing: 271 Martyrs were killed by the Israelis, 75 of…
“My People are American. My Time is Today.” Lenni Brenner, CounterPunch, October 24, 2003 A friend once got a bit of a reputation by pointing out that “you don’t need the weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.” But you do need a demographer to know which way the Jews are going. Some…
Saturday, Nov 8, 2003 4:45-6:45 pm Red Gym Media Room Campus Information and Visitor Center 617 Langdon St UW-Madison This pivotal video exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites ó working in combination with Israeli public relations strategies ó exercise a powerful influence over news reporting about the Middle East conflict. Combining…
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Reference: 45/2003, October 16, 2003 At 11:30pm Wednesday 15 October 2003, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacked the Al Nakhla (Brazil) neighborhood in Rafah. Eyewitnesses said that about 60 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles invaded the neighborhood under helicopter cover and imposed a curfew on it. Initial…
Amira Hass Thursday, October 30, 2003 Morgridge Auditorium, UW-Madison Grainger Hall 7:30 pm Amira Hass covers Palestinian affairs for the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. She is the only Israeli journalist who actually lives in the Occupied Territories. Author of Drinking the Sea at Gaza, she has just published a second book, Reporting from Ramallah. Known for…
(Photo: Rafah Today, 2003) Laura Gordon, The Electronic Intifada, 14 Oct 2003 Then the streets started screaming and we were running almost without thinking, down the edges of the street around the people who had lost their fear, around donkey carts loaded full, ran until we fround a corner to turn into and then we…
Reference: 43/2003 Date: October 13, 2003 Al Mezan Center For Human Rights On Monday 12 October 2003 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) redeployed their forces around the town and refugee camp of Rafah. Mezan’s fieldworkers visited the area, under direct occupation since Friday 10 October, to collect information and meet with victims and their families. According…
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, October 12, 2003 In the early morning hours of Monday 13 October 2003, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) withdrew from the refugee camp of Rafah after a three-day incursion. Initial reports from the camp revealed massive home demolitions and damage to the city’s infrastructure. Israeli soldiers killed eight…
Allen Ruff, Palestine-Israel Peace and Justice Alliance (PIPAJA), 12 Oct 2003 Amira Hass, the author of the article below, will be appearing in Madison on October 30th as the second speaker in the “Reporting the Middle East” speakers’ series produced by the Palestine-Israel Peace and Justice Alliance (PIPAJA). Hass will appear at the Morgridge Auditorium,…
Laura Gordon, The Electronic Intifada, 10 October 2003 9 October 2003 — This Yom Kippur (October 6th), the most holy day on the Jewish calendar, the day of atonement in which we are supposed to cease every form of work in order to pray and request forgiveness from God, the Israeli army began construction on…
NONVIOLENCE EVENT WEEKEND How to Spread Nonviolence, Globally and Locally September 19-21, 2003 Hosted by Edgewood College, Madison, WI Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is looking for volunteers to help staff our table at this event. If you are interested, please contact RafahSisterCity at Yahoo.com. Brochures with registration information will be available the first week of…
Graffiti in Gaza. (Ronald de Hommel) Steve Niva, The Electronic Intifada, 2 September 2003 Palestinian suicide bombings are vicious and grave abuses, clearly war crimes under international law for intentionally killing civilians. They have also been a strategic disaster for Palestinian national aspirations, souring the Israeli public on peace and damaging the Palestinian cause in…
The Palestine Monitor, 2 Sep 2003 Aya Fayad was one little girl out of one million eighty-five thousand Palestinian children, who should be having their first day back at school today. Aya is not having hers because she was murdered; thousands of others will not have theirs, because of some 400 Israeli checkpoints and road…
South Central Federation of Labor Meeting Monday, September 15 7 pm Madison Labor Temple, 1602 S. Park St. Contact: Ron Blascoe, c/o RafahSisterCity at Yahoo.com Multicultural Student Coalition Meeting Tuesday, September 16 7:00 pm See “Today in the Union” for room location. There will also be a display on library mall the day of the…
Tale of boy’s life in West Bank prompts pressure groups to call for withdrawal Fiachra Gibbons, The Guardian, August 23, 2003 Jewish pressure groups are calling on a publisher to withdraw a children’s book about a Palestinian boy growing up amid the intifada on the West Bank. A Little Piece of Ground, by the multi-award-winning…
MG&E Innovation Center, 505 S. Rosa Rd., Madison 7:00pm This is a meeting to gear up for our fall plans, which are extensive and growing. SUMMARY OF MRSCP STATUS (Please review prior to the meeting; these will all be discussed) MRSCP has four working committees at the moment: The Delegation Committee, the City Council Committee, the…