Berkeley 2008 Schedule

Berkeley, US

Students for Justice in Palestine, UC Berkeley Presents

"BREAK FREE FROM APARTHEID":

A WEEK OF EVENTS IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND THEIR STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE!
Part of Israeli Apartheid Week

UC Berkeley SJP is pleased to announce the following events

Monday, February 4th
Human Rights Activist Mark Turner
7pm, 20 Barrows, UC Berkeley

"Redefining the Occupation in Palestine": International human rights activist, Mark Turner, recently spent nine months in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus where he volunteered with medical crews during Israeli military invasions and operations. Mark’s films bring attention to the continued, illegal use of human shields by the Israeli military, including an incident in which soldiers kidnapped an eleven-year-old girl. In 2003, Mark founded the Research Journalism Initiative (RJI), an interactive program that provides tools to teachers and students learning about the Occupation. RJI staff living in the West Bank work with Palestinian students to produce film, radio, photographic and print media, then facilitate live videoconferences between American high school students and Palestinian university students, creating opportunities for a direct exchange that is free of the filters typical of the mainstream American media.

Learn more about RJI at http://researchjournalisminitiative.net/

Tuesday, February 5th
Right to Education Campaign Teach-In
7pm, 60 Evans, UC Berkeley

Featuring presentations by "FRESH! (Freshly Redefining Education for Students through Hip-hop) and other local community education activists and a screening of the short film "Lucky Ahmed" on barriers students face in trying to complete their education under Occupation, prepared by student activists in the West Bank.

From the Bay to the Mediterranean, brown, poor disenfranchised people are fighting for their basic rights. Hundreds of miles away, Palestinians are deprived of their education in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, and their cousins are denied a narrative because of apartheid neglect within the state of Israel. At the same time, our own education system lies about the history of minorities in this country and deprives people of color of their right to education. Our communities can learn from each other's struggles and successes, so we are gathering together in this event to teach one another how to commit organized struggle for the right to our own minds and stories.

Wednesday, February 6th

NOON: RALLY AT SPROUL PLAZA - WEAR BLACK!
With Barbara Lubin from Middle East Children's Alliance and other community leaders.

Evening, 7 pm
Opening of the photo exhibit "Jerusalem Dispossessed" Mudrakers Cafe 2801 Telegraph Ave. with Dr. Hatem Bazian. Additional photos will be shown at Fertile Grounds Cafe, 1796 Shattuck Ave, and Caffe Strada, 2300 College.

"Jerusalem Dispossessed" is a collection of photographs put together by the photo collective ActiveStills and the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolition (ICAHD). The photos capture the tragedy and injustices that are currently being played out in the city of Jerusalem against the Palestinian residents in the form of home demolitions, discriminatory municipal policy and resource allocation, and the continued construction of the Separation Wall.

For more information on ICAHD and the exhibit please visit: http://www.activestills.org/jerusalem/jerusalem.html

Thursday, February 7th
Writer Anna Baltzer
7pm 145 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley

Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, and volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service, is touring the U.S. with a presentation and book describing her experiences documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent resistance to the Occupation. Anna’s presentation will cover checkpoints, Israeli activism, the Apartheid Wall, censorship, nonviolent resistance and other topics rarely covered in mainstream US media.

More information can be found about Anna at www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com.

Friday, February 8:
"Apartheid and the Youth of Palestine" closing event.

Featuring Ziad Abbas Co-Director of Ibdaa' Cultural Center (Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem) and Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman.
Poetry by Dinna Omar, slide show, debkeh and
Palestinian Food ($5-10 SUGGESTED DONATION).
7 pm, Heller Multicultural Center, MLK, Jr Building, UC Berkeley.

Where do we go from here? This event, featuring two dedicated individuals who will talk about their experiences working with youth living under Occupation and Apartheid. They will provide their visions of what a just future for these youth and their communities will look like and will provide inspiration of what we can do here, in the U.S., to organize and work for peace AND justice in Israel/Palestine. Ziad Abbas, journalist and community organizer, is a recognized leader in his community and traveled throughout the world, as a representative and advocate for the rights of his people, bringing special attention to the issue of Right of Return for Palestinian refugees. Nora Barrows-Friedman has gained international recognition as an investigative journalist, focusing specifically on issues in the Middle East. Her current projects in the West Bank include Freedom Radio, the first radio station in a Palestinian Refugee Camp and a Hip Hop Production workshop for youth with members of the Palestinian Hip Hop group DAM.

To learn more about Flashpoints please visit http://flashpoints.net/
To learn more about Ibdaa' Cultural Center please visit www.mecaforpeace.or