If Israeli officials felt that the protest against work near Al-Aqsa mosque was a local problem that would soon go away, they were not watching Lebanese television. Some might think that the Arab world’s most popular TV program, Star Academy, is all about singing youth and half-dressed presenters. But on Friday, February 9, the students at Star Academy joined together in singing the song of Lebanese superstar Fairuz about Jerusalem. Dressed in chic black outfits, the entire class of Star Academy 4 joined hands in front of sets depicting Jerusalem’s Old City walls as they sang “Zahrat al Madain” (The flower of cities). Without making a single reference to the latest controversy over the Mughrabi Gate walkway, the directors of this musical program made a huge political sensation. Read more about More than a walkway
Picture Balata, a photography workshop based in the West Bank Balata refugee camp, is currently in the process or organizing a touring exhibition of the work of its young photographers in April 2007. During the exhibition, four of the photographers will travel to the US to speak about their work and about their experience growing up in a West Bank refugee camp. The exhibition will be important for a number of reasons. Not only will it give people in the US a chance to see these kids’ amazing work and hear from them in person, but it’s also important for the photographers to see that there are people in the US who do want to hear what these young people who have always lived under occupation have to say about their experiences. Read more about Picture Balata coming to the U.S. in April 2007
“Back in Tennessee, my son who had lived for three years in Ramallah, was sometimes asked to sing songs in Hebrew to celebrate Yom Kippur; he was given assignments dealing with the Holocaust; and he was told by one teacher that his impressions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are simply in his head. It was, therefore, not surprising at all for him to come home one day with a copy of Lynne Reid Banks’ novel Broken Bridge.” Alarmed by the racist portrayal of Arabs in the book assigned to his 12-year-old son, EI contributor Fouad Moughrabi analyzes some portrayals of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in popular children’s literature. Read more about Three representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in children's literature (Part 2)
“Back in Tennessee, my son who had lived for three years in Ramallah, was sometimes asked to sing songs in Hebrew to celebrate Yom Kippur; he was given assignments dealing with the Holocaust; and he was told by one teacher that his impressions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are simply in his head. It was, therefore, not surprising at all for him to come home one day with a copy of Lynne Reid Banks’ novel Broken Bridge.” Alarmed by the racist portrayal of Arabs in the book assigned to his 12-year-old son, EI contributor Fouad Moughrabi analyzes some portrayals of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in popular children’s literature. Read more about Three representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in children's literature (Part 1)
Massive Attack will play three benefit gigs in February 2007 in aid of the Hoping Foundation. Hoping stands for Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation. Established in January 2003, the charity is supported exclusively by private donors and public fundraising events, such as concerts and auctions. The charity was launched in order to offer support and encouragement to Palestinian children living in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. Read more about Massive Attack Announce Shows in Support of Palestinian refugees
Austrian nationals Marwan Abado, Peter Rosmanith, and Franz Hautzinger were invited to perform in Jerusalem as part of the 2003 12th Jerusalem Festival — Songs of Freedom concert series organized by Yabous Productions. Abado, who is of Palestinian origin, was officially invited by the Austrian Embassy in Tel Aviv as well as the United Nations Development Program. He obtained a visa through the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Vienna prior to his arrival. On July 20th, 2003 Marwan Abado arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport and was immediately detained by the Israeli authorities. Read more about Artist's Statement: Emily Jacir's "ENTRY DENIED"
In 2005, student photographers from Birzeit University and Al-Najah University in the West Bank came together to document student life and the obstruction of Palestinian education under military occupation, through the artistic expression of their own ideas and experiences. Their photographs have now become an exhibition and a book, launched at Birzeit University in 2006 and currently touring Palestine and the US. Friends of Birzeit University and Foyles will host the first UK view of the exhibition at Foyles’ landmark Charing Cross bookshop. Read more about Students Under Occupation Take a Stand
On 21 January 2007, Adalah submitted a response to the Supreme Court stating that it rejects the government’s suggestion to convert the Big Mosque in Beer el-Sabe (Beer Sheva) into a “museum of Islamic culture and Eastern peoples, so as to ensure that an expression of the various aspects of the Islamic heritage is presented according to the professional considerations of the museum’s directors, and in a way which corresponds to the regulations which relate to museums in Israel.” Opening the mosque as a museum and preventing residents of and visitors to Beer el-Sabe from praying in it is abhorrent. Read more about Adalah: Mosque should be protected as place of worship, not a museum
Record-breaking actor Emma Thompson revealed today why she is helping to make political history by supporting Britain’s first broad-based alliance for a just peace in the Middle East. Ms Thompson earned her Oscars for best actress in Howard’s End and for best-adapted screenplay for adapting Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility. The only person ever to have won film Oscars for acting and writing is backing a new historic drive for a just settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. The ENOUGH! coalition, representing over three million people in charities, trade unions, faith and campaign groups has come together to mark this year’s 40th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Read more about Emma Thompson bids for Palestinian Rights
Most twelve-year-old boys in the United States spend their days thinking about video games, sports, school work, and maybe that cute girl in homeroom. If their father is a store owner, chances are they have no other concerns, since money is not a problem. In Elizabeth Laird’s novel A Little Piece of Ground (Haymarket Books, 2006), the twelve-year-old boys that serve as the story’s protagonists also spend a lot of their time on the aforementioned concerns. However, they also live in Palestine under occupation. Read more about Football, Twelve-Year-Old Boys, and Military Curfews: Elizabeth Laird's "A Little Piece of Ground"
