Edmonton Israeli Apartheid Week 2012

January 20, 2012

Mark your calendars: the Fourth Annual Edmonton Israeli Apartheid Week will take place from March 5-13, 2012, featuring presentations, workshops, film screenings, and cultural events to raise awareness around the human rights situation in Palestine/Israel and to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid.

First launched in Toronto in 2005, Israeli Apartheid Week has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, 97 cities around the world participated in the week’s activities.

A full schedule of events in Edmonton will be available soon. You can visit the global site for more information about Israeli Apartheid Week.

Leave a Comment » | BDS, Edmonton, Events, Israeli Apartheid Week | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: Humanserve International’s Palestinian Bazaar

January 19, 2012

The HUMANSERVE International Society for Development is holding it’s inaugural Palestinian Bazaar, a full-day festival celebrating the cultural richness of the Palestinian people!

The Palestinian Bazaar
Saturday, March 17 (Noon – 10:00 pm)
12:00 – 6:00 pm: Bazaar (Main Foyer, Free)
6:30 – 10:00 pm: Evening Concert (Westbury Theatre, $10)
Transalta Arts Barns
10330-84 Avenue

Help HUMANSERVE get the word out about this amazing event! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.

Click here to see the detailed program

We know the struggles. We know the politics. We know the pain. Do we really know the talent of the people?

It is time to celebrate the contributions Palestinians make to society through their art, film, food, products, knowledge, literature and their music. Our evening concert will especially highlight their vibrant hip hop scene by featuring the amazing talent of Shadia Mansour, Lowkey and The Narcicyst!

Full details are available on the HUMANSERVE website. You can also like the bazaar on Facebook. Be sure to come check out the PSN table at the bazaar.

About Humanserve

Humanserve aims to share the Palestinian heritage with Albertans and to inform the Canadian public about humanitarian aspects of Palestinians and Lebanese in the Middle East. We endeavor to develop mutual ties with all stakeholders interested in the humanitarian aspects of disadvantaged populations in this area. One of the ways we are able to achieve this goal is to organize public engagement activities such as The Palestinian Bazaar. Public engagement activities link international development activities with community awareness and education in Canada. By making these links, HUMANSERVE works to facilitate a learning process that will enable Canadians to better understand the nature and importance of global issues while encouraging the appreciation of the culture and talent of the people affected by these issues.

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: Palestine Sessions at iWeek 2012

January 9, 2012

Palestine Solidarity Network is pleased to once again be part of the University of Alberta International’s International Week, which runs from January 30 – February 3. The theme for iWeek 2012 is Living Democracy: Citizen Power in a Global Age.

PSN is hosting the presenting the following session:

Wednesday, February 1
Living Justice: Global Action for Palestinian Human Rights
Wednesday, February 1 (11:00 am – 11:50 am)
Dentistry / Pharmacy Centre 4114
(Click here for map)

Help us spread the word! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.

The struggle for Palestinian human rights has in recent years shifted from political maneuvering towards a global, Palestinian-led civil society movement. Governments around the world have failed to take meaningful action to end ongoing human rights violations in the region or to enforce calls by the international community to end the 44-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Through non-violent direct action and a growing global movement, citizen power has become the main force in promoting human rights and self-determination for the Palestinian people. This presentation will explore this global movement and its implications for a just resolution of the Israel/Palestine question.

You may also be interested in the following presentations being sponsored by other groups, which focus on the issue of Palestine or the broader Middle East. For a complete listing of events you can visit the iWeek website or download the program guide.

Palestine: Democracy in 2012?
Monday, January 30 (4:00 PM – 4:50 PM)
Tory Building Room 365
(Click here for map)

Lenora Yarkie, Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine/Israel (EAPPI), World Council of Churches
Sponsored in part by the United Church of Canada

What is the status of the Palestinian bid for entrance to the United Nations? Presenters were recently in the West Bank and Israel on a 3-month accompaniment program, working with both Palestinians and Israelis. Gain a first hand account of issues like home demolitions, settler attacks, checkpoints and the separation wall as experienced daily in the region. These government policies obstruct the quest for peace and democracy in Palestine and perpetuate the Occupation of the West Bank.

North Africa in Focus, a Year After: Lessons and Prospects from the Arab Spring
Wednesday, February 1 (4:00 pm – 4:50 pm)
International Centre Lobby, HUB Mall
(Click here for map)

Dr. Mojtaba Mahdavi, Dr. Iman Mersal, and Maxwell Zhira
Sponsored by the African Students’ Association

Join us for a panel discussion on the rise of “people power” that emerged in 2011 in North Africa (particularly Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya) and led to the overthrow of authoritarian governments. The focus of the panel will be to re-examine the genesis and nature of the “revolutions”, assess the lessons learned, and look at future prospects and the broader impact on the African continent and the world. Central to discussion will be the prospects and challenges of consolidating “democracy” or a kind of constitutional rule that attends to the needs of the people.

The Middle East in Transition: LIVE from Palestine
Thursday, February 2 (9:00 am – 10:20 am)
Telus Building Room 145
(Click here for map)

Sponsored by The Centre for Global Education at Queen Elizabeth High School and TakingITGlobal

Join us as we get a first-hand account from a classroom in Palestine, via video conferencing, to help us shed light on the complexity of the history taking place daily in the region. This session will explore the continued evolution of societal transformation over the last year throughout the Middle East and the implications for Palestine. Learn about current causes of conflict and uprising, like poverty and the struggle for women’s rights.

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events, Middle East | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: Commemorating the Anniversary of the Assault on Gaza

January 9, 2012

On Dec 27, 2008, Israel launched a 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip that resulted in the death of approximately 1400 people, wounding an additional 5400. In the 22-day long massacre, over 100,000 people were displaced, hospitals and schools were bombed and 22,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Join Palestine Solidarity Network – U of A for a free screening of the award-winning documentary Tears of Gaza, as we commemorate the third anniversary of the assault on Gaza.

Commemorating the Anniversary of the Assault on Gaza
Tears of Gaza film screening and discussion
Thursday, January 19 (6:30 pm)
Telus Building Room 134
Corner of 87 Avenue and 111 Street, U of A Campus
(Click here for map)

Help us spread the word! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.

About the film:

Disturbing, powerful and emotionally devastating, Tears of Gaza is less a conventional documentary than a record – presented with minimal gloss – of the 2008 to 2009 bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military. Photographed by several Palestinian cameramen both during and after the offensive, this powerful film by director Vibeke Løkkeberg focuses on the impact of the attacks on the civilian population.

The film shuttles between the actual bombings and the aftermath on the streets and in the hospitals. The footage of the bombs landing is indelible and horrifying, but it is on par with much of the explicit imagery on hand. White phosphorous bombs rain over families and children, leaving bodies too charred to be identified. The footage here is extremely graphic and includes children’s bodies being pulled from ruins. Recounting the horrors she has witnessed, one young girl collapses and sinks out of the frame.

Years of economic embargo have left the area deprived of resources and have strained an already impoverished infrastructure. The wounded are carried to hospital for lack of ambulances, and an absence of fire trucks leaves home owners to put out fires on their own. What’s immediately apparent is that decades of military activity have made the population angry, nihilistic and vengeful. As one young boy says, “Even if they give us the world, we will not forget.” Løkkeberg contrasts these scenes with footage of bachelor parties, weddings and visits to the beach – social activities that epitomize daily life in Gaza during more peaceful times.

Tears of Gaza makes no overriding speeches or analyses. The situation leading up to the incursion is never mentioned. While this strategy may antagonize some, it’s a useful method for highlighting the effects of the violence on the civilian population. Similar events certainly occurred in Dresden, Tokyo, Baghdad and Sarajevo, but of course Gaza isn’t those places. Tears of Gaza demands that we examine the costs of war on a civilian populace. The result is horrifying, gut-wrenching and unforgettable.

About the film director:

Vibeke Løkkeberg was born in Norway. She is an actor, director, screenwriter and author. She has directed several features, including The Revelation (’77), Betrayal (’81), Hud (’86), which screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, Måker (’91), Der gudene er døde (’93), and Tears of Gaza (’10).

Leave a Comment » | Canada, Edmonton, Events, Gaza | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: CANPAL Screening of Paradise Now

January 3, 2012

As part of its Palestine Film Series, the Canada Palestine Cultural Association is hosting a free screening of the critically acclaimed Palestinian film Paradise Now.

Paradise Now Screening
Saturday, January 9 (6:30 pm)
Edmonton Islamic Academy
14525 – 127 Street
(Click here for map)

Help CANPAL spread the word! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.

Everyone is welcome and the event is FREE. Popcorn, sweets and refreshments will be available.

About the film:

Paradise Now is the multi-award-winning 2005 film directed by Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel. It won a Golden Globe for best foreign language film and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category, making it the the first Palestinian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

“The film is an artistic point of view of that political issue,” Abu-Assad said. “The politicians want to see it as black and white, good and evil, and art wants to see it as a human thing.”

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events, Videos | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: Academic Freedom and Palestinian Solidarity in Canada

November 26, 2011

To mark the United Nations International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People, Faculty for Palestine (F4P) Alberta is hosting its inaugural event:

Academic Freedom and Palestinian Solidarity in Canada: What Can Alberta Faculty Do?
Tuesday, November 29 (5:00 – 6:30 pm)
Room 7-152, Education North Building
University of Alberta
(North of 87 Avenue at 113 Street)

How can academics work in solidarity with Palestinian civil society? How can faculty support educational initiatives about Israel/Palestine? What can you do as an Alberta educator to protect academic freedom and free expression? Please join us on the United Nations International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People for an inaugural panel discussion. Find out more about F4P Alberta, and meet colleagues from different departments and universities. All faculty and other interested individuals are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Moderator:
Dr. Lynette Shultz

Dr. Toni Samek
“Academic Freedom: A Moving Target?”

Evelyn Hamdon and Scott Harris
“Israeli Apartheid Week in Canada”

Dr. Yasmeen Abu‐Laban
“F4P Alberta”

About F4P Alberta:

Linked to the national F4P network, the Alberta Chapter is a solidarity group consisting of faculty members from all ranks and post-secondary institutions in Alberta. As members of society responsible for education, teaching, and research, we recognize a public responsibility to bear witness to the continued oppression and suffering of Palestinians, and to publicize the complicity of Canadian policies. We are also concerned with threats to academic freedom in Israel, Palestine and Canada.

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events, Freedom of Speech | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: The Other Film Series Screening of Paradise Now

November 22, 2011

The Other Film Series will screen the award winning 2005 film Paradise Now. Everyone is welcome and the event is FREE.

Paradise Now
Thursday, November 24 (4:30 – 6:50 pm)
Education North, Room 2-115

The Other Film Series II is an ongoing series that aspires to engage preservice teachers in dialogue pertaining to five areas of inquiry including: 1) the representation of non-European ethnicities in film 2) cultural and cross-cultural tensions in filmic narrative 3) the challenges faced by non-white subjectivities in Western culture 4) the affirmation of cultural difference and 5) the significance of such affirmation for pedagogy.

The Other Film series is a unique endeavor for three main reasons. First, its organization draws together a range of lecture-hosts whose scholarly backgrounds have included work in critical theory, anti-racist pedagogy, anti-colonial pedagogy, indigenous wisdom traditions and Muslim wisdom traditions. Through the creation of such intellectual spaces, The Other Film Series will nurture the broader intellectual community by offering faculty and graduate students alternative approaches to the Western tradition that informs our often taken-for-granted approach to schooling. Second, The Other Film Series will once again offer undergraduate students the opportunity to engage with the difficult question of how their teaching might become sensitive and responsive to the diverse-life worlds of others. Such a sustained inquiry is crucial in a time when the student population of Alberta becomes increasingly heterogeneic. Finally, The Other Film Series will actively engage in the critical analysis of film. That is, each installment of the film series will continue to assume a critical and sometimes deconstructive stance toward film. It is in this way that the film series will once again serve to acquaint students to ways in which they might critically analyze media in an age wherein they are continually beset by ethnic caricatures and media misinformation.

Film continues to be an important pedagogical medium insofar as it is able to capture the nuance and complexity of life in ways that are often deeply felt by an audience. In this manner, film offers a visceral and sometimes uncomfortable encounter with cultural difference often inaccessible through other kinds of media.

For more Information, please contact Jason Wallin at: jjwallin@ualberta.ca

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events, West Bank | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: The Zionist Character of the State of Israel

November 7, 2011

The Zionist Character of the State of Israel
A free public lecture by Norton Mezvinsky
Wednesday November 23 (7:00 pm – 9:00 pm)
Telus Building Room 236
Corner of 111 Street & 87 Avenue, University of Alberta Campus
(Click here for map)

Help us spread the word! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.

One of the myths about Israel/Palestine is that the current situation is the result of an “ancient conflict.” But the state of Israel was only created in 1948, and it was a direct consequence of European colonial rule in the Middle East. As a political ideology, a modern interpretation of Zionism was also instrumental in the initial formation of the Israeli state and it still continues to inform the political decision making in Israel. What is Zionism and how has it affected the formation and the current character of the Israeli state? Join us for a public lecture by distinguished American historian, Norton Mezvinsky.

About the speaker:

Norton Mezvinsky is a historian. He is a Distinguished University Professor, Emeritus, Connecticut State University and is the president of the International Council for Middle East Studies, Inc., a new academic think-tank in Washington, D.C. He has written numerous published books, articles and book reviews that deal with various aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict and Zionism. The book, Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, which he wrote with the Israeli scholar, Israel Shahak, has been translated and published in four languages in addition to English. His most recent publications are a lengthy biographical essay of David Ben-Gurion in the new, highly praised Encyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, published by Lynne Reiner Publishers (2010), and a chapter essay, titled “The Christian Zionist View of Islam,” in the new book, Islam in the Eyes of the West, published by Routledge (2010). Two additional essays of his on the Jewish religious Right and Zionism are scheduled for publication in 2011. Professor Mezvinsky is currently writing a book on Christian Zionism. Professor Mezvinsky has lectured and delivered papers at conferences around the world.

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Event: The Palestine Statehood Bid in Context

October 18, 2011

The Palestine Statehood Bid in Context
A Panel Discussion featuring Richard Falk (via Skype), Mojtaba Mahdavi and Ghada Ageel
Tuesday, November 8 (7:00 – 9:00 pm)
Telus Building Room 217
Corner of 111 Street & 87 Avenue, University of Alberta Campus
(Click here for map)

Help us spread the word! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.

In September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas filed an application with the United Nations asking for official recognition of a Palestinian state within the internationally recognized 1967 borders. While many countries have supported Palestinian statehood, the Canadian government has joined Israel and the United States in rejecting the bid. Within Palestinian civil society, there are diverse opinions about the effectiveness and consequences of a UN recognition of a Palestinian state. How does a UN recognition affect the prospects for ending the decades-old Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories? What does it mean for the Palestinian people (in Palestine, in Israeli, and in diaspora), and for the grassroots anti-apartheid movement? Join us for a panel discussion to discuss these and other related questions.

Free and open to all. Co-sponsored by the University of Alberta Department of Political Science.

About the panelists

Richard Falk has since 2008 served as the United Nations Special Human Right Rapporteur in Palestinian Territories. He is Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2001 he served on a three-person Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestine Territories that was appointed by the United Nations, and previously, on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Religion and Humane Global Governance, Human Rights Horizons, On Humane Governance: Toward a New Global Politics, and Human Rights and State Sovereignty. He serves as Chair of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Board of Directors and as honorary vice president of the American Society of International Law. Falk also acted as counsel to Ethiopia and Liberia in the Southwest Africa Case before the International Court of Justice.

Dr. Mojtaba Mahdavi is an assistant Professor of Political Science and Middle East & African Studies at University of Alberta, Canada. His research interests include post-Islamist Islam, Islamism and democratization, new theories of secularism and modern Islamic political thought. His writing has appeared in the Canadian, U.S. and Iranian academic journals. He is currently working on a project on post-Islamism and democratization in the Muslim world. Dr. Mahdavi’s forthcoming book examines problems and prospects for democratization in the post-revolutionary Iran.

Dr. Ghada Ageel is a third generation Palestinian refugee. She was born and raised in the Khan Younis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, were she attended high school and completed a BA in Education. In 1999, Ghada won the Jerusalem Studies’ Scholarship of the University of Exeter in Britain, where she completed her Master’s degree in Middle East Politics, and her PhD in Refugees Studies. Sine then, Ghada has worked with several organizations and institutions in Canada, UK and Palestine. She currently lives in Edmonton and works at the Canadian Red Cross.

Leave a Comment » | Edmonton, Events | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

Palestinian BNC Statement on the Occupy Movement

October 18, 2011

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) has released the following statement on the global Occupy Movement.

Occupy Wall Street not Palestine!
We are part of the world’s 99% yearning for freedom, justice and equal rights!

If a people one day wills to live fate must answer its call
And the night must fade and the chain must break
– Abou-Al-kacem El-Chebbi (Tunisia)

Occupied Palestine, October 13 -The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the largest Palestinian civil society coalition struggling for Palestinian rights, is proud to stand in solidarity with the movements struggling for a new world based on democracy, human rights and economic justice. From New York to Athens, from Madrid to Santiago, from Bahrain to Rome, these huge mobilisations provide a much needed reminder of something that Palestinians have always known – that another world, a dignifying one, is possible and ordinary people can create it.
Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Action, BDS, Canada, Edmonton | Permalink
Posted by psnedmonton

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 73 other followers