Sunday, October 28, 2012

November events

Upcoming Events: Local


Many really good local events – look through them all and decide which you can go to.

OPCS PLANNING MEETING

Tuesday November 13th 7.30pm

Oxford Town Hall

We will use our regular monthly meeting time at the Town Hall to plan future events/actions and share information

HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

Speaker Meeting November 10th 4-6 pm,

Wesleyan Memorial Church, New Inn Hall St, Oxford, OX1 2DH



Chair: Victoria Brittain

This follows up three important recent publications:



Children in Military Custody’ funded by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, June, 2012

Breaking the Silence– booklet of testimonies published by former Israeli soldiers disclosing their experiences of the treatment of Palestinian children during military operations, pointing to a pattern of abuse. Guardian, 27.08.2012

Bound, Blindfolded and Convicted: Children held in military detention, Defence for Children International (DCI), Palestine Section, April, 2012.



The focus of the meeting, which will be chaired by Victoria Brittain, is human rights in international law for these prisoners. The meeting will include a brief introduction by Victoria Brittain; Geoffrey Bindman, QC, Speaker, the showing of a short film by DCI and a reconstruction of an interview with an ex-prisoner from Oxford Brookes University. There will be time for discussion and questions.

This meeting will inform local people about the issues, and move this human rights debate forward as effectively as possible. The booklets will be available and we will provide a pack to encourage further action.

We hope that you will be able to join us at this meeting, tell others about it, and help us to publicise it as widely as possible







. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR ONE WORLD FAIR STALL 17 NOVEMBER

Oxford PSC has a stall booked at the One World Fair at Oxford Town Hall on Saturday 17 November 10.00 - 4.00.  

This is always a fantastic event - a good opportunity for us to raise funds and awareness and also to enjoy ourselves browsing the wide range of other stalls at the event, doing christmas shopping etc.  

We will need a team of volunteers to help. Can you volunteer an hour or two on the day? Or can you help with transporting materials to the venue at 9.00am or collecting at 4.00pm?  

Please let us know what help you can provide and I will then draw up a rota and send it round. A few more volunteers still needed. 

Thanks, Caroline.













Oxford Palestine Film Season

16th October-29th November 2012, University of Oxford



A series of lectures, screenings and discussions celebrating the best in contemporary Palestinian filmmaking and scholarship

www.oxpalfilmseason.org.uk.

Twitter: @oxpalfilmseason. Facebook: Oxford Palestine Film Season. Email: info@oxpalfilmseason.org.uk.



Co-organized by Karim Mattar (University of Oxford), Anna Ball (Nottingham Trent) and Mohamed-Salah Omri (University of Oxford)

All events run from 5-7pm, are free to attend, and will be followed by a drinks reception. No booking required.



29th October. 5pm. Simpkins Lee Lecture Theatre, Lady Margaret Hall. Michel Khleifi, screening ‘Zindeeq’ and engaging in post-screening discussion.



Michel Khleifi is a founding figure in Palestinian cinema, and has directed some of the most highly acclaimed and best-loved works in the field, including Wedding in Galilee, the first Palestinian film shot inside historical Palestine by a Palestinian film director, and winner of the International Critics’ Prize at Cannes and the Golden Concha, San Sebastian, and the ground-breaking documentary, Fertile Memory. This evening’s screening presents a rare opportunity to watch Khleifi’s latest film, ‘Zindeeq’ (winner of the Muhr Award for Best Feature Film, Dubai International Film Festival), which tells the story of a Palestinian filmmaker living in Europe who returns to film testimonies from survivors of the 1948 expulsion of Palestinians from their land, yet finds himself embroiled in a family vendetta in his native Nazareth which takes him on a painful journey to his past. The evening includes a post-screening discussion / Q&A session with Michel Khleifi, who will be joined by his colleague and, for the evening, translator, Omar Al-Qattan. Chaired by Mohamed-Salah Omri.



30th October. 5pm. St John’s Auditorium, St John’s College. Omar Al-Qattan, screening ‘Dreams and Silence’, and speaking on ‘Revisiting the Question of Political Islam’.



Omar Al-Qattan is a leading figure in Palestinian filmmaking, and in the support and promotion of Palestinian cultural activity more broadly. He has directed numerous dramas and documentaries, including Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. In 1991, he co-founded (with Khleifi) the production company Sourat (now Sindibad) Films. Since 1998, while continuing to work in film, he joined with his family to found the A.M.Qattan Foundation, which has become Palestine’s leading independent cultural and educational organization and one of the most distinguished in the Arab World. This evening, Al-Qattan screens his documentary, ‘Dreams and Silence’, which won the Joris Ivens Award in 1991. Shot during the weeks preceding the Gulf War, the film is a portrait of a Palestinian woman refugee in Jordan and her struggles with the religious and social constraints around her at a time of great tension and anguish. Al-Qattan will also speak about one of the key issues that surfaces within his film, which continues to resonate with the contemporary Palestinian landscape: that of political Islam. Chaired by Karim Mattar.























o Sunday, November 4, 2012

o 10:30am in UTC



You can now get tickets for Clamour in the Garden, a delicious cultural day out in East Oxford. Your ticket includes a spectacular, freshly-prepared middle-eastern meal, live music from top-notch musicians, and access to 2 inspiring creative workshops: instrument-building with local artist Jonny Wild from 12, and then a chance to use these instruments in a music workshop with Ashton Mills after lunch.



Come and get a flavour for what we’ll be doing in Palestine, have a cracking afternoon and enjoy an exquis...

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Barracks Lane Community Garden

View Map • Get Directions





St Mary's Harvest Appeal 2012: Keeping Hope Alive in Palestine (The Olive Tree Campaign)

'A Flavour of Palestine' music and food evening on Saturday 10th November, 19.30-21.30 at the Iffley Church Hall,101 Church Way, Iffley OX4 4EG (Thatched building next to the church)

In support of the Harvest Appeal 2012: Musicians 'Raast' - (whose members are Palestinian, Egyptian, English and Latin) will be performing, there will also be traditional Palestinian dancing called Dabke - with tutorials so great opportunity to take part too! Raast perform using traditional and contemporary instruments including the Oud and are renowned for their interpretations of traditional Arabic songs as well as their energy and improvisations. With songs of love and hope, Raast bring cultures and generations together.

There will be Palestinian refreshments and snacks as well as the sale of Fairtrade Palestinian produce including olives, olive oil and scarves. There will also be raffle prizes to be won.

Tickets are donations only with a suggested donation of £5 at the door, tickets include Palestinian refreshments. To reserve tickets contact Mariam/Stephen at iffley.harvest@gmail.com























Every Saturday 11.30-1.30pm: OXFORD PSC STALL in Cornmarket by St Michael at Northgate church. The OPSC Saturday street stall on Cornmarket Street is one of the main ways we use for raising the issue of Palestine with the public at large. It is an important activity for offering information leaflets to the public, inviting them to join PSC or leave their email for Oxford PSC updates. Generally we are there 11:30 to 13:30. Always a minimum of two people on shift. Please consider volunteering for a shift: it’s an opportunity to meet other PSC members, those wanting information and occasionally those wishing to challenge our views, even volunteering for one shift a year would help. Please email ali at OPSCstall@gmail.com if you're able to help.











Upcoming Events: UK/International





PSC update: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=106&Content_ID=2843&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PSC+Update+-+EU+Rewards+Apartheid+Israel&utm_source=YMLP&utm_term=Click+here+to+view+a+text+only...

National Lobby of Parliament for Palestine

Wednesday 28th November

2pm-6pm, House of Commons, Parliament, London SW1A 0AA

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/Index5b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=20

Come and join us to lobby your MP as part of the National Lobby of Parliament for Palestine. We provide briefing papers and questions for your MP, all you need to do is to come along on the day to meet with your MP and show support for Palestine. No previous experience or knowledge required.

Every year hundreds of MPs are lobbied during the National Lobby Day for Palestine by their constituents, some of whom have visited Palestine and others who are new to the issue but want to make a difference. The day is timed to coincide with the UN 'International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People', so it is vital that we lobby as many MPs as possible.

In the evening we normally hold a post-lobby rally, which we would encourage you to attend, so you get to hear from some of our many British Parliamentarians who are standing up for Palestinian human rights week-in, week-out.

What do I do now?

1. book the day off work or make any arrangements that you need to make so that you can be in London on the afternoon of Wednesday 28th November

2. book your train, bus or other means of transport (whilst fares are still low!)

3. email your MP to simply say that you will be coming to meet them on Wednesday 28th November, from 2-6pm and can they please make sure they keep time free to meet. Find your MP here>>

4. ask your friends to come with you. If they have a different MP, ask them to email their MP too.

If you are part of a local group that supports Palestine please ask them to organise a group to attend the lobby.

For more information please email Sara>>





BRITAIN/PALESTINE TWINNING NETWORK AGM AND CONFERENCE 2012

Hosted by Haringey/Aizaria

DATE: Saturday November 24

Time: 10.30 (registration from 10) to 6 – lunch and refreshments available VENUE: Chestnuts Community Centre The Pavilion 280 St. Ann's Road South Tottenham London N15 5BN

Directions: Tube (Piccadilly Line) Manor House Station/341 bus to Chestnuts Primary school Turnpike Lane Station/67 bus to St Ann’s Hospital. Parking in nearby roads. For more information/to register email us at: palestinetwinning@yahoo.com