Events
From Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets – Sat 4/30 at 7 PM
Students for Justice in Palestine present: Omar Offendum is a Syrian-American hip-hop artist and architect.
Poet and educator Mark Gonzales (an Alaskan-born Mexican-American) and hip-hop artists Nizar Watad and Omar Chakaki (hailing from Palestine and Syria, respectively) offer a unique examination of identity, pop culture, and growing up and ‘other’ in the United States, sparked by the attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent worldwide demonization’s of Arabs and Muslims. ‘Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets’ traces the artists’ development alongside the birth and growth of Hip-Hop, then invites audience members to participate in a discussion of (1) how an art form once considered to exist on the margins of society can grow to become the most popular musical genre amongst youth around the world; (2) what this means to those hip-hoppers who remain on the margins; and (3) what problems and concerns face the rest of society in realizing accepting and ultimately utilizing this shift. You can see them perform at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1h3duLXtQs , http://humanwritesproject.org/.
$5- $10 Suggested Donation
Where: 145 Dwinelle, UC Berkeley Campus
For more info: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=209013702456436
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Special Screening of Arna’s Children – Fri 4/29 at 5 PM
Juliano Mer-Khamis, respected activist, actor, and director, was assassinated in Jenin on April 4th in front of the theatre that he built as an act of resistance against the Israeli Occupation.
In tribute to his life and work, the Center for Middle East Studies will host an evening commemorating Juliano and the Jenin Freedom Theatre. Judith Butler will offer an introduction of the highly acclaimed, award-winning documentary “Arna’s Children” [2003 | 85 min].
“Arna’s Children” portrays the lives of Juliano’s mother Arna Mer-Khamis and the young Palestinian refugees who participated in the theatre group she worked to establish in the West Bank during the 1980s. The film won “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and has received worldwide acclaim as a straightforward and honest portrait of the Palestinian struggle.
With an introduction by Judith Butler.
Preceded by the short film “The Freedom Theatre Today.”
This event is co-sponsored by the Middle East Arts and Film Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Where: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 340 Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley
For more info: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=218917288121783
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Conference: Islamophobia Production and Re-Defining Global “Security” Agenda for the 21st Century
Thu 4/21 at 9 PM and Fri 4/22 at 9AM
Booth Auditorium, Boalt Law School, UC Berkeley
The Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley, Organization of Islamic Conference, Council on American-Islamic Relations, and GTU’s Center for Islamic Studies will host a two-day conference focusing on the growing Islamophobia phenomena in the United States and its impacts on American Muslims and relations with the Muslim world.
At present the airwaves, news, T.V. shows and centers of culture production are filled with Islamophobic content thus making racism directed at Muslims and Islam a fully sanctioned discourses affecting American Muslims as well as shaping foreign policy discourses.
The conference will bring together researchers, academics, community advocates and representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference for a two day conference to share analysis, findings and policy recommendation. Furthermore, the conference will seek to document the ideological, institutional and financial interests entangled in the production and dissemination of Islamophobic contents in the US and in Europe and exploring the primary desired outcomes, in the short and long terms. The papers presented at the conference will be published in UC Berkeley’s Islamophobia Studies Journal inaugural edition Fall, 2011.
Panels include: Islamophobia: Media Production and Re-Production of Racism; Islamophobia at the Ballot Box: Who Benefits?; Islamophobia, Citizenship, Patriotism and the Security State; Clash of Civilizations Discourses and Global Security; Islamophobia and the Security State in Post 9/11.
Sponsoring Organizations: Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at the Center for Race and Gender, Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Institute of International Studies, GTU Center for Islamic Studies, Zaytuna College, American Cultures Engaged Scholarship, SFSU Arab and Muslims Ethnicities and Diaspora Initiative, Boalt Law School Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law and American Muslims for Palestine.
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From Palestine to Mexico: Bring Down the Walls!
Thu 4/21 at 7:30 PM
7th floor of Eshleman Hall, UC Berkeley
Did you know that Elbit Systems limited, an Israeli company that is building and profiting from the Apartheid Wall that is annexing land in Palestine, has been contracted by the US government to build the Border Wall with Mexico, signed into law by Bush?
Come join us to hear testimonies and information on the human rights violations perpetrated by these two walls. From Palestine to Mexico learn why we must Bring Down the Walls!
A panel with the following speakers will give brief presentations followed up by a Q&A session:
Ramon Grosfoguel, Associate Professor Department of Ethnic Studies.
Mira Nabulsi, Research Associate at The Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative,
San Francisco State University
Nuha Masri, UCB student, Students for Justice in Palestine member
John Davalos, UCB 4th Year Sociology Student, minor in Public Policy, member of RAZA
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Gender and the Violence of Everyday Life in Palestine
Tue 4/19 at 4 PM 370 Dwinelle Hall (Level F), UC Berkeley
Due to the ongoing Israeli occupation, violence has become a normalized and integrated way of life for Palestinians. Palestinian women pay a high price in this enduring struggle for the liberation of Palestine. Structural and systematic violence created by the colonial regime permeate every aspect of Palestinian life. Women consistently compensate for the absence of men who are either imprisoned in Israeli jails, dead, or suffering from physical and psychological injuries: while women, on the one hand, experience the burden of maintaining “demographic weight,” they also end up becoming solely responsible for providing for their families. This panel examines the multitudinous ways in which occupation, and thereby violence, permeates Palestinian life with profound impact on traditional gender roles and ever-increasing demands on Palestinian women. Ayesha AlRifai demonstrates how the network of biopower technologies of Israeli governance over Palestinians in East Jerusalem causes systematic spaciocide, negatively impacting Palestinian women’s daily lives. Diane Tober explores the impact of occupation on women and gender roles by drawing connections between occupation, domination of space, and the hegemonic intrusion into the Palestinian domestic sphere in the West Bank. Samar Habib examines the remedial and radical power of queer politics, and Palestinian lesbian activism inside the green line.
Convener: Paola Bacchetta
Discussant: Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State
University
Speakers: Palestinian Women of East Jerusalem: Carrying the Burden of State-sanctioned Spaciocide Ayesha AlRifai; “The Land is My Blood”: Gender, Identity, and Meanings of Space in Palestine Diane Tober; Queer politics, Palestine and Palestinian Lesbian Activism Inside the Green Line Samar Habib
Co-sponsors: Townsend Center Working Group on Muslim Identities and Cultures, The Department of Women and Gender Studies and The Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative at San Francisco State University
Le Trio Joubran – Sat 4/9 at 7:30 PM
Bayside Performing Arts Center
2025 Kehoe Avenue, San Mateo
Le Trio Joubran are unique. They are the world’s only professional oud trio. The three young Palestinian brothers, Samir, Wissam and Adnan, are the sons of a master oud craftsman from the Palestinian city of Nazareth. The oud, or Arab lute, is the voice of Palestinian tradition and classical Arab music. The trio’s music can remind the listener that beyond the horrifying headlines coming out of occupied Palestine, is a beautiful country with a rich cultural heritage – and hope.
For details of the tour hosted by Al-Awda, please see:
http://al-awda.org/trio.html
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Peace Begins with Justice – with Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh – Sun 4/3 at 7 PM
Join Norcal Friends of Sabeel, the Middle East Children’s Alliance, and the First Congregational Church of Oakland for an evening with Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian leader in the nonviolent response to the Occupation and author of Popular Resistance in Palestine. Dr. Qumsiyeh will report from the front lines and share his vision for a just peace – and how to get there.
Suggested donation $10
For more info: http://www.mecaforpeace.org/events/oakland-ca-peace-begins-justice-hope-and-empowerment-palestine-dr-mazin-qumsiyeh
Where: First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison Street at 27th, Oakland.
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Litigating Palestine: Can Courts Secure Palestinian Rights? – Fri 3/25 to Sat 3/26
The objective of this one-and-a-half day conference is to critically evaluate the strategies, limitations, successes and failures of efforts to vindicate Palestinian rights in a variety of different court systems in the United States and abroad. This topic is one of both practical and academic significance. As a practical matter, those considering avenues for advancing Palestinian rights need to make strategic judgments about where to invest resources, and whether, in particular, law suits make sense as a tool for justice or not. Examining litigation in support of Palestinian rights in a variety of different legal environments should also yield insight on the conditions under which courts can serve the struggles of politically disempowered groups to achieve justice, and thus contribute to broader theoretical discussions as well. The conference will bring together leading academics and practitioners of diverse backgrounds and experiences, and will be the first of its kind to be held in the United States.
For more info, and to register: http://www.uchastings.edu/media-and-news/event/2011/03/Litigating-Palestine.html
Where: 200 McAllister, Alumni Reception Center, UC Hastings
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University of California at Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine presents
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. The aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement. Last year, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) took place in more than 40 cities across the globe.
IAW 2011 takes place following two years of incredible successes for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the global level. Lectures, films, performances, and actions will highlight some of these successes along with the many injustices that continue to make BDS so crucial in the battle to end Israeli Apartheid.
Join us in making 2011 a year of struggle against apartheid and for justice, equality, and peace!
We hope that you are able to join us for some or all of our exciting events we’ve planned for Israeli Apartheid Week! Break free from Apartheid!
RSVP on our FACEBOOK event page! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=132485546820875
Week 1 Events
Tuesday, March 1:
Susan Abulhawa: “Telling the Palestinian Story”
When: 630 pm
Where: Boalt Hall Room 105 (Boalt School of Law @ Bancroft & College)
Susan Abulhawa, author of the best seller Mornings in Jenin and founder of Playgrounds for Palestine. in Mornings in Jenin, Susan expresses fully the Palestinian tragedy and struggle. Palestinians are not always given the opportunity to share their experience and their struggle. Come and Listen to Susan tell the Palestinian story.
fb event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137663569634700
Thursday, March 3:
“RESISTANCE THROUGH RHYMES” Free concert & presentation featuring Lowkey, Shadia Mansour, Logic, and Jody McIntyre
When: 700 pm
Where: Multicultural Community Center, MLK Student Union (MLK Building @ Telegraph & Bancroft)
*Inspirational and revolutionary hip hop artists Lowkey, Shadia Mansour, and Logic and revolutionary journalist/activist Jody Mcintyre team up for a joint musical and educational tour. You don’t want to miss this!
*Suggested Donation: $5-$10
fb event: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=192062367481495&id=714713822&ref=notif¬if_t=like#!/event.php?eid=113072048771273
Week 2 Events
Monday, March 7:
Movie screening of Soweto to Berkeley followed by a panel of UC Berkeley student activists speaking on Palestine, Berkeley and Apartheid
When: 700 pm
Where: 2060 VLSB
Soweto to Berkeley – a documentary which explores the student protests and debates at UC Berkeley during 1985-86, which led to the Board of Regents’ decision to withdraw $3.1 billion in funds from companies doing business in South Africa. Interspersed with scenes of demonstrations, debates, and violent clashes with police, are speeches by South African Bishop Desmond Tutu and Berkeley Free Speech activist Mario Savio. 50 minutes
Tuesday, March 8:
Diana Buttu speaking on”Uprisings in the Arab World and What’s Behind the Negotiations?with poet/activist Maria Poblet
When: 700 pm
Where: First Congregational Church of Berkely, 2345 Channing Way @ Dana, tickets: $15, $10 low income/students. Tickets atwww.mecaforpeace.org
The Middle East Children’s Alliance presents DIANNA BUTTU – legal advisor to the PLO negotiating Israel 2000-2005 (and the only woman present)- speaking on uprisings in the Arab world and What’s Behind the Negotiations? with special guest performance by Maria Poblet
Wednesday, March 9:
Panel on “Life Under Occupation and Palestinian Civil Society’s Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS)” with Dr. Hatem Bazian (UC Berkeley), Ziad Abbas (MECA), Dr. George Bisharat (UC Hastings), and Mira Nabulsi (SFSU)
When: 700 pm
Where: 100 BOALT
Come and listen to our wonderful panel discuss
“Life Under Occupation and Palestinian Civil Society’s Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS)
Co-sponsored by Law Students for Justice in Palestine, Berkeley Muslim Student Association, Middle East Children Alliance (MECA), and South Bay Mobilization
ASUC Sponsored, ADA Accessible.
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Aswat Salutes the Youth of Egypt and Tunis
Sun 2/27 at 3 PM
College of San Mateo Theatre, 1700 West Hillsdale Blvd
San Mateo, CA
Zawaya presents Aswat in a concert to salute the youth of Egypt and Tunisia in poetry and song.
Directed by Omar Abbad
Special Guest Mohannad Mchallah from Syria
Tickets will NOT be sold at the door.
For more info, and to order tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158115
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Teaching Palestine: Half-Day Workshop
Sat 2/26 at 9 AM to 1 PM
The Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street, San Fransisco, CA
Join the Middle East Children’s Alliance, Rethinking Schools and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network for a half-day workshop for youth educators who want to teach about Palestine through pedagogy that is student-centered, rigorous, empowering, skill-strengthening, highly informed, and makes connections to local struggles for justice.
Facilitators:
Ziad Abbas is the associate director and education coordinator of the Middle East Children’s Alliance. He is a Palestinian refugee from the West Bank, where he was the co-founder and co-director of the Ibdaa Cultural Center at Dheisheh Refugee Camp. He is a journalist as well as a teacher and youth worker.
Perry Bellow-Handelman is an organizer with the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and a member of the Bay Area Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. She currently works as a history teacher and internship coordinator at an East Oakland public high school. Prior to becoming a teacher she worked with youth in a broad range of anti-racist movement work through her roles as a youth organizer and popular educator.
Jody Sokolower is the policy and production editor of Rethinking Schools. Until last year she taught social studies and English in Bay Area middle and high schools, most recently at Berkeley High. She has a long history as an anti-imperialist activist.
For more info, and to register:
http://www.mecaforpeace.org/events/san-francisco-ca-teaching-palestine-half-day-workshop
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The ‘Revival’ of the Palestinian Kufiya: Solidarity? Fashion? Banality?
Thu 2/24 at 5 PM
340 Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley
In this lecture, Anthropology Professor Ted Swedenburg will discuss the recent proliferation of the kufiya (beginning in roughly 2006), as high fashion, as favored celebrity accessory, and in popular culture (recently, in TV shows like “Glee” and “Running Wilde”). He will examine the history of the Palestinian kufiya (in Palestine), trace its circulation in the US in the late 60s via solidarity politics, its appearance in urban bohemia in the 80s, and critically examine arguments that its recent appearance as celebrity fashion marks its ultimate demise as a meaningful political symbol.
For more info:
For more info: http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/cmes.html
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Goldstone on International Law and Human Rights– Thu 2/17 at 4 PM
The Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley has named distinguished jurist Richard Goldstone, a former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, as the 2011 Sanford Elberg Lecturer. Justice Goldstone will give a public lecture on February 17, 2011 on “International Law and Human Rights: The Search for Justice.”
In addition to service on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Justice Goldstone served as the first chief prosecutor of the United Nation International Criminal Tribunal and was chairman of the UN Commission on the Gaza conflict.
(Please Note: While this event is free and open to the public, due to limited seating capacity, tickets will be issued at the door starting at 3:30 p.m. on February 17th. There is no need to reserve tickets ahead of time; seating will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m.)
Where: Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall (near Northgate) UC Berkeley
Sponsor: Institute for International Studies
Event Contact: iis@berkeley.edu
For more info: http://iis.berkeley.edu/
Laila Haddad, ‘Gaza Mom’ – Wed 2/16 at 7:30 PM
Laila El-Haddad is a talented blogger, political analyst, social activist, and parent-of-two from Gaza. She earned a B.A. from Duke University and MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She and her two young children spend as much time in Gaza as they can– but her spouse, a Palestinian physician who grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon, is not allowed by Israel to enter Gaza. He’s an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Medical School, so El-Haddad and their children spend much of their time with him in Maryland, too.
Sponsored by: American Friends Service Committee and American Muslims for Palestine.
To sponsor the event, or for questions email: nkhouri@afsc.org and for more information see: http://gmwestcoast.wordpress.com/
Where: Friends Meeting House, 65 9th Street, San Francisco.
Discussion panel with Nezar Alsayyad (CMES/ARCH/DCRP, UC Berkeley), Charles Hirschkind (Dept. of Anthropology, UC Berkeley), Saba Mahmood (Dept. of Anthropology, UC Berkeley), Moustafa Bayoumi (Dept. OF English, City College of New York), Yasmeen Daifallah (Dept. of Political Science, UC Berkeley), As’ad Abukhalil (Dept. of Politics, CSU Stanislaus).
For more info:
Come out this Monday and show your support for the Egyptian people as they once and for all overthrow the 30 year-long rule of the dictator! Protests are happening ALL OVER THE WORLD! From San Francisco to Frankfurt! Paris to Jakarta! Washington to Geneva! EVERYWHERE!
We need all the support we can get! The U.S. government needs to be told not to back the regime and its violence any longer – including Vice President Suleiman, who “did not even bother to veil his threats of retaliation against protesters,” according to Human Rights Watch.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/04/what-mubarak-must-do-he-resigns
A candlelight vigil in remembrance of all the lives that have been lost due to the protests will be held at 6 PM.
Protest organized by the Muslim Student Association, co-sponsored by SJP.
Where: Pro Arts at Oakland Art Gallery
150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612 (Accessible off Broadway)
Afterparty at 2022 Telegraph Ave (between 20th St & 21st St), Oakland. Time TBA
For more info:
Summons to the Castle: an evening of food, fun, fellowship and music, and, of course, political chat, with Congressman Pete McCloskey and music by the brilliant Georges Lammam, at Sam’s Castle in Pacifica. A benefit for the Free Palestine Movement.
Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/146413, or call 510-232-2500.
$60 advance purchase, $70 at the door, $30 student
Where: Sam’s Castle, 900 Mirador Terrace, Pacifica, CA.
For more info: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/146413
Imagine a film chronicling the lives and hardships of Palestinians who were branded Israeli Arabs, living as a minority in their own homeland. Now imagine it as a comedy. This contradiction, starring, written and directed by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, is a wonderful fusion of the political and personal, the historical and the hysterical. Inspired by his father’s diaries and his mother’s letters to family who were forced to leave the country, Suleiman combines sometimes absurd vignettes and brightly colored mise en scène with the framing of a Jacques Tati film, interspersing touching moments of familial intimacy with tense scenes of abuse at the hands of Israelis. Under the masterful direction of an exceptionally thoughtful filmmaker, The Time That Remains deals with political history without ever becoming mired in politics. Rather, we are presented with a beautifully conceived series of wry sketches that follow one ordinary family in extraordinary times
Presented by The Arab Film Festival and the Film Society.
Screening times TBA.
For more info:
http://www.sffs.org/content.aspx?catid=0&pageid=2056&TitleId=sffsscreen-timethatremains
Where: Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1881 Post St (near Geary Boulevard), San Francisco, (415) 346-3243
The Palestinian Youth Network hosts Toshikuni DOI (Doi-San), a Japanese journalist who has been working in Palestine for nearly 30 years. Doi-San, has offered to show his hour and a half film, “Assault on Gaza” and conduct a post-film question and answer regarding the events and implications of the Israeli invasion that befell Gaza from December 2008-January 2009.
Where: Arab Culture and Community Center
2 Plaza Street, San Francisco
Two years after the Israeli army laid siege to the Balata refugee camp and invaded the Jenin refugee camp in the spring of 2002, a group of young Israeli former soldiers and officers held a photo exhibition in Tel Aviv. Through the exhibition, entitled “Breaking the Silence,” the former soldiers confessed to acts of aggression during their duty in the Occupied Territories, as members of what is called “the most moral army in the world.” The film illustrates the psychology of the soldiers of the Occupying power while it depicts suffering inflicted upon the Palestinian people by Israeli soldiers’ mindless acts of aggression.
Director Toshikuni Doi has been covering Israel/Palestine for over twenty years. This film is his most recent work of four film series “Unheard Voices” which was crafted from several hundred hours of footage in Israel/Palestine. He will visit Bay Area to attend this show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDox7RZNdDg&feature=related
Where: Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
1924 Cedar St. @ Bonita St. Berkeley (510) 841-4824
Featuring a discussion with director David Zlutnick and members of the Dialogues Against Militarism delegation that inspired the film.
In the Fall of 2009 a group of US veterans and war resisters traveled to Israel/Palestine to meet with their Israeli counterparts in an effort to strengthen connections and share experiences. The documentary uses this trip as a lens to study Israeli militarism, examine the occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, and explore the work of Israelis and Palestinians organizing against militarism and occupation
Doors open at 7:00 PM, Film at 7:30 PM
THE BAY AREA PREMIERE!!!
For more info:
http://www.truth-out.org/in-israelpalestine-occupation-has-no-future67068
http://www.upheavalproductions.com/articles/6/upcoming-screenings
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First SJP General Meeting Wed 1/27 at 7 PM
244 Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley
You know you want to be there! Come, talk, listen and find out what you can do.
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Protest AIPAC
A Lobby for War and Occupation!
Every year in the Bay Area, AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has an annual membership dinner to celebrate its accomplishments: successfully lobbying the US Congress to make Israel the largest recipient of US aid in the world. Between 2009-2018, the US is scheduled to give Israel $30 BILLION IN MILITARY AID. This aid enables Israel to continue its oppression of Palestinians, including the demolition of homes and farms. In addition, AIPAC supports continued and dangerous escalation with Iran, at the same time
opposing the proposal to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapon
THAT $30 BILLION COMES FROM OUR TAX MONEY! It should be going to our communities to serve human needs not war. We want funding for Bay Area schools not bombing schools in Gaza.
We Have Had Enough!
We must let our political leaders know that if they support AIPAC, they are not supporting their constituents.
We want our wealth to support human needs, not war and occupation. We support global nuclear disarmament, including dismantling the nuclear arsenals of Israel and the United States. We want a livable future, not one filled with endless war.
Protest at the AIPAC Membership Dinner
Monday, December 13th 5:00 – 7:30 pm
Oakland Marriott Hotel, 1001 Broadway (12th Street BART)
There will be Community Education including public reading of the Goldstone Report commencing at 11 am.
Wear GREEN if possible – Green for Life over Death and Constant War.
More info: www.stopaipac.org or people@stopaipac.org
Endorsed by: Progressive Democrats of America-East Bay· Middle East Study Group / Contra Costa · Middle East Children’s Alliance ·
Women in Black · Students for Justice in Palestine · 14 Friends of Palestine · Richmond Progressive Alliance · American Friends Service
Commmittee · Code Pink · Jewish Voice for Peace · ANSWER Coalition (SF Bay Area) · Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid
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Maz Jobrani: Breaking Negative Stereotypes Through Comedy
Fri 12/10 at 8 PM International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley
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Protest AIPAC
A Lobby for War and Occupation!
Every year in the Bay Area, AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has an annual membership dinner to celebrate its accomplishments: successfully lobbying the US Congress to make Israel the largest recipient of US aid in the world. Between 2009-2018, the US is scheduled to give Israel $30 BILLION IN MILITARY AID. This aid enables Israel to continue its oppression of Palestinians, including the demolition of homes and farms. In addition, AIPAC supports continued and dangerous escalation with Iran, at the same time
opposing the proposal to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapon
THAT $30 BILLION COMES FROM OUR TAX MONEY! It should be going to our communities to serve human needs not war. We want funding for Bay Area schools not bombing schools in Gaza.
We Have Had Enough!
We must let our political leaders know that if they support AIPAC, they are not supporting their constituents.
We want our wealth to support human needs, not war and occupation. We support global nuclear disarmament, including dismantling the nuclear arsenals of Israel and the United States. We want a livable future, not one filled with endless war.
Protest at the AIPAC Membership Dinner
Monday, December 13th 5:00 – 7:30 pm
Oakland Marriott Hotel, 1001 Broadway (12th Street BART)
There will be Community Education including public reading of the Goldstone Report commencing at 11 am.
Wear GREEN if possible – Green for Life over Death and Constant War.
More info: www.stopaipac.org or people@stopaipac.org
Endorsed by: Progressive Democrats of America-East Bay· Middle East Study Group / Contra Costa · Middle East Children’s Alliance ·
Women in Black · Students for Justice in Palestine · 14 Friends of Palestine · Richmond Progressive Alliance · American Friends Service
Commmittee · Code Pink · Jewish Voice for Peace · ANSWER Coalition (SF Bay Area) · Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid
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Maz Jobrani: Breaking Negative Stereotypes Through Comedy
Fri 12/10 at 8 PM International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley
American TV with an all-Middle Eastern/American cast.
Jobrani’s comedy pulls from his background as an Iran-born kid raised in
Brown and Friendly.
Tickets required: $20 General $15 Student (with ID)
Buy tickets online on brown paper tickets, by calling 510-642-3608, or at the door.
For more info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156889084355433
Assuring Civil and Human Rights in Palestine/Israel
Fri 12/10 at 5:30 PM
of Palestinians and protect the human and civil rights of all who live in Palestine/Israel.
- Hatem Bazian, founder of American Muslims for Palestine and professor at Boalt Hall
in the diaspora.
- Anna Rogers, activist with Jewish Voice for Peace’s (JVP), will report on her recent trip
TIAA CREF divest from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
- Attorney John Ericson, member North America Friends of Sabeel: the Voice of Palestinian
occupation.
EMCEE: Jeanie Keltner, Sacramento Soapbox host, Professor Emeritus, CSU
Sacramento
Other Highlights:
- Update of statewide ballot measure effort endorsed by Archbishop Tutu, Noam
- Special acknowledgement of the Olympia Washington Co-op.
Event Sponsors:
Sacramento BDS Working Group • Jewish Voice for Peace, Sacramento
American Muslims for Palestine
For information about being a co-sponsor: 916-346-8352
Admission Free. Doors open at 5:30 for sampling of delicious Middle Eastern foods, program begins at 6pm.
For more info: sacpeace@dcn.org; 916-448-7157
Midnight on the Mavi Marmara, Wed 12/8 at 7 PM Auditorium (Room 109), City College of San Francisco - Mission Campus, 1125 Valencia Street, San FranciscoIn the pages of the new book, Midnight on the Mavi Marmara, a range of activists, journalists, and analysts piece together the events that occurred that May night, unpicking their meanings for Israel’s illegal, three-year-long blockade of Gaza and the decades-long Israel/Palestine conflict more generally. Mixing together first-hand testimony, documentary record, and illustration, with hard-headed analysis and historical overview, this collection reveals why the attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla may just turn out to be Israel’s Selma, Alabama: the beginning of the end for an apartheid Palestine. Panel Discussion: Paul Larudee - Cofounder of the Free Gaza movement, which broke the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza shipping five times; Cofounder of the Free Palestine Movement, which fielded a U.S. Delegation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla; and contributor to Midnight on the Mavi Marmara. Ramsey El Qare - Palestinian activist and organizer with the Palestinian Youth Network (PYN). Ragina Johnson - Bay Area antiwar activist and member of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). Free and open to the public. Sponsored by Haymarket Books. Endorsed by the International Socialist Organization and the United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anarchospective: A Benefit for Tristan Anderson, Sat 12/4 at 6:30 PM
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita),
BerkeleyBay Area peace activist Tristan Anderson was critically injured when Israeli
soldiers fired a high-velocity tear gas canister directly at his head in
2009. Anderson was taking part in a weekly nonviolent protest against
Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank. He was recently released from
hospital in Israel.Join Tristan and friends to celebrate his lifetime of anarchist activism and
journalism, with a music, art, and food filled Anarchospective!Music from David Rovics, Slideshow by Eric Drooker, Dinner by East Bay Food
Not Bombs, and banners, patches, and lots and lots of photos from Tristan's
activist career.Tristan's photos and patches will be available for sale, all to help pay for
Tristan's ever growing healthcare bills.$5-$50 sliding scale (no one turned away)
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Silent Vigil for Peace in the Middle East, Sat 12/4 at 12 PM
The Grand Lake Theater, at 3200 Grand Avenue, corner of Lake Park Ave near Lake Merrit
and I-580, OaklandJoin Women in Black at their weekly vigil in front of the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland.
The focus of this vigil will be 'The Lives of Women under Occupation'.The vigil will last from 12 Noon to 1pm. Please dress in black. In the event of opposition
from groups or individuals, we urge you to maintain silence and avoid being provoked.
Police have been notified of the event and will keep safety if necessary.For more info: bayarea@jewishvoiceforpeace.org, www.bayarea.jvp.org.
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Palestine, American Wars and Islamophobia in America: Bay Area Teach-In – Tue 11/30 at 7PM
Join Students for Justice in Palestine for a teach-in with the Middle East
Children’s Alliance, Muslim Students’ Association, and the United National
Antiwar Committee. There will be two panels including speakers Barbara
Lubin, Michael Shehada, Ziad Abbas, Professors Hatem Bazian and Masao
Suzuki, as well as students, veterans and performing artists. It is sure to
be an important and informative event, focusing on America’s imperialist
wars, the Israeli occupation of Palestine and Islamaphobia – bring all of
your friends!
*Where:* East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Berkeley (corner of Bancroft and Telegraph).
Donations Suggested, No one turned away for lack of funds. ASUC Sponsored, ADA Accessible.
*For more info* : 510-268-9429, teachinnov30@gmail.com
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The Only Peace that Israel Wants is the Last Piece of Palestine – Mon 11/29 at 7 PM
Join The Palestinian Youth Network in Observing the International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People. “The Only Peace That Israel Wants is the Last Piece of Palestine: The Liberation of Our Land and People is Non-Negotiable.”
A Panel of Bay Area Youth Organizers: Loubna Qutami, Nadeen El Shorafa, Aurora Castenellos, Shoaib Kamil, Armael Malinis, Nancy Hernandez.
Endorsed by: Al Awda Right to Return Coalition, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Anak Bayan East Bay, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), BAYAN USA, The Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid (BACEIA), General Union of Palestine Students SFSU (GUPS), Justice for Palestinians San Jose, NorCal Friends of Sabeel, Muslim Student Association Berkeley (MSA), Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT), San Francisco Women in Black, Seventh Native American Generation (SNAG), Students for Justice in Palestine Berkley (SJP), United States Palestinian Communities Network (USPCN)
Where: 100 Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley (Bancroft and College)
For more information about the Palestinian Youth Network International visit www.pal-youth.org
For information about or to co-sponsor the Bay Area event, email activities@pal-youth.org
Tuesday, November 16: Film screening of Shooting Muhammad
When: 700 pm Where: Booth Auditorium
Portrait of a 21-year-old Palestinian refugee who studies at an Israeli University in an illegal settlement—the story of a young man split between two worlds that fear and hate each other.
Thursday, November 18: Randa Siniora: “The Right to Education: Obstacles Faced Under Occupation”
When: 8:00-10:00pm, Where: 105 Boalt
Randa Siniora, executive director of the Palestinian Independent Commission on Human Rights, will be presenting a lecture on the topic of “The Right to Education: Obstacles Faced Under Occupation”. She will discuss the situation in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, and the implications of such a prolonged Israeli military occupation and its systematic violations of human rights on all aspects of Palestinian life. The presentation will then focus on violations of students’ right to education in schools and universities under the occupation. Come join us on November 18th at 7pm in Boalt 105 to learn more about the ongoing educational struggle for Palestinians under Israeli Occupation.
La Peña Cultural Center & Cal Students for Justice in Palestine Present:
PALESTINE IN MUSIC
Dear Bay Area lovers of Palestine,
Please join us for a Ramadan evening of live music and song on Palestine. Witness the live expression of dignity and solidarity through art and melody from East and West.
Featuring:
David Rovics, singer and songwriter, Songs of Social Significance
&
Yasmeen, and the musicians from ASWAT, the Bay Area’s Arabic Music Ensemble
&
More
Often times we meet in crowded halls and street protests. We have little chance to share culture and entertainment, or learn what resources exist. Take a break and join us.
DATE:
September 4th, 2010
SCHEDULE:
7:30 pm Doors open for tabling and resource sharing.
7:30 – 8:30 pm Ramadan light breakfast refreshments.
8:30 – 10:30 pm Concert. (Seating limited to 175.)
VENUE:
La Peña Cultural Center
3015 Shattuck Avenue | Berkeley, CA 94705
510-849-2568 | info@lapena.org
TICKETS:
Ticket prices: $15 General / $5 Students.
Event proceeds benefit Cal Students for Justice in Palestine.
La Peña event page: http://lapena.org/event/1544
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112129518842662
For more information and ticket reservations, email organize@activismindex.info
SPONSORS:
Al Awda Palestine Right to Return Coalition
ACCC – Arab Cultural and Community Center
AFF – Arab Film Festival
AROC – Arab Resource and Organizing Center
ASWAT Bay Area Arabic Music Ensemble
CodePink Women for Peace
FFIPP – Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Fertile Grounds Cafe
Friends of Deir Ibzi’a
MECA – Middle East Children’s Alliance
Oasis الواحة
Students for Justice in Palestine – UC Berkeley
Israeli Apartheid Week 2010
Students for Justice in Palestine would like to invite you to attend and participate in its third annual (Anti) Israeli Apartheid Week. It will consist of six days of educational and cultural events, demonstrations and direct actions on campus. The lineup is as follows:
ALL WEEK: CLOTHING/BOOK/TOY DRIVE ON SPROUL
Donations will go to Middle East Children’s Alliance to be delivered to Gaza. Books of all types, in English and Arabic are needed, especially text books.
Monday, March 1st:
INTRO TO APARTHEID – A discussion of the term Apartheid, similarities and differences between South Africa and Israel/Palestine, and what past struggles can teach us.
Speakers: Joanna Manqueros, activist against South African apartheid and Doctor Hatem Bazian, UC Berkeley Near Eastern Studies Depeartment
Location: Room 105, Boalt Hall School of Law – Bancroft between College & Piedmont
Time: 7 pm
Tuesday, March 2nd:
TO SHOOT AN ELEPHANT – Come watch a film made by international eyewitnesses present in the Gaza strip during Operation Cast Lead, followed by testimonies by Israeli soldiers about their experiences in the occupied territories.
Location: Room 2060, Valley Life Sciences Building
Time: 7 pm
Wednesday, March 3rd:
DEBATING BOYCOTT DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS – What is the state of the international BDS movement for Palestine? Why is BDS important and what can you do?
Speakers: Omar Barghouti, Co-founder of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Location: Room 105, Boalt Hall School of Law – Bancroft between College & Piedmont
Time: 6:30 pm
Thursday, March 4th:
STRIKE – Join the massive statewide Strike and Day of Action in Defense of Public Education.
Strike agenda:
7am -12pm: Massive Picket Lines @ North Entrance, Sather Gate, Oxford & Center and California Hall
12pm: Rally @ Bancroft & Telegraph and March to Downtown Oakland for the Rally
Friday, March 5th:
CULTURAL CELEBRATION / FUNDRAISER- A night of Arabic music, dance, food and poetry:
-Arabic music ensemble directed by Elias Lammam
-Poetry by Mahaliyah Ayla O, Lubna Morrar, Dina Omar and Hadeel Ramadan
-Middle Eastern food from local restaurants and cafes such as Sunrise Deli and Fertile Grounds
-Debke (Traditional Palestinian Dance) by Al-Jathoor
-Speaker: Ziad Abbas of Ibda’ Cultural Center (Bethlehem, West Bank) and the Middle East Children’s Alliance
Proceeds will go to the Middle East Children’s Alliance “Maia” (Arabic for “Water”) project in Gaza.
Location: MLK Multi-Cultural Center, Inside the ASUC building
Time: 7 pm
Monday, March 8th:
PALESTINIAN NON- VIOLENT RESISTANCE & INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY- A presentation of community-led movements against Israeli policies in the West Bank. Come learn about the realities of the Apartheid wall, home demolitions, displacement and the struggle for educational rights in Palestine.
Speakers: Lubna Masarwa, Alternative Information Center coordinator and Al-Quds University community organiser, Jerusalem;
Other speakers TBA
Location: Room 105, Boalt Hall School f Law – Bancroft between College & Piedmont
Time: 6:30 pm
*This event is co-sponsored by: Law Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.
There will also be DIRECT ACTIONS and DEMONSTRATIONS on Sproul throughout the week between 10 am and 2 pm. If you would like to help with tabling during the week, organizing Sproul activities, or any of the IAW events, send us an email at admin@calsjp.org or write on SJP’s facebook wall!
What is Israeli Apartheid Week?
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. The aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement.
Last year, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) took place in more than 40 cities across the globe. IAW 2009 happened in the wake of Israel’s barbaric assault on the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions made the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid.
IAW 2010 takes place following a year of incredible successes for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the global level. Lectures, films, and direct actions will highlight some of theses successes along with the many injustices that continue to make BDS so crucial in the battle to end Israeli Apartheid. Speaker information and full programmes for each city will be available on www.apartheidweek.org.
Join us in making 2010 a year of struggle against apartheid and for justice, equality, and peace.
For more information about Israeli Apartheid Week, please visit: www.apartheidweek.org
Also see our Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=357977179497&index=1
Anarchists Against the Wall
Shachaf Polakow of Anarchists Against the Wall will speak at UC Berkeley
Friday, February 6, 105 Boalt Hall, 4PM
John Dugard and Norman Finkelstein at Berkeley
October 15th, 7PM, Booth Auditorium at Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley. Click on the flyer for more details.
Past Events
al-Nakbah Commemmoration Week, May 5-May 8
Students for Justice in Palestine will be hosting two daytime events and two evening events the week of May 5th-9th.This year marks the 60th year of Al-Nakba (“the catastrophe”). Al-Nakba refers to the ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinian peoples. During this time, approximately 750,000 Palestinians were made refugees, more than 500 villages were razed to the ground, and 24 organized massacres occurred.
Village Commemoration Ceremony, 12-1 pm
Monday, May 5th Sproul Plaza (Savio Steps):We will be using the speaker system on Sproul to announce the names of the 512 Palestinian villages razed in 1948 by armies of the Zionist project.
Cal Student Panel: Going Home? 7-9 pm
Tuesday, May 6th 145 Dwinelle:Jewish-American, Israeli, and Palestinian students will be having a dialog about their travels to Palestine, to Israel, and the realities and disparities involved in “going home.” A student-run, student-lead event with sincere discussions about their personal encounters regarding Israel-Palestine.
Mock Checkpoint, 10-2 pm
Wednesday, May 7th Sproul Plaza (Sather Crescent):Checkpoints are a daily impediment in the occupied territories for students going to school, people going to work, patients trying to reach hospitals, or families visiting family. This will be a mild example of what Palestinians go through on a daily basis.
Remembering Al-Nakba – 60 Years of Resistance, Dinner 6:30-7:00 pm, program 7-9pm
Thursday, May 8th Heller Lounge Multicultural Center:This final event to conclude our week of remembrance will explore and celebrate the various forms of cultural resistance practiced by Palestinians struggling against occupation and apartheid today. We will invite artists, musicians, and other performers to demonstrate how their craft is an integral part of their resistance. Donations for food will be accepted along a sliding scale and proceeds will go to Ibdaa’ Cultural Center in Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine. No one turned away for lack of funds!Bring your family and friends, we hope to see you there!!!
Past Events
“Liberated” Women: War & Oppression in Occupied Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan
Tuesday March 18, UC Berkeley, Heller Lounge in Martin Luther King Jr. Building, 7-930pmFeaturing: Professor Fathia al-Joumaily, Annie Fukushima, Hosai Ehsan, Dr. Razia Iqbal, Margo Okazawa-Rey, and speakers from MECA and AfghanHands. Will also include an artistic performance by Dina Omar.Speakers and participants will provide personal experiences and activist perspectives on the plight of women in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. The symposium’s objective is to complicate the language surrounding the occupation of these three countries–to expose the exploitation and disenfranchisement that directly result from occupation, and to delve deeper into how war and invasion disproportionately affect women. As the anti-war movement organizes to critique war, this event highlights the gendered dynamics to US expansion in the name of “democracy.” While the treatment of Abu Ghraib has become the most visible in the US, this symposium will make visible women’s experiences.
Bil’in Habibti (Bil’in, my Love): Film Screening and Speaking Tour
Wednesday March 19th, Goldberg Room, Law School (Boalt Hall), UC Berkeley (7:00-9:00). Near Cafe Zeb.Featuring: Mansour Mansour, a Palestinian activist; Shai Carmeli Pollak, Israeli activist and film maker.Come see the documentary film “Bil’in Habibti” about the West Bank town Bil’in, where Palestinians as well as Israeli and international activists have been resisting the israeli occupation and the devastating confiscation of the land from the building of the Wall. For the past three years, dedicated activists have come together every Friday to protest against these violations and in solidarity with the people of Bil’in. Their commitment, and creative forsm of resistance, are an inspirational testament to the power of popular protest.
In solidarity with the world-wide Israeli Apartheid Weekand the besieged people of the Gaza Strip and the West BankStudents for Justice in Palestine Presents:
Israeli Apartheid Week at UC Berkeley
Monday 2/4
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 2/5
Right to Education Campaign Teach-In
7pm, 60 Evans, UC BerkeleyFeaturing 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 Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and their cousins are denied a narrative because of apartheid exclusion 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 minds and stories.
Wednesday 2/6
Noon: Rally at Sproul Plaza – WEAR BLACK!
with Barbara Lubin from the Middle East Children’s Alliance and other community leadersSproul Plaza, UC Berkeley, 12:00 Noon
Evening: Opening of “Jerusalem Dispossessed” Photo Exhibit
7 p.m. at Mudrakers Cafe with student speakers who have lived and worked in Jerusalem (2801 Telegraph Avenue near Andronico’s) with additional photos shown at Fertile Grounds Cafe (1796 Shattuck Avenue near Hearst)“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, resource allocation, and the continued construction of the Separation Wall.For more information on ICAHD and the exhibit please visit http://activestills.org/jerusalem/jerusalem.html and http://icahd.org/eng/
Thursday 2/7
Writer Anna Baltzer
7pm, 145 Dwinelle, UC BerkeleyAnna 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 2/8
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 Dina Omar, slide show, debkeh, and Palestinian food. $5-10 suggested donation, noone turned away for lack of funds. 7pm, Heller Multicultural Center, MLK Jr Bulding, UC BerkeleyWhere 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 the 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://www.flashpoints.net/.To learn more about Ibdaa’ Cultural Center please visit http://www.mecaforpeace.org/.