PSN is once again pleased to be an endorsing group for Solidarity Week in Edmonton and is hosting a session focusing on the struggles faced by Palestinian farmers and fishers as part of the week. The event, which will feature the screening of three short films followed by a discussion is in solidarity with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Palestine, which as called for international action and solidarity to support fishers and farmers under siege.
Palestine: Connection to the Land and Resources (Short Films)
Thursday, October 11 (12:30 pm)
Telus Building Room 217/219
Corner of 87 Ave and 111 St, U of A Campus
(Click here for map)
Help us spread the word! Invite your friends to the Facebook event.
About Solidarity with Gaza Fishers and Farmers
The farmers and fishers of Gaza, Palestine are under siege as they work to defend their land and sea from occupation and continue their harvest and their livelihoods. Many people in Gaza have always relied on the land and the sea for their livelihood. Generations of Palestinian fishers have worked the sea, and farmers harvested the land, to support their communities and their lives. Today, the fishers and farmers of Gaza are under attack – braving death and imprisonment to continue to harvest the land and sea. The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Palestine has called for international action and solidarity to support fishers and farmers under siege.
The UAWC, a grassroots organization that works to support Palestinian agricultural workers and develop their steadfastness on their land, connected with the Vancouver Delegation to Gaza on its recent delegation, and has initiated a call to organizations across Canada, and around the world, to hold events, actions and protests in solidarity with Fishers and Farmers under attack in Gaza and throughout Palestine.
About the Films
Doors to the Sea: Gaza’s Fishers Under Siege
This film, produced by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in Palestine, explores through interviews, film of fishers working, and commentary, the experience of Gaza’s fishers under siege, confronted by Israeli warships, sharp restrictions on their areas for fishing, and the political, military and economic siege on Gaza. Participants in the film include Vittorio Arrigoni, the martyred international solidarity activist murdered in Gaza in April 2011.
My Beloved Olive: Palestinian Farmers On their Land
This film, produced by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in Palestine, explores the role of the olive in Palestinian farmers’ lives, and in the Palestinian economy, and the struggles of farmers to remain on their land and continue to harvest their olives in the face of the construction of the Apartheid wall, military occupation, settlement building, and land confiscation at the hands of the Israeli occupation. Includes numerous interviews with Palestinian farmers.
Staying: Palestinian Farmers and Fishers
This film, produced by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in Palestine, looks at the impact of Israeli siege on Palestinian fishers and farmers in Gaza, and the fishers’ and farmers’ steadfastness and resistance on their land and the Gaza sea.
About Solidarity Week
Solidarity Week 2012 runs from October 6 – 12, 2012. A full schedule of events is available on the Solidarity Week website.
Solidarity Week is a grassroots endeavour at the University of Alberta initiated by various campus and community groups. Our aim is to create a space and an opportunity for people from different backgrounds to come together and to learn about each other’s struggles against colonialism, imperialism, and various forms of domination and oppression.
The first Solidarity Week at the U of A was held in March 2010. Through a number of panel discussions and other activities, the week highlighted issues of gender, colonialism, and leadership. These broad issues were also linked to current local struggles in Edmonton and Canada as a whole.
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK 