• kenyaandwsf act292 statement from kenya palestine solidarity movement

last modified March 14, 2017 by admin


 13th ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK, NAIROBI, KENYA

For Immediate Release

Nairobi: Hosting the Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 13-25 March 2017.

The thirteenth annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from March 13-25, 2017, with ten award-winning documentary films and cultural performances.

 IAW is an annual international series of self-organized events (rallies, protests, lectures, cultural performances, concerts, films and workshops) held in over 250 cities, communities and campuses across the globe. IAW raises awareness of Israel's apartheid policies towards the indigenous Palestinians. Israel's discriminatory policies are also increasingly affecting Africans.

The coming year (2017) will mark 100 years of Palestinian resistance against settler colonialism, since the inception of the Balfour Declaration. IAW will be an opportunity to reflect on this resistance of the Palestinian people against the last neo-colonial state in the world – Israel.

 In Kenya the IAW will be hosted by the Kenya Palestine Solidarity Movement in partnership with AwaaZ, Fahamu, Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC), Mau Mau Research Centre (MMRC), Rights Protection and Promotion Centre (RPP), Quds Day Committee and Vita Books.

 Program:

The films will highlight the struggles, discrimination, violence and the state of Apartheid imposed on the Palestinians by Apartheid Israel turning them into aliens in their own land. The films will be shown at various venues in the Mathare Constituency east of Nairobi by the Mathare Social Justice Centre and at the Parkfield Building on Waiyaki Way. A question-andanswer session will follow each screening. Admission is FREE.

“I was raised as an Orthodox Jew in Johannesburg. I have deep connections with Palestine / Israel as my father was born in Safed in then Palestina. But this cannot make me blind to the atrocities committed in Israel against a people who are indigenous to that geographical area. I am opposed to Israel’s Apartheid policies – taking land from people who have lived on it for centuries, denying health care to the ill. I am proud to be associated with the upcoming #IsraeliApartheidWeek campaign. Sheila Barsel - A member of the South African Jews for a Free Palestine.

 Film Screenings

Occupation 101 (Voices of the Silenced Majority): 90 mins:

Monday, 13 March 2017 : Mathare Social Justice Centre, Juja Road, Opp the Moi Air base, Macharia Building next to the Olympic Petrol Station. 5.30 pm.

Monday 20 March 2017 Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 6.30p.m.

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict. 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.

 The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.

 The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy. Occupation 101 features interviews with some of the most credible Middle East scholars, historians, peace activists, journalists, and humanitarian workers.

 Awards: Golden Palm Award and Award for Editing: Beverly Film Festival Best Film: Activist Film Festival: Hollywood, California Audience Choice: Best Film: East Lancing Film Festival Best Feature: River’s Edge Film Festival Best Documentary: Dead Centre Film Festival Best Documentary: New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival John Michaels Memorial Award: Big Muddy Film Festival

A discussion will follow the screening. Jerusalem –

 

The East Side Story - 55 mins Muslims, Christians and Jews venerate the holy city of Jerusalem.

 Tuesday, 14 March 2017; Pequininos in Mlango Kubwa, Mathare Constituency (Call Stephen Mwangi 0714738701/ Julie 0791 334684 for directions/help) 5.30 pm.

Wednesday, 22 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 6.30 p.m.

 Jerusalem … The east side story squeezes nearly one hundred years of history into an hour or so of cinema. It mainly exposes the past forty years of Israeli military occupation policies in Jerusalem and their devastating impact on the city and its peoples.

The producer of the film, Terry Boullata, says that the intention of the documentary is to bring the Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence to a Western audience which has shown by way of its acquiescence to the ongoing Israeli military occupation that it still needs to be educated.

A discussion will follow the screening.

Frontiers of Dreams and Fears: 56 mins

 Wednesday, 15 March 2017; Brixton in Kosovo, Mathare Constituency (Call Stephen Mwangi 0714738701/ Julie 0791 334684 for directions/help) 5.30 pm:

This heartfelt documentary from award-winning filmmaker Mai Masri explores the enduring friendship that evolves between two Palestinian girls—Mona, who was born and raised in the economically marginalized Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, and Manar, who lives in the Dheisha refugee camp under Israeli control.

The two girls begin their friendship as pen pals, sharing the similarities and differences of life in the two refugee camps. Mona and Manar are finally able to meet face-to-face at the LebaneseIsraeli border during Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon. But when the second intifada suddenly erupts around them shortly thereafter, both girls must face heart-breaking changes in their lives.

Award: Official Selection, 2002 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

A discussion will follow the screening.

Omar: 96 mins

Thursday, 16 March 2017; Ziwani (Call Stephen Mwangi 0714738701/ Julie 0791 334684 for directions/help) 5.30 pm.

 Tuesday, 21 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 6.30 p.m.

 A tense, gripping thriller about betrayal, suspected and real, in the Occupied Territories. Omar (Adam Bakri) is a Palestinian baker who routinely climbs over the separation wall to meet up with his girl Nadja (Leem Lubany). By night, he's either a freedom fighter or a terrorist-you decide-ready to risk his life to strike at the Israeli military with his childhood friends Tarek (Eyad Hourani) and Amjad (Samer Bisharat). Arrested after the killing of an Israeli soldier and tricked into an admission of guilt by association, he agrees to work as an informant. So begins a dangerous game-is he playing his Israeli handler (Waleed F. Zuaiter) or will he really betray his cause? And who can he trust on either side?

Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now) has made a dynamic, action-packed drama about the insoluble moral dilemmas and tough choices facing those on the frontlines of a conflict that shows no sign of letting up.

A discussion will follow the screening.

Awards: Academy Award Nominee: Best foreign language film Official Selection: New York Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival

Tears of Gaza: 90 mins

Friday, 17 March 2017; Ongoza Njia, Kiamaiko Ward (Call Stephen Mwangi 0714738701/ Julie 0791 334684 for directions/help) 5.30 pm:

Friday, 24 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 6.30 p.m.

Disturbing, powerful and emotionally devastating, Tears of Gaza is less a conventional documentary than a record-presented with minimal gloss - of the 2008 to 2009 bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military. Photographed by several Palestinian cameramen both during and after the offensive, this powerful film by director Vibeke Løkkeberg focuses on the impact of the attacks on the civilian population. Tears of Gaza makes no overriding speeches or analyses. The situation leading up to the incursion is never mentioned. Similar events certainly occurred in Dresden, Tokyo, Baghdad and Sarajevo, but of course Gaza isn't those places. Tears of Gaza demands that we examine the costs of war on a civilian populace.

A discussion will follow the screening.

Awards: Jerusalem Film Festival – 2011 Toronto International Film Festival – 2010 Durango Independent Film Festival: Audience Award – 2012 Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival: Human Rights Award 2011 Goteborg International Film Festival: Audience Award – 2011 Norwegian Film Festival Volda: Audience Award – 2011

Leila Khaled: Hijacker: 58 mins

 Saturday, 17 March 2017; Slum Soccer, Mlango Kubwa. (Call Stephen Mwangi 0714738701 for help) 5.30 pm.

Saturday, 25 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 2.30 p.m.

Leila Khaled was the first woman to hijack a plane. In 1969, she showed her grenades to the terrified passengers by order of the Che Guevara commando unit of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Through the ensuing media bombardment, she put the Palestinian nation on the global map. The pretty 24-year-old Leila became a hero to many Palestinians, including the Swedish/Palestinian teenager Lina Makboul, who is now a filmmaker. At least Leila dared to do something, Lina thought at the time. She visits Leila 35 years later with a camera, and finds a woman who does not regret anything.

A discussion will follow the screening.

Awards Grand Jury Award Winner: Tri-continental Film Festival 2007 India Best Film Award Winner: Nojesguiden 2006 Lena Hellman Memorial Fund Winner: Tempo Film Festival Stockholm

Salt of the Sea: 109 mins: A film by Annemarie Jacir.

Thursday, 23 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 6.30 p.m.

Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Direct, stubborn, and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of "returning" to Palestine. Slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own anger. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it's illegal.

A discussion will follow the screening.

Awards: Cannes: Official selection Tribeca: Official selection London: Official selection

The Stones Cry Out: Voices of the Palestinian Christians: Director Yasmine Perni 50 mins.

Saturday, 25 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3 rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; 4.00 p.m.

All too often media coverage of the conflict in Palestine has framed it as a fight between Muslims and Jews, largely ignoring the fact that Palestine was the birthplace of Christianity, that Palestinians are both Muslims and Christians, and that Palestinian Christians have played a critical role in their land’s history and the struggle to maintain its identity.

From 1948 up to today, through wars and uprisings, leading Palestinian Christians, including the late President of Beir Zeit University Gabi Baramki, Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi, civil society activist Ghassan Andoni, Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah and others recount the unwavering and sometimes desperate struggle of all Palestinians to resist Israel’s occupation and stay on their land. This film tells this story.

Poetry Performances:

Saturday 25 March 2017: Parkfield Place, 3rd Floor, Kanjata Road, Off Waiyaki Way, Opp Safaricom; from 2.00 p.m.

Facebook: Kenya na Palestine

Twitter: @kenyapalestine

For more information, please contact: Zahid Rajan: Kenya.palestinefs in gmail.com Abdulqadir Nassir: info in kenyapalestine.net Stephen Mwangi: kinuthiamwangi.g in gmail.com