Date: December 11, 2o15
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Center for Arabic Culture
191 Highland Av. Suit 6B. Somerville, MA 02143
On January 14th, 2011, the people of Tunisia took to the streets in mass protest and toppled the government of Ben Ali. The event has a tremendous impact in the region which triggers the Arab Spring. Following the revolution, Tunisians make the radical choice to draft a new state constitution. Called to the urns for the first free elections of their history, the citizens of Tunisia will have to choose which model of society they wish to live in. Islam, secularism and women’s status become the major themes of a campaign under high pressure.
Following the events day by day, TUNISIA, YEAR ZERO tells the story of a difficult birth: that of the first democracy in the Arab world. In 6 months, no less than 110 political parties were created. In this political turmoil, a few of them emerge: the Islamist party Ennhada seduces those disappointed with the revolution. Some other modernist parties, such as Ettakatol and the PDP, are divided on the content of their policies as well as on which strategy to adopt. Leading the polls, Ennahdha will confirm its success in the elections with more than 90 seats out of 217.
How could these results be predicted? TUNISIA, YEAR ZERO gives the reasons for the outcome of the elections.
This Event is Free and Open to the Public
Donations Welcome
Come hear about this bilingual storybook made by children of Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, The West Bank!
Book Reading Event with Professor Amahl Bishara
Saturday, December 5, 4:30-6:00
191 Highland Av. Suite 6B. Somerville, MA 02143
Middle Eastern Reception & Light refreshments will be served. Free to the Public
Children of Aida Refugee Camp at Lajee Center made this bilingual storybook. It is for people of all ages (5-105) to learn about everyday life in a Palestinian refugee camp. You will pick up some Arabic, too!
Copies are $20, bulk rates available. Also available is The Boy and the Wall (2005, $15), a bilingual children’s book about how a young boy dreams of resisting the wall that oppresses his community every day, and how his mother supports his dreams for freedom and his imagination. Both books feature collage art made collectively by children at Lajee Center.
For more information, email Amahl Bishara at friendsoflajee@gmail.com.
All proceeds benefit Lajee Center, www.lajee.org.
Thank you for your support of our work!
Karam Foundation Concert and Fundraising Event
Featuring
Kinan Azmeh
Dima Orsho
Issam Rafea
Keynote Speech by Christopher Schroeder
November 15, 2015 5:30 – 9:30 pm
For information and to get tickets Press Here
Speakers
Rami Khouri: a Palestinian-Jordanian and U.S. citizen whose family resides in Beirut, Amman, and Nazareth. He is director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut and he is a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative . His journalistic work includes writing books and an internationally syndicated column, and he also serves as editor at large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper.
MJ Rosenberg: A thirty-five-year career on Capitol Hill, at the State Department and, significantly, four years at AIPAC led Rosenberg to become a champion of Israeli-Palestinian peace and a vocal opponent of the right-wing “pro-Israel” lobby. Rosenberg writes for The Nation, Washington Spectator, and has a weekly column for the Huffington Post. He blogs at http://mjrosenberg.net/
Nadia Ben-Youssef: a lawyer and human rights advocate serving as the first USA Representative for Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. After four years in the Naqab (Negev) in southern Israel leading Adalah’s international advocacy efforts on behalf of the Palestinian Bedouin community, she is now developing Adalah’s US advocacy strategy to shape American discourse and influence American policy and practice towards a human rights-based approach in Israel/Palestine. Nadia holds a BA in Sociology from Princeton University, and J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Waves of violence and reprisals, demolitions and detentions, religious incitement and “extrajudicial executions” are once again the norm in occupied Palestine, even as Israel’s Prime Minister comes to the White House in November to collect billions more in US military aid. For a time, this horrible pattern was seemingly about to change. Is change still possible?
Our conference will bring together activists from a variety of local organizations and movements to ask:
• What is the current state of the US politics and policy regarding Israel-Palestine?
• What are the new opportunities arising from the growing partisan divide on the issue?
• What are the lessons from the struggle against South African apartheid?
• How can we organize more consistently and effectively to pressure our elected representatives?
The conference as a whole will assess the two Massachusetts senators, and also break up into workshops based on Congressional districts, with workshop leaders able to outline the experience so far and the members voting record. It is expected that the conference will establish the organizational basis and mechanisms for improved ongoing work in this arena.
We invite area groups, activists and all those interested in Palestine/Israel/Peace issues to help better organize our efforts to challenge US government policy more effectively. In addition to other ongoing important campaigns such as direct solidarity, BDS and public education, we see the need for a simultaneous campaign to contest the reigning US government policies which enable Israeli occupation, oppression and military aggression.
Harvard University, William James Hall, room B1, 33 Kirkland St at Divinity Ave, Cambridge
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Peace Action Palestine/Israel Working Group.
Cosponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace – Boston, United for Justice with Peace, Arlington UJP, Greater Boston Code Pink, Friends of Sabeel North America – New England Chapter, Dorchester People for Peace, Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment, North Shore Coalition for Peace & Justice, Tree of Life Educational Fund, Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine, Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East – Massachusetts chapter, Palestine Israel Task Team of First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, UCC, Cambridge Bethlehem People to People Project, Grassroots International (list in formation).
For information contact pi@masspeaceaction.org or call 617-354-2169
to read more: Press Here
Going beyond the headlines, this story—filmed in the fourteen months leading up to the Revolution— highlights the years of mounting resentment against the ruling regime. Filmmaker Lillie Paquette follows key opposition figures and young democracy activists as they struggle against extraordinary odds to remove an uncompromising US-backed authoritarian regime determined to stay in power.
Date: Friday October 30, 2015
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Center for Arabic Culture
191 Highland Av. Suit 6B. Somerville, MA 02143
Free and Open to the Public
Followed by an Open Discussion with director Lillie Paquette
“Winner at the Sundance Film Festival, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.”
Date: Friday November 20, 2015
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Center for Arabic Culture
191 Highland Av. Suite 6B. Somerville, MA 02143
Free and Open to the Public
On January 14th, 2011, the people of Tunisia took to the streets in mass protest and toppled the government of Ben Ali. The event has a tremendous impact in the region which triggers the Arab Spring. Following the revolution, Tunisians make the radical choice to draft a new state constitution. Called to the urns for the first free elections of their history, the citizens of Tunisia will have to choose which model of society they wish to live in. Islam, secularism and women’s status become the major themes of a campaign under high pressure.
Following the events day by day, TUNISIA, YEAR ZERO tells the story of a difficult birth: that of the first democracy in the Arab world. In 6 months, no less than 110 political parties were created. In this political turmoil, a few of them emerge: the Islamist party Ennhada seduces those disappointed with the revolution. Some other modernist parties, such as Ettakatol and the PDP, are divided on the content of their policies as well as on which strategy to adopt. Leading the polls, Ennahdha will confirm its success in the elections with more than 90 seats out of 217.
How could these results be predicted? TUNISIA, YEAR ZERO gives the reasons for the outcome of the elections.
Date: Friday December 11, 2015
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Center for Arabic Culture
191 Highland Av. Suit 6B. Somerville, MA 02143
Free and Open to the Public
Going beyond the headlines, this story—filmed in the fourteen months leading up to the Revolution— highlights the years of mounting resentment against the ruling regime. Filmmaker Lillie Paquette follows key opposition figures and young democracy activists as they struggle against extraordinary odds to remove an uncompromising US-backed authoritarian regime determined to stay in power.
Date: Friday October 30, 2015
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Center for Arabic Culture
191 Highland Av. Suit 6B. Somerville, MA 02143
Free and Open to the Public
Followed by an Open Discussion with director Lillie Paquette
Art Exhibition September 10 – December 23, 2015
Opening Reception Thursday, September 17, 2015, 5:30-7 pm
The Elliot K. Wolk Gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9AM – 5PM. The gallery is located in MIT Building 7, Room 338, at 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge.
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Images are often used as communicative devices to present politicized messages. During the recent Arab World uprisings, demonstrators created images to express opposition to incumbent governments and members of the ruling elite. Over and again, activists, protesters, artists, and other individuals adopted the expressive media—including videos, photographs, painted and digital images, as well as slogans, music, and even puppets—to create visualized and performed modes of dissent within public space, both in the streets and online.
www.artsofthearabworlduprisings.com