LIVE: TEDx Ramallah - Don't Miss It

Watch live streaming video from tedx at livestream.com

One of the main objectives of this blog is to bring Palestinian narratives to the forefront. An event taking place tomorrow is going to be doing just that, and is well worth checking out. TEDx Ramallah is an all day event of inspirational speakers and presentations that will link Palestinians all around the world. TED events, for those who are not familiar with them, are international forums based on the exchange of ideas worth spreading. There is plenty more about TED here.

TEDx forums localize the TED format in spots around the globe, and tomorrow Palestine will be hosting an impressive collection of speakers as part of their event. But in response to the particular logistical challenge presented by the Israeli occupation and the realities of Diaspora communities, the organizers of TEDx Ramallah have utilized technology to find creative solutions:

In a break from the conventional format, TEDxRamallah will be taking place in three venues in three cities simultaneously – in Bethlehem, Amman and Beirut – to enable as wide an audience as possible to participate in the groundbreaking event.

A total of 20 universally talented but widely diverse speakers are confirmed to speak at TEDxRamallah, including Fadi Ghandour, global social entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of Aramex; Laila Atshan, a Ramallah-based psychosocial counselor and consultant for UNICEF, the Red Cross and Red Crescent society; Julia Bacha, an award-winning filmmaker who has worked on films screened at the Sundance, Berlin, Jerusalem and Dubai International Film Festivals; and Wael Atilli, co-founder and chief creative officer of Kharabeesh Network, a storytelling house for the new Arab generation that aims to place Arab cartoons on the WEP map.

Other speakers include: Architects Suad Amiry and Alessandro Petti; Steve Sosebee, founder and CEO of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF); highly celebrated artist Abedalrahman Katanay; healthcare professional and leader of a number of women’s anti-abuse program Amal Shahabi; Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, godfather of Arab accounting and the promotion in the Arab world of Intellectual Property; Khaled Al Sabawi, founder and President of MENA Geothermal, a Palestinian green energy company, and “One of the World’s Top Energy Entrepreneurs”; Raja Shehadeh, lawyer and award-winning author of Palestinian Walks; Gisel Kordestani, Director of New Business Development at Google; and Mohammed Khatib, co-founder of Bazinga!, a start-up catalyst and tech hub in Ramallah.

The one-day TEDxRamallah program will also include performances from a wide range of musicians, singers, dancers and poets.

More than 1,000 people are expected to attend TEDxRamallah in Bethlehem, while the venues in Beirut and Amman will accommodate approximately 400 people collectively. An additional 20 simulcast events are scheduled around the world, from Canada to Cairo, Hungary, Holland, the Czech Republic, and to Shanghai, London and cities throughout the US.

We're hosting a live stream of this great event here so check it out above to participate in a global exchange of ideas between Palestinians.

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UPDATED: Juliano Mer-Khamis: Taken Too Soon

Shocking news broke this morning about the murder of Juliano Mer-Khamis in a refugee camp in Jenin where he lived. The 53 year-old apparently fell victim to masked gunmen who opened fire on his car. I met Juliano on a few occasions and his work and dedication for the Palestinian cause was remarkable. His loss will be tremendously felt. (Image right: Juliano working with Palestinian kids at the theater)

I had first learned about Juliano through a movie about his mother Arna. The film, "Arna's Children," is the story of Arna Mer, an Israeli Jewish woman who served in the Israeli Palmach (Armored Brigades) only to marry a Palestinian man and dedicate her life to working with Palestinians. She opened a theater in Jenin's refugee camps which became a source of comfort and an arena for expression for countless refugee children. In the film about the theater and Arna's work, which was made by her son Juliano, Juliano returns to the camp after the intifada to find out what happened to the kids he remembered from the theater his mother established. Through interviewing those that remained, he found out many of them had been killed.

To continue his mother's work and provide a creative space for Palestinian children, Juliano established the Jenin Freedom theater. Through his work, he gave voice to Palestinian children to express themselves through art. He was also a tireless advocate for Palestinian independence in his individual capacity. As a filmmaker, actor and artist, Juliano could have chosen to live in many places, but he spent a great deal of time living in the refugee camp of Jenin where he worked on the Freedom Theater. Ultimately, he gave his life there. (Image right: Entrance to the Jenin Freedom Theater)

Last night I happened to be watching Miral, the new movie by Julian Schnabel based on the story of a Palestinian girl, written by Rula Jebreal. I noticed immediately that among the cast which included Frieda Pinto, Willem Dafoe and Hiam Abbas, Juliano Mer-Khamis made an appearance as well. He plays the short roll of Sheikh Sabah for those who see the film. I could never have imagined when seeing him on screen last night that I'd be writing about his murder this morning. Juliano's mother, Arna, lost a battle to cancer after dedicating her life to Palestinian kids in Jenin. Juliano, who continued her work, joins her as well as another activist on behalf of Palestinians taken from us too early.

At this time it is still unclear who murdered Juliano or what the motive was. He had received death threats in the past from conservative elements of Palestinian society who were displeased with the artistic expression being made available to refugee children. Two things are perfectly clear, however: 1) Who ever killed Juliano Mer-Khamis must be brought to justice and has dealt a blow to efforts give to Palestinians a voice through artistic expression, and 2) Juliano's contributions will be missed, as they were appreciated, and not easily forgotten.

*UPDATE: This youtube clip below gives you an idea what kind of person Juliano was, why his work was so important, and why despite his tragic loss, it must be continued.

The full movie "Arna's Children" appears below and is worth watching:

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Land Day: What it Means and Why it's Important

Today, March 30th, marks Land Day or Youm Al Ard in Arabic. Perhaps more than May 15th, when the Nakba is often marked, or June 5th, when the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is marked, Land Day is symbolic of the totality of the Palestinian struggle. It's a day that refugees, who dwell in dismal camps dreaming of return, internally displaced or marginalized Palestinians in Israel and Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza are bound together in commemoration of what the Palestinian struggle is all about: a people's desire to live free on their native land.

So what precisely is Land Day? An info brief here, which is worth reading in its entirety, explains:

On 29 February 1976, the Israeli government announced that it planned to confiscate 21,000 dunum (5,500 acres) of Arab-owned land in order to create eight Jewish industrial centers. While government officials claimed that this expropriation was necessary in order to develop the region of Galilee, Israel's Palestinian citizenry perceived it as another attempt by Israel to geographically marginalize the state's Arab community and strip it of its agricultural livelihood. Their fears were later confirmed when Israel's Ministry of Agriculture declared the plan's primary purpose to be the creation of a Jewish majority in the Arab Galilee.

Having experienced institutionalized discrimination since the Jewish state's inception, the Palestinians of Israel decided to challenge this latest measure. Almost immediately after the announcement of land expropriation was made, community leaders met in an attempt to organize and communicate a unified message of objection. To deliver this message, a public demonstration was planned at the Knesset. Rather than risk a violent encounter with Israeli police, community leaders decided to cancel the protest and, instead, encourage members of their community to remain indoors making their objections known through a general strike.

Anticipating Palestinian repudiation of the measure, Israeli authorities imposed a curfew on the lower Galilee on the evening of 29 March 1976. The following morning, Israeli police and military forces entered the striking Arab villages, a move which provoked some Arab youth into a stone-throwing demonstration. To the protestors' dismay, Israeli forces responded with live ammunition, indiscriminately opening fire upon the unarmed protestors. By the day's end, six residents of Sakhnin, Arabeh, Kufr Kana and Taibeh were killed, 96 others were injured and 300 arrested.

Israeli authorities eventually confiscated the land in question under the guise of 'security.' The territory was later converted to Jewish settlements and an Israeli military training camp. The events of 30 March 1976 have not been forgotten in the minds and hearts of the Palestinian people. To this day, Palestinians, whether Israeli citizens or not, annually mark March 30 as 'Land Day' to demonstrate their connection to the land and to honor the memory of those who died defending Palestinian rights to the land.

Things haven't gotten much easier for Palestinian citizens of Israel and we are holding an event on the challenges they face in particular next week which you can attend in DC or watch live from anywhere in the world.

But it's not only Palestinians who are marking Land Day this year. Palestine solidarity activists in the United States and around the world are working to bring attention to the BDS movement on this day. The YouTube video below shows how one such group in New York decided to do just that by breaking out into a flashmob dance, reworking the lyrics to a popular Journey song, in the middle of Grand Central Station last night.

Oh yeah, the Israeli military marked Land Day as well.

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Returning to the Mavi Marmara

An interesting report from Al Jazeera English:

More than two months after Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, the lead ship in the flotilla -- the Turkish Mavi Marmara -- was returned to Turkey. Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal was on board when Israeli commandos attacked on May 31st. He now re-visits the ship for the first time.

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Israel and Youtube Censor Satirical Video

A Youtube video satirizing Israel's public relations work after the May, 2010 Gaza flotilla incident, in which Israeli soldiers killed nine humanitarian activists taking aid to Gaza, has been blocked in Israel.

The video is quite entertaining and incisive, bringing together several themes -- Israel's social media PR offensive, which included selectively edited surveillance videos, silly accompanying music and misleading photographs, and the phenomenon of viral videos, such as cats playing the piano:



Those in Israel can view it via Dailymotion and Vimeo, as Ali Abunimah has pointed out in his post on this story.

"Internet killed Israeli PR" by MDT (Minor Demographic Threat) is sung to the tune of "Video Killed the Radio Star," by the Buggles. The music video for this 1979 synthpop song was incidentally the first ever aired on MTV, when it began in 1981. The then-upstart network would go on to re-define the music industry.

Thus, the new version's analogy between the power of the internet to allow activists to check and expose state propaganda and the impact of music videos on radio-based performers is a powerful one. Adam Horowitz wrote in early June about how web activists and journalists quickly exposed as false Israeli "hasbara," or propaganda.

The blocking of the video, which has only has been viewed 4,200 times, according to its Youtube page, seems a clumsy move that is congruent with Israel's crude media-blocking techniques. Viewers in Israel see the following message on Youtube:


How do we know Israel moved to have this video blocked by Youtube? If this video was merely flagged by Youtube users, it would have been removed everywhere.

According to Jillian York, of, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, although we cannot be sure yet:

Israel likely went to YouTube and asked them to "geolocationally" filter the video; this isn't new, Thailand does it several times a year, or anytime a new disparaging video of the king is posted. Morocco has done it, Turkey has done it. What's new is Israel doing it.

A 2008 New York Times article explains the practice, and the issues involved. Whether or not Israel was the impetus for this, it raises flags about the freedom of information and expression.

If Israel was behind banning this satirical music video, the fact it was discovered so proves the song's point.

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Raising vs. Razing a Village

Recently we featured a story about the village of Al-Arakib, an Arab Bedouin village in the Negev which is unrecognized by Israel. On July 27, Israeli police and bulldozers demolished all the structures in the village. Here is the lead to the BBC story on the July 27th demolition:

Around 300 Bedouins living in Israel's Negev desert have been made homeless after police raided their village and razed their homes.Israeli activists said 1,500 police arrived in Al-Arakib village at dawn.They destroyed 30 to 40 makeshift homes and uprooted hundreds of olive trees belonging to the villagers, they said.

After the villagers rebuilt their dwellings, in an act of non-violent defiance, a number of activists continued to stay on the scene. This morning they were abruptly woken up.

Al-Arakib was demolished again.

Al-Jazeera reports:

Joseph Dana, writer and filmmaker living in Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera the village of al-Arakib was bulldozed in the early hours of Tuesday morning - for the third time in three weeks.

"We were jolted from our sleep at about 05:00am (0200 GMT) by roughly 100 to 200 border police officers in full combat and crowd dispersal equipment.

"The police quickly rounded up the 30 or so activists away from the temporary village structure which was rebuilt in the past few days. Unnecessary force was used to control the activists and several minor injuries were reported," Dana told Al Jazeera.

To the right is a photo of activists confronting the Israeli forces which arrived in Al-Arakib to demolish the village. In the the photo above we see what has become an all to familiar scene; a Palestinian woman seated before the remains of her former home.


This is not an unfamiliar occurrence. A similar battle between Palestinians who want to live peacefully on their land and the Israeli authorities who abhor that idea has been routinely taking place in the Jordan Valley.

The Jordan Valley, of course, is in the Occupied West Bank and much of the territory is designated 'Area C' by the Oslo Accords. This means that Israel maintains civil and military control over the territory. In other words, despite this being Palestinian land, if Israel wants to knock down your house it can do so at will.

Ma'an News reports yesterday:

The Jordan Valley has been a target for demolitions by Israel's Civil Administration, with several structures in villages across the area being torn down. On Sunday, dozens of Palestinians as well as foreign activists rebuilt areas in the nearby Al-Farisiya village that were recently bulldozed by Israel's Civil Administration. Over the past 10 days, several shacks, homes and agricultural structures were torn down in the village by the administration, which has complete planning and building control over Area C. Last Thursday, the Civil Administration returned to the valley to demolish 23 structures rebuilt by residents and farmers.

What's so 'civil' about this administration?

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Dear Kibbutz: Can You Give Us Our Land Back?

A young Palestinian-American student in the United States sent an email to members of a kibbutz who are living on land stolen from his grandparents in 1948. He politely asked for the land back. They are yet to reply.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: My land
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:41:10 -0400
From: Waleed ****
To: malkiyasite@malkiya.co.il

Hello,

I have come to ask you to return my family's land. I am a descendant of the Hussein and Ayad families who, together, inhabited the village of Malkiya before it was stolen from them by Zionist colonists in 1948. All of our fields, homes, and property were lost, and you and your families are currently residing on it in our stead.

I have come to peacefully request that you allow me to return to the land that the founders of your kibbutz stole from my family. I believe that this would be the humanitarian thing to do. Before my grandparents pass away, I would like for them to see the land that they were born on, the fields they cultivated, and the homes in which they lived one last time.

I have full legal documentation proving that my family once resided in Malkiya, and I am willing to produce these for you upon request.

Best wishes,

-Waleed

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UK Rights Group Calls on Israel to Release Activist

The UK human rights charity 'War on Want' called on the Israeli authorities to immediately release Mohammad Othman, a prominent Palestinian human rights activist arrested this week and currently being detained without charge.

Mr Othman, a 33-year-old human rights activist and advocate of the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign (BDS), was arrested on 22 September on his return from Norway, where he was promoting a BDS campaign.

Read More.
[If that link fails, read more here]

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IPS Launches Congressional Monitor Database

The Institute for Palestine Studies has just launched a Congressional Monitor Database. It is a powerful new research tool that contains every Palestine-related legislative initiative introduced in the U.S. Congress during the George W. Bush administration (2001 through 2008).

The database is web-based and completely open access.

Through the legislation it passes, the U.S. Congress plays an important role in U.S. policy toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The database provides a highly focused collection of legislation from the immense volume of the Congressional record, and at the same time allows easy access to the raw data the record contains.

Using the database will give users an important view into how Congress helps determine the range and magnitude of U.S. involvement in the conflict. It can also reveal the prevailing attitudes among lawmakers, especially among the initiators of legislation, toward the conflict and regional actors.

Key features of the Congressional Monitor Database include:

• A quick summary of every piece of legislation and access to its entire text.

• A Topic search function that allows users to quickly view legislation on key issues such as refugees, Jerusalem, and military or economic aid. It also has a search function for bill sponsors.
  

• An extensive set of Frequently Asked Questions that provide a detailed guide to the database, how to use it, the U.S. Congress, and the legislative process.

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Developments in the Boycott Israel Campaign

One possible fallout from Israel's invasion and bombardment of Gaza during 'Operation Cast Lead' less than 10 months ago is that international activists are finding more support for calls to boycott Israel.

Though such campaigns have occurred through the history of Palestinian dispossession and life under occupation, the international campaign stems largely from a 2005 call by Palestinian civil society groups for boycott, divestment and sanctions as a way to pressure Israel to end the occupation.

As the recent campaign over the Toronto International Film Festival shows, it is a vibrant idea, but one that often fails to succeed. However, there have also been several recent, notable successes.

In Toronto, some filmmakers pulled their submissions to the festival, others protested, because it chose to celebrate Tel Aviv as a theme this year.

It began when John Greyson, a Canadian filmmaker, withdrew his documentary short "Covered" from the festival to protest the fest's showcase of Israeli filmmaking. British director Ken Loach, Julie Christie, Harry Belafonte, Wallace Shawn, David Byrne and Viggo Mortensen, among 1500 others, joined in to argue the festival organizers have fallen victim to the "Brand Israel" campaign, which seeks to better the country's image.

The protests did not bring about a change, although the debate it spurred is significant. About 250 people attended a press conference held by critics of the Festival's Israel theme. Critics managed to persuade movie reviewer Roger Ebert to modify his earlier rejection of the protest. That it was controversial may be message enough.

However, the call hit several setbacks as Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman refused to participate in the boycott, and Jane Fonda reneged on her support of the call. High profile Hollywood celebrities denounced the boycott as a "blacklist."

Other recent campaigns are having more success.

A consortium of British labor unions, however, just agreed to support a boycott of goods produced in some Israeli settlements. It also will advocate for an end to arms trading with Israel and disinvestment from some companies.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) will target products including dates, herbs, fruit and vegetables grown on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

"We will support a boycott of those goods and agricultural products that originate in illegal settlements through developing an effective, targeted consumer-led boycott campaign," the TUC said in a statement.

This focus on "illegal settlements" was less broad of a boycott than many TUC members sought.

The TUC has a history of supporting international boycotts.

It is possible, though less likely, the boycott will run into legal problems. Two years ago, Britain's largest union of college teachers passed a boycott of Israeli universities, which would have led to a halt on funding, visits and conferences with Israeli institutions. The University and College Union was forced to abandon the plan because it breached discrimination laws.

Earlier this month, the Norwegian government claimed it will divest its pension fund of holdings in Elbit Systems, which manufactures the monitoring system installed on several parts of the West Bank separation fence.

Norwegian Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said that the decision was based on the recommendation of her ministry's council. "We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law," Halvorsen was quoted as saying, explaining that the separation barrier impinged on the freedom of movement of West Bank residents. The wall was considered illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004.

A narrower campaign to push for divestment from a group run by Israeli billionaire and settlement financier Lev Leviev, claimed a victory. The U.S. pension fund giant, TIAA-CREF, confirmed in statements to the media that it divested from Africa Israel Investments.

There are many campaigns that are still in the works, of course. Mondoweiss mentioned other BDS movements:

Code Pink’s Stolen Beauty campaign against Ahava, ongoing campaigns against Motorola and Caterpillar as well as growing calls in support for BDS like the one from Israeli professor Neve Gordon show that BDS is squarely on the Left’s agenda.

Whether or not these activities have the ultimate intended effect is unknown. One thing is sure, the more Israel resists ending its occupation of the Palestinian territories, the more frequent such protests and calls will become. And that will mean more external pressure.

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Free Gaza Crew May Head for Gaza Despite Warnings

The 36 crew members of the latest Free Gaza movement envoy have insisted that they will set sail from Cyprus to Gaza despite warnings from Cypriot, Israeli and US authorities.

The voyage will be the eighth such trip organized by the Free Gaza movement and the first attempt since January of this year when the boat was forced to turn back by the Israeli navy. The previous journey, in December of 2008, was canceled when the Israeli navy rammed and severely damaged the Dignity, which was carrying emergency medical supplies as well as three surgeons to volunteer at Gaza’s hospitals.

The two boats on this latest mission, the Free Gaza and the Spirit of Humanity, were refused permission to sail by the Cypriot authorities on Thursday. They want the boats to undergo inspection even though they had been allowed to sail in the past. The US embassy in Nicosia also contacted the organization to pass on the following message from the Israeli Foreign Ministry:

"[T]he Israeli Foreign Ministry informed US officials at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv that Israel still considers Gaza an area of conflict and that any Free Gaza boats attempting to sail to the Gaza Strip will 'not be permitted' to reach its destination."

However, former member of Congress Cynthia McKinney, who is on the boat, responded by saying that the US should not be repeating Israeli policy to the Free Gaza crew, but instead be pressuring Israel to ease the siege and allow in urgently needed building and medical supplies as per White House policy.

The members of the crew have all signed waivers absolving the Cypriot authorities of responsibility for their safety and well-being, and are hoping for permission to sail shortly.

According to organizer Huwaida Arraf, the volunteers are taking such a risk because they believe it is important to challenge the 3 year siege. “People in Gaza are being made to live in subhuman conditions. Children are dying, and governments are silent. It is important to continue sending boats to Gaza to challenge the criminal blockade enforced by the Israeli military,” she said.

The Free Gaza organization was founded in 2006 in response to Israel’s total blockade of Gaza following Hamas’ election victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections. According to the organization, the volunteers wanted to directly challenge the siege and the complicity of other governments by sailing into Gaza. On 23rd of August, 2008 the group sailed the first boat into Gaza City’s port for 41 years.

Although Free Gaza’s means are limited and the small amount of supplies carried on the boats does little to alleviate the urgent needs of the people in the besieged Strip, the voyages are a challenge to the Israeli government's embargo on Gaza.

Such acts by civilian groups can weaken sanctions regimes. During the US-enforced UN sanctions on Iraq, humanitarian groups carried out similar activities to call attention to the humanitarian plight in the country, which slowly gave way to greater opposition by other governments.

Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.

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Hundreds of Doctors Demand Resignation of World Medical Association Head

Dr Yoram Blachar,
WMA President

More than 700 doctors from across the world have a signed a letter demanding the removal of Dr. Yoram Blachar as head of the World Medical Association for alleged links to the torture of Palestinian prisoners.

The World Medical Association is the governing ethical body for doctors worldwide and was set up in the wake of widespread complicity by German and Japanese doctors in the mistreatment of patients during World War II.

Its 1975 Declaration of Tokyo states that "physicians shall not countenance, condone or participate in the practice of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading procedures, and in all situations, including armed conflict and civil conflict," and two years ago it obliged doctors to document any torture cases they become aware of.

Israeli doctors have long been accused of being complicit with Israeli security services in the torture and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. In 1996, Amnesty International concluded that Israeli doctors "formed part of a system in which detainees are tortured, ill-treated and humiliated in ways that place prison medical practice in conflict with medical ethics."

Blachar, who was appointed in November 2008, has yet to respond directly to the allegations leveled at Israeli doctors. The author of the letter, Dr. Alan Meyers of the Boston University School of Medicine, says that Blachar’s presidency makes a mockery of the ethos on which the WMA was founded.

The signatories included doctors from the United States, the United Kingdom and 41 other countries.

Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.

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