May 20th – 22nd
Activism 2010 in Jerusalem / Al Quds will be a space for creativity, education, shared activity and community building.
The festival will be comprised of various events, workshops, talks, performances, exhibitions, collective feasts and debates – all with an activist spirit.
This festival is for everyone! So expect everyone to be there.
This will be one space, with enough room for a diversity of different ideas to come together, for our future!
Come share your thoughts on culture, politics, our environment: this community is growing, we all have a lot to say, come say it!
Join us, we’ll meet you there!

أكتفنسم 2010 من تحت ل فوق
أيار 20 – 22 2010
“أكتفنسم 2010″ في القدس, سيكون ملتقى للإبداع, التعليم وتبادل الخبرات وبناء طاقات المجتمع
سيتضمن المهرجان العديد من الأنشطة وورشات العمل, محاضرات, مجموعة من الأدائات المسرحية, معارض, وجبات جماعية ونقاشات كل منها في روح العمل المجتمعي.
هذا المهرجان للجميع! والكل مدعو!
المهرجان مكان واحد يتسع لجميع الأفكار المختلفة للتناقش وتتوحد من أجل مستقبلنا
تعال وشارك أفكارك المتعلقة بالثقافة, السياسة والبيئة: هذا التجمع يكبر بإستمرار,الكل لديه الكثير ليقوله, تعال هنا وشاركه معنا

نبذة عن المهرجان
المهرجان سيحتوي على عدة زوايا للنشاطات المختلفة: البيئة, حقوق الإنسان, الإحتلال الصهيوني, العدالة والعديد من المواضيع الأخرى
عبر اللقاء سوية نأمل أن نبني الأسس لحث التغير في مجتمعنا وتوفير البديل الحضاري الواضح للتحديات التي نواجهها اليوم.
نشرة المهرجان
لجميع النشطاء المجتمعيين في كل مكان!! شاركونا في أيار من 20- 22 لملقى من ثلاثة أيام من الإبداع, التعليم وتبادل الخبرات وبناء طاقات المجتمع
سيتضمن المهرجان العديد من الأنشطة وورشات العمل, محاضرات, مجموعة من الأدائات المسرحية, معارض, والطعام اللذيذ
هذا نشاط مجاني والكل مرحب فيه

الباصات تتحرك من الشيخ جراح, باب العامود, محطة القطارات الرئيسية في تل أبيب, لمزيد من المعلومات والتفاصيل الرجاء زيارة موقعنا الإلكتروني:
www.activism2010.org.il
وعلى الفيس بوك:
Facebook: Activism Fest 2010

To register send in the following information, and send it to Micha@grassrootsJerusalem.org or ayelet225@walla.com

Hello Dear Friends,
Activism Festival 2010 is getting closer, and our crew and committees are narrowing down the concepts and clarifying our goals. We would appreciate your participation in the process by answering a few questions that will help us in our planning. Please fill this form out and send it back to us by March 21st.
Registration form
Name of organization:
Location/s:
Contact person:
Contact info (email, phone, facebook):

Organization mission/context (for the festival booklet):

What is the activity you would like to bring to the Festival? (Workshop, exhibit, booth, movie, screening etc…) please write a short description:

Equipment needed for your activity (film projector, lighting, chairs, etc…):

Besides the festival’s “Fair Grounds”, where you can set up a booth for your group or organization, the festival will host a number of other “zones”, including Ecology and Sustainability, Justice, Peace and Human Rights, Local Economy, Activist Education, Body Soul and community, Open Space Tech’, Direct Action; Where does your organization fit in?:

Please fill in this “logistical” part of the registration form to help us plan and build the festival according to our available resources:
Do you have equipment that could be used for the Festival? (Tables, chairs, projectors, kitchen supplies, lighting, ground mats, vehicles, paint etc…):

Festival Finances: Organizations are encouraged to help pay for festival expenses with a suggested donation of 300nis to 1000nis. Any amount is most welcome. Will your organization be supporting the festival finances? If so, will your donation be to support something specific?:

Festival set-up: Crews begin work in the forest on May 9th and will be there until the festival starts. Are there members of your organization who could be a part of this crew? If so, how many?:

Over the next few weeks we will send you information about the festival to forward to your list-serves and audiences. We are creating a “guesstimate” of our mailing list capacity in order to estimate out how many people will know about and potentially participate in the festival. Does your organization have a list serve? Mailing lists? Facebook group? What are the sizes of these groups?:

Please send your organization’s logo in a PDF file!
It is a pleasure working with you, and we look forward to seeing you in the forest this MAY!!
Blessings,
2010 Activism Festival planning committee.

Organization Name: Madaa Silwan Community Center
(the official name as an NGO in Israel is
“The Association for the Dialogue and Education for the Prevention of Violence in the Society”)

Main Office Location: Wadi Hilwah, Silwan

Mission & Context:
Madaa Silwan Community Center’s mission is to build a strong, knowledgeable and involved Arab community in Silwan, and to provide educational and recreational activities and courses mainly for children and teenagers.

Neighborhoods working in: Silwan

Director: Jawad Siyam

Contact (email): info@madaasilwan.org

website: www.madaasilwan.org

Projects already up-and-running:
-Courses: Music, Art, Theater, Dance (Dabke), Languages
-Activities: Summer Camps, Daily Trips, Non-violence training program
-Other: Library, Ou’rouba (coalition of women of Silwan)

(Planned) Future Projects:
-Bilhana Silwan (cooking project with realization of a book collecting the recipes)
-Courses in creative writing and in journalism

Wishlist:
- To keep growing: many more children, many more classes, more space.
- To increase the size of the library (if possible building another floor on top of the center)
- To realize a playground which is completely missing in Silwan.
- To spread the culture of non-violence in the village.
- To serve as an example for the village.
- To see the overall quality of the village improving.

Organization Name: Emek Shaveh
(an israeli NGO)

Main Office Location: No physical office

Mission & Context:

We believe that archaeological findings should not function as a means to prove ownership by one people or one religion over a given tract of land. The archaeological finding is an integral part of local culture. Archaeology teaches us about the cultures of the past and belongs to all peoples and faiths. The development of an archaeological site located within a built-up area cannot be justified if it ignores the local community. On the contrary, because they represent the most recent layer in a long history of cultures and societies, the current residents are a crucial part of the place, its story and its archaeology.

Our goal is to undermine the perspective which sees the past as a possession of a particular religion or nation and a justification for hostile and immoral actions aimed against minorities.  On the contrary, we see archeological activity as a means to initiating positive processes.  Archeology within a community, working together with the residents in a variety of ways – joint excavation, preservation and development of the site, tours which include visiting the community as well as the site – can enlarge the environmental vision of the residents, increase social commitment and a initiate a local process of social change.

Neighborhoods working in: East Jerusalem, especially City of David/Silwan

Founder and Executive Director: Yonathan Mizrachi

Contact (email): eshaveh@gmail.com

website: www.alt-arch.org

Projects already up-and-running:
-Alternative Archeological Tour in City of David/Silwan

(Planned) Future Projects:
-Publishing a booklet about archaeology, community and politics:
Ancient Jerusalem (City of David) as a case study.

Wishlist:

To increase (local and international) public awareness concerning the role of archaeology in the Israeli-Palestinan conflict.

Workshops and lectures:

In order to increase the understanding of the shared past of two peoples in this land we aim to establish a comprehensive workshop which will include a film about the situation in the “City of David” site, a lecture and a following discussion led by Emek Shaveh and Madaa activists in different locations in Israel. This way we aim to reach out to a large number of different groups in Israeli-Palestinian society, who otherwise might not be able or unwilling to take part in the tours in Silwan. The workshop can also be held as a complement to the tours for groups who are interested in deepening their knowledge and understanding.

Organization: Bustan Qaraaqa (Tortoise Garden)

Location: Beit Sahour

Mission and Context:

Bustan Qaraaqa (the Tortoise Garden) is a community permaculture project, based in the West Bank town of Beit Sahour (Shepherds’ Fields), close to the city of Bethlehem.
The aim of the project is to propagate a grassroots environmental movement in the Palestinian Territories to address the problems of food insecurity and environmental degradation that threaten the well-being of the population; problems that are going unaddressed as a result of the ongoing Israeli military occupation which impedes effective development.

We feel that where governments and development agencies are failing, perhaps individuals and communities can succeed if only they recognise their own power to deal with the problems that are facing them.

Working closely with our neighbours, we are creating a model permaculture farm, to serve as a centre for experimentation with and demonstration of cheap and easy techniques for sustainable living and food production. In addition we are carrying out environmental education activities with all sectors of the local community, and supporting people in implementing their own permaculture initiatives and realising their environmental rights.
The site also serves as a guesthouse for international visitors, who are invited to volunteer with the project, working both at Bustan Qaraaqa itself and with members of the local community to learn about permaculture techniques and the political-environmental situation in Palestine.

Director: Alice Gray

Website: www.bustanqaraaqa.org

Contact: Alice Gray / alice@bustanqaraaqa.org / +972 (0)2 2748994

Organization Name: Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem
Main Office Location: Shuafat, Jerusalem
Mission and Context: The Domari Center seeks to elevate the status of Dom women and children in Jerusalem, transforming them from illiterate beggars to self supporting educated and empowered citizens. By strengthening and empowering the weakest group in Jerusalem, we are benefiting the entire society, since a society is only as strong as its weakest link. One of the key efforts of the Domari Center is to empower the women of the community to be self-sufficient. By helping Dom women acquire skills that generate income and improve their self esteem, the program will have an impact on the economic and educational wellbeing of their families.

Neighborhoods Working in: Shuafat, Old City.

Director: Amoun Sleem
Contact: email – domarisociety@gmail.com
Website: http://www.wix.com/domarisociety/domari-society-website

Wishlist for the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem

These are some of our dreams to see accomplished in the next ten years; some of them are fairly realistic, some less so. Nonetheless, they all reflect our desire to see a better life for the Dom of Jerusalem, and our commitment to making it happen.

Literacy in Arabic – consistent courses offered every year for children, adults (especially women), and elders, in reading and writing.

Employment Courses – consistent courses offered every year, in conjunction with the literacy initiatives, teaching employable skills like catering, hairdressing and cosmetics, sewing, jewellery-making, and self-marketing. By doing this we hope to drastically decrease the (currently incredibly high) unemployment rate among Jerusalem Dom.

Preservation Programs – to help renew interest in Gypsy culture and preserve the traditions which are now dying out: we are hoping for classes in the Domari language (currently spoken only by the elders of the community), recordings of the oral folklore and traditions of the Dom (again, remembered only by the elders), classes in Domari music and dance, and programs to promote pride in Gypsy heritage.

Gypsy Kindergarten – a program for young children which will enrich their early childhood experience, while allowing young mothers to get out of the house and not be tied to their children. With enough funding, this could eventually be expanded into a self-sufficient educational center attached to the Domari Society, or even a separate Dom school, to allow Dom children to receive an education in a way that affirms their heritage and encourages them to succeed instead of the discrimination and discouragement that they currently receive in the municipal schools.

Gypsy Café – containing a small gift shop for Gypsy jewellery and handicrafts, and a restaurant serving Gypsy food, allowing Gypsy women to use their skills in catering. This can be a popular destination for tourists and visitors to learn about the Dom and support them, and for locals to enjoy themselves and s

]]> http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/domari-society-of-gypsies-in-jerusalem/feed/langswitch_lang/en/ 0 http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/alternative-information-center-aic/ http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/alternative-information-center-aic/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:01:13 +0000 grassrootsjerusalem http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/?p=963

Organization: Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Location: Jerusalem and Beit Sahour

Mission and Context: The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization. It is engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy, grassroots activism and critical analysis of the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The AIC strives to promote full individual and collective social, economic, political and gender equality, freedom and democracy and a rejection of the philosophy (ideology and praxis) (weltanschauung) of separation. The most urgent regional task is to find a just solution to the century-old colonial conflict in Palestine and confront the ongoing Israeli occupation-regime within its international framework. The AIC method of action develops from the awareness that local struggle must be practically and analytically situated within the framework of the global justice struggle. The internal AIC structure and working relationship aims to reflect the above mentioned values

Director: Connie Hackbarth
Website: http://www.alternativenews.org
Contact: Connie Hackbarth, Executive Director
Email: connie@alt-info.org / 00972-(0)2-2775444 (Beit Sahour), 00972-(0)2-6241159 (Jerusalem) / Mailing: P.O. Box 31417, Jerusalem 91313 Israel

Organization: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – ICAHD

Main Office Location: Jerusalem

Mission and Context: ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. As our activists gained direct knowledge of the brutalities of the Occupation, we expanded our resistance activities to other areas – land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of “closure” and “separation,” the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees and more. The fierce repression of Palestinian efforts to “shake off” the Occupation following the latest Intifada has only added urgency to our efforts.

As a direct-action group, ICAHD is comprised of members of many Israeli peace and human rights organizations. All of our work in the Occupied Territories is closely coordinated with local Palestinian organizations.

Support BDS? Yes

Explicit Call for an end to Occupation? Yes

Director: Jeff Halper
Website: http://www.icahd.org/

Public Contact: Email: sahar@icahd.org Phone:+972 (0)2-624-5560