The following email was sent out yesterday to Independent Australian Jewish Voices (IAJV) signatories:
Dear friends,
We would like to inform you of the following events:
– Haneen Zoabi is the Knesset’s only female Israeli Arab MP and she arrives in Australia this week. She’ll be appearing on many mainstream news outlets and giving talks in Sydney and Melbourne. A list of these talks is here: http://www.iajv.org/upcoming-events-of-interest-/
– Our colleagues in Melbourne, Australians for Palestine, have organised a reading of the important new play, Seven Jewish Children, about Jewish identity and Palestinian suffering, on 18 May at the State Library of Victoria. More info here: http://www.iajv.org/upcoming-events-of-interest-/. The reading is already generating media coverage: http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/bollocks-actor-defends-play/2009/05/07/1241289313892.html
– IAJV’s co-founder Dr Peter Slezak will be presenting a paper at June’s Limud Oz conference, a national event of Jewish discussion. More news soon.
– IAJV is currently organising a large inter-faith meeting in Sydney in October, which will bring the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths together to discuss Israel/Palestine.
– The IAJV letters and opinion page, edited by writer Sara Dowse, is still active and always looking for submissions. More here: http://www.iajv.org/opinionletters/
– The IAJV website (http://www.iajv.org/) is being constantly updated with the latest news and views about the Middle East. A highlight is the extensive work by blogger Michael Brull (http://www.iajv.org/michael/) whose writings are now being published in media outlets across the country.
– The Seymour Centre presents a BITE and Bareboards production: “My Name is Rachel Corrie” (www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/boxoffice/bite_rachel09.shtml)
Seymour Theatre Centre, The University of Sydney, Corner of City Rd and Cleveland St
In 2003, 23 year old Rachel Corrie left her hometown of Olympia, Washington, and went to Palestine. She was part of the International Solidarity Movement, encouraging peaceful demonstrations in the Gaza Strip to stop the demolition of civilian homes by the Israel Defense Forces. In March that year she was killed by an IDF bulldozer.
The story of one individual’s journey in the global struggle for sense and justice, My Name Is Rachel Corrie offers a deeply personal insight into the core of another human being through her extraordinary journals, e-mails and writings.
We have five double-passes to give away to “My Name is Rachel Corrie” on Saturday May 30 at 8pm at the Seymour Centre. The first five to email their name and contact details to [email protected] will each receive a double-pass (to be collected from the box office on the night).
We look forward to continuing the push for a more enlightened Jewish debate on Israel/Palestine and we’re always keen to hear your thoughts.
As usual, please find below a small collection of recent media articles that articulate the reality of the Middle East conflict.
Best wishes,
Independent Australian Jewish Voices
Peter Slezak
James Levy
Antony Loewenstein
Eran Asoulin
http://www.iajv.org/
– Philip Weiss, A report on the recent AIPAC conference in Washington DC:
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/howard-kohr-bds.html
– Neve Gordon writes in the UK Guardian about the growing intolerance of dissent in Israel:
http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3856
– Stephen Walt on Israel’s ever-expanding occupation of the West Bank, Foreign Policy:
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/28/the_treason_of_the_hawks
– The New York Times on Israeli attempts to maintain Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the state:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/world/middleeast/10jerusalem.html?_r=2&ref=global-home&pagewanted=print
– Information about the recent damning UN report on Israel’s war in Gaza:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/05/israel-gaza-united-nations/print
– Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz about how Israel still sells its image to the West:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083698.html