Every last Friday of the month (and on select dates) we will host a special tour of Musrara neighborhood in Jerusalem and meet with Reuven Aberjil of the  Israeli Black Panthers, a popular movement of Arab Jews established during the 1970s and renewed today.

Every house in the historic “Seam Line” neighborhood, which was right on Israeli-Jordanian border until 1967, has a story to tell. On our tour we will learn about the place, its peoples, and the relevance of its history and struggle to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Meeting At AIC center, Shlomtzion Hamalka 4 st,(centeral) Jerusalem.

For more info and to Register:

Rotem 0523-634370

rotemdanmor@disinfo.net

or at Jerusalemtours.blogspot.com

The Tours are in Hebrew with English Translation

בכל יום שישי האחרון של החודש, (ובתאריכים נבחרים נוספים) נצא לסיור ומפגש עם ראובן אברג’יל, ממייסדיי הפנתרים השחורים, בשכונת מוסררה בעקבות אחת התנועות החברתיות הכי חשובות שהיו כאן.

לכל בית יש סיפור משלו, באזור שהיה שטח ההפקר עד 1967, ובסיור נכיר יחד את המקום והאנשים שחיו וחיים בו.

יציאה מהמרכז לאינפורמציה אלטרנטיבית, שלומציון המלכה 4

למידע והרשמה:

רותם, 0523634370

rotemdanmor@disinfo.net

הסיור בתשלום ובתרגום לאנגלית

(הנחות מיוחדות למי שצריך אותם)

]]> http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/learn-about-the-struggle-of-the-arab-mizrahi-jews-in-israel/feed/langswitch_lang/en/ 0 http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/1177/ http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/1177/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 12:42:20 +0000 grassrootsjerusalem http://www.grassrootsjerusalem.org/?p=1177

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Jerusalem!  We’ve got some excited news to share with you…

HEARTBEAT is heading to BERLIN!
JERUSALEM-BERLIN HIP-HOP XCHANGE Urban Art: Tools for Social Change

Beginning on May 21, 2010, sixteen Israeli, Palestinian and German youth musician, rappers, and poets (ages 16-21) will embark on a unique exploration of the past, present, and future.  Living and creating music together for one week in Jerusalem and one week in Berlin, participants of the project will explore Hip-Hop and other urban art forms as tools for youth empowerment and social change.

We are especially thrilled that two members of Heartbeat’s original band, Dana Herz and B-Box, along with four members of Heartbeat’s more recent projects, will be joining us for the program.

Their week in Jerusalem culminates with two special performances, at the Yellow Submarine on May 26th, and at Rogatka, in Tel Aviv on May 27th.  More information on the concerts can be found below.  The program is implemented by Heartbeat Jerusalem and the Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Foundation for “Remembrance,  Responsibility and Future”.  We look forward to sharing recordings, videos and stories with you from the coming two weeks.
HEARTBEAT UPDATE: The 1st Half of 2010
In November, Heartbeat brought on four new part time staff members who’ve worked tirelessly to bring Jerusalem youth together for our Open Mic series, recruiting new participants, helping to develop and promote our student’s work, and holding auditions for our upcoming projects.  Heartbeat is lucky to have Ami, Mohamed, Ben, and Noa on board.

HEARTBEAT + WILLY BRANDT CENTER – Open Mic Night Series

For the past five months, HEARTBEAT and the Willie Brandt Center have teamed up to host monthly Open Mic nights, bringing together youth from all over Jerusalem to “HEAR and BE HEARD.”  Perhaps the only place in Jerusalem where Israeli and Palestinian young people are sharing their art work on a regular basis, the Heartbeat Open Mic provides a safe, neutral environment for free expression.
In addition to performing their music, we ask participants to talk about what they are singing/playing, sharing the inspiration and meaning behind each song.  A piece of each evening features free form improvisation combining traditional Arab and Jewish music, American folk, rock, bluegrass, Hip-Hop and R+B.  With a strong core group coming back time after time, we’ve started to hone in on a unique new style of our own.

On April 17, we had the pleasure of co-sponsoring a workshop/performance by world renowned musician Fred Johnson along with The Sulha Peace Project and Musaique.  ”Fred reminded us of the powerful healing characteristics of the open voice. It was a virtuoso show that included singing, playing, story telling and activating the audience’s creative power.”  - from Sulha Director, Elad Vezana

www.frejon.org www.sulha.com

The best is yet to come…

As always, thank you for your interest and support.  Our programs are made possible by the generous contributions of kind people all around the world. If you can help, please visit our website: JOIN US | STAND UP

Thursday (Workshop details)

בשעandת 9:00 ו- 16:00 – טיולי אופניים מודרכים ביער עמינדב על ידי עמותת רוכבי שמשון
18:00 באוהל דיאלוג: פאנל פוליטי!

Friday (Workshop details)

Besides, ביום שישי בבוקר, יתקיים בעין-כרם הסיור “עקרון דחיסת נתונים”.

Saturday (Workshop details)

בשעה 16:00 – טיולי אופניים מודרכים ביער עמינדב על ידי עמותת רוכבי שמשון

לו”ז יוגה ושות’
יום ג’ (18.5)
Dialogue Tent: 17:30, Orit Solomon – יוגה
יום ד’ (19.5)
Dialogue Tent: 07:00, תמר גשיץ – יוגה
אופן ספייס: 07:00, Orit Solomon – צ’י קונג
יום ה’ (20.5)
Dialogue Tent: 07:00, תמר גשיץ – יוגה
יום ו’ (21.5)
Dialogue Tent: 07:00 , תמר גשיץ – יוגה
אופן ספייס: 07:00, Mata-Em – יוגה גיזום(!)
יום ש’ (22.5)
Dialogue Tent: 07:00, תמר גשיץ – יוגה
אופן ספייס: 07:30, יעל סיוון – טאי צ’י

power of the people

Plans to evict residents and build a settlement in Sheikh Jarrah advance in the Israeli legal system One hand pacifies the United States while the other advances settlements in the heart of Jerusalem
On Tuesday 6.4.10, the Simon the Righteous Estate company inc. submitted a request to evict two more families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. For the first time two additional precedential arguments appear in the request, that expose the organization’s future plans for the site and their work methods. The settlers are demanding in the statement of claim that the Palestinians be removed from the neighborhood because they “bother their Jewish neighbors”. They also threaten to sue the residents of the neighborhood for the financial loss they suffer as a consequence of further delay in the evictions, in light of the money invested in the plan for a 200 housing unit settlement in the neighborhood.
As always, this week we will demonstrate against the Settlement in Sheikh Jarrah The demonstration will take place on Friday at 16:00 in the neighborhood
To join the bus leaving from the Arlozorov station at 14:30 (please sign up before Friday)
- Leehee 0504880969
For further information- justjerusalem@gmail.com, Silan 0547958143 or Yotam 0544763800

תוכניות לפינוי תושבים והתנחלות בשיח’ ג’ראח ממשיכות להיות מקודמות במערכת המשפט של מדינת ישראל

יד אחת מפייסת את ארה”ב ויד השניה מקדמת התנחלויות בלב ירושלים

ביום שלישי 6.4.10, הגישה חברת נחלת שמעון בע”מ בקשה פינוי שתי משפחות נוספות מבתיהן בשייח ג’ראח. לראשונה עולות שתי טענות תקדימיות בכתב התביעה, החושפות בבהירות את כוונותיהם העתידיות במתחם ואת שיטות עבודתם. המתנחלים תובעים בכתב תביעה לגרש ערבים מהשכונה כי הם “מפריעים לשכניהם” היהודים. הם אף מאיימים כי יגישו תביעה כספית נגד תושבי השכונה בגין הנזק הכלכלי שנעשה להם בעיכוב הפינוי, לאור ההשקעה הכספית המושקעת בתוכנית לבניית התנחלות בת 200 יחידות דיור בשכונה.

גם השבוע נפגין נגד ההתנחלות בשייח ג’ראח

ההפגנה תתקיים ביום שישי ב- 16:00 בשכונה
להרשמה (לפני יום שישי) להסעות מתל אביב שיצאו ממסוף אל על ב-14:30- ליהי 0504880969
לפרטים נוספים– justjerusalem@gmail.com סילאן 0547958143 או יותם 0544763800

المخططات لإخلاء السكان والاستيطان في الشيخ جراح تتقدم باستمرار في جهاز القضاء في دولة اسرائيل
يد واحدة تتصالح مع الولايات المتحدة الامريكية واليد الثانية تواصل الاستيطان في قلب القدس

يوم الثلاثاء، 6.4.10، قدمت شركة نحلات شمعون م.ض. طلبا لاخلاء عائلتين إضافيتين من منزلهما في الشيخ جراح.
لأول مرة يطرح ادعاءان يعتبران سابقة في لائحة الادعاء، واللذين يكشفان بوضوح النوايا المستقبلية في المنطقة ووسائل العمل. المستوطنون يطالبون بلائحة الادعاء بطرد العرب من الحي لأنهم “يزعجون الجيران” اليهود. إنهم يهددون أيضا بتقديم شكوى مالية ضد سكان الحي على الأضرار المالية التي يتسبب بها إعاقة الإخلاء، على ضوء الاستثمار المالي بالخطة لبناء مستوطنة من 200 وحدة سكن بالحي.

لمواصلات من تل أبيب والتي ستنطلق من مجطة قطار ارلوزوروف 14:30 الرجاء الإتصال ب ليهي على هاتف- 0504880969
لتفاصيل إضافيّة – justjerusalem@gmail.com 0547958143 أو 0544763800

השבוע בברבורThis Week at Barbur

Monday 03.05 יום שני
at 20:30 בשעה
סדרת סרטי מופת Movie Masterpieces series
פאוסט (1926) של פרידריך מורנאו Faust (1926) by F.W.Murnau

סרט אילם עם כתוביות באנגלית Silent movie with English subtitles

Thursday 06.05 יום חמישי
at 20:30 בשעה
סרטה של נטע עפרוני A Film by Neta Efrony
קלנדיה Kalandia
סיפורו של מחסום a Checkpoint’s Story

הסרט “קלנדיה” הינו סרט מעקב על התפתחותו של מחסום קטן וזמני בצפון ירושלים. במשך שש שנים צילמה נטע עפרוני במאית וחברת מחסום WATCH איך המחסום הממוקם בתוך גבולות ירושלים המזרחית, גדל והופך לקבוע.

Over a span of six years, Neta Efrony, a member of MachsomWatch (Checkpoints Watch), documented an Israeli military Checkpoint – on the road between East Jerusalem and Ramallah – which grew and expanded into becoming a Terminal.

עשרות אלפי פלסטינים בעלי תעודות זהות ישראליות נותרו מעברו השני של המחסום וחייבים כל יום לעבור בו כדי להגיע למקום עבודתם, בתי ספר ובתי חולים הנמצאים במזרח ירושלים. מאות אלפי פלסטינים, תושבי הגדה ,מנותקים מירושלים המזרחית שהיא מרכז חייהם במשך מאות שנים. מחסום קלנדיה שהופך במשך הזמן ל”טרמינל”- אינו מפריד בין ערבים ליהודים, אלא בין פלסטינים לפלסטינים.

Kalandia’s Checkpoint does not separate between Arabs and Jews; it separates between Palestinians and Palestinians. The film, shot in a cinéma vérité style, is an authentic and disturbing testimony to the daily struggle of Palestinians who wish to continue their routine lives, on their way to work, education, medical care or religious reasons.
בימוי וצילום: נטע עפרוני
עריכה ותסריט: ציפי רז
מעצב פס קול: אלכס קלוד
הפקה: סוזן לורנסו, קרו נשים לזכויות אדם Filmed and Directed by Neta Efrony
Script and Editing by Tsipi Raz
Sound Design by Alex Claud
Production by Susan Lourenco, Women’s Fund for Human Rights
אחרי הסרט שיחה עם הבימאית. After the screening there will be a talk with the director.
לפני הקנרת הסרט תנתן סקירה של מפת המחסומים מסביב לירושלים. Before the screening a survey of the checkpoints around Jerusalem will be presented.
60 דקות. אנגלית, ערבית ואנגלית. קריינות בעברית וכתוביות באנגלית. 60 minutes. English, Arabic, Hebrew. Hebrew narration & English subtitles.

Every Wednesday at 20:00

A Close Reading of Plato’s Republic with Shlomo Felberbaum

The meetings are conducted in English
Please call 050-5537503 for details

תערוכה
רצה Current
Exhibition

הנס שטוצר Hans Stuetzer
לנטוע עצים – לכרות עצים Baeume pflanzen, Baeume abhauen
עוד תלכי בדרכים שאני כבר מכיר Du wirst viele Dinge sehen, die ich heute schon kenne

שעות פתיחת הגלריה
א’ – ה’ : 14:00 – 20:00
ו ‘: 11:00 – 14:00 Gallery opening hours
Sun – Thu: 14:00 – 20:00
Fri: 11:00 – 14:00

רח’ שיריזלי 6, מזכרת משה, נחלאות
6 Shirizli Street, Mazkeret Moshe, Nachlaot

On Saturday March 6th please join us in our protest to stop the Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.

At 7:00 PM we will be holding a mass rally in Sheikh Jarrah against:

· The forced eviction of the Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah

· The Jewish settlement of East Jerusalem

· The undemocratic attack on political protest

50 Palestinians have already been evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. Another 500 are threatened. If the settlers and their government allies succeed, all Palestinians in East Jerusalem are threatened. If we stop them in Sheikh Jarrah, we can stop them elsewhere.

We call on all groups who support the struggle for Palestinian rights and for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinian, to hold solidarity protest vigils on March 6 near Israeli consulates and embassies abroad.

The Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood Committee

Just Jerusalem – the Israeli Coalition for a just solution in Jerusalem

For Transportation to the demonstration:

http://www.justjlm.org/?page_id=87

For more information on the struggle see our blog:

http://www.en.justjlm.org/

What’s the Deal in Sheikh Jarrah

To make contact please write to:
justjerusalem@gmail.com

לא נעצרים!

עוצרים את ההתנחלות במזרח ירושלים!

עצרת נגד גירוש משפחות פלסטיניות משייח ג’ראח

נגד “ייהוד” מזרח ירושלים ונגד דיכוי פוליטי

מוצ”ש, 6.3.10, בשעה 19:00, שכונת שייח ג’ראח בירושלים

לפרטים ומידע על הסעות מרחבי הארץ:

http://www.justjlm.org/?page_id=87

justjerusalem@gmail.com

www.justjlm.org

facebook

דוברים ומופיעים: עמיר לב, עינת ויצמן, מתופפי היסמבה, ד”ר דפנה גולן, סמיח ג’עברין נציגי השכונה ונציגי הפעילים

لن نتوقف!
لنوقف الأستيطان في القدس الشرقيّة!

تظاهرة ضد اقتلاع العائلات الفلسطينية من الشيخ جراح
لا لتهويد القدس الشرقيّة ولا للقمع السياسي

يوم السبت، 6.3.10، الساعة 19:00، حي الشيخ جراح

للاستفسار وتفاصيل السفر من انحاء البلاد:

http://www.justjlm.org/?page_id=87

justjerusalem@gmail.com
www.justjlm.org

facebook

Ezra Nawi

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3, at 13.30, the Jerusalem District Court will hear Ezra Nawi’s appeal.

We will stand there, outside and inside the court, to show our support to Ezra and protest against the continual attempt by the Israeli authorities to silence legitimate protest by spurious accusations.

In March 2009, the judge Eilata Ziskind of the Jerusalem Magistrate’s (Peace) Court found Ezra Nawi guilty of assaulting a police officer and participation in a riot during a house demolition of a tin shack in the West Bank Palestinian village of Um el-Hir in the south Hebron hills, back in 2007. Nawi protested against the demolition by lying in front of a bulldozer, and later running into the shack before its demolition. Although throughout the whole incident Ezra kept to his principle of non-violent protest, in the end, he found himself arrested and charged with the aforementioned accusations that eventually led to his conviction based on the sole testimonies of two police officers who claimed that Nawi attacked them inside the shack. In addition, the judge Ziskind ruled that Ezra’s behaviour exceeded the limits of legitimate protest and therefore convicted him of rioting.

The District Court will hear Ezra’s appeal and will decide whether or not Ezra indeed participate in a riot, and peruse the reasons that led Ziskind to believe the police testimonies and not Ezra’s.

The Committee Supporting Ezra added, “Ezra’s trial is a stark example of the Police’s and the DA’s depraved use of severe charges such as assaulting a police officer and participating in a riot in order to silence and punish activists who take part in demonstrations inside the boundaries of legitimate protest. We hope that the district court tomorrow will perceive and rectify the series of shortcomings that are alarmingly apparent in Ezra’s conviction. Ziskind’s interpretation of the right to protest might serve as a dangerous precedent that will cripple and paralyze this vital right in a democratic society.”

The hearing will take place tomorrow, March 3, in the Jerusalem District Court, Salah Ed-din Street, at 13.30.

For more information please see: http://www.supportezra.net

Please come to show your support at 13.00.

A project of Ir Amim, a non-governmental organization that seeks to render Jerusalem a more viable and equitable city, while generating and promoting an agreed political future.

Seven documentary films by seven young directors reflecting the complexity of life in Jerusalem in the context of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These directors—Israelis and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem—courageously confront
delicate and charged issues and present personal and political points of view about the realities in the city, from East and West.

Artistic Director: Yael Perlov
Producers: Yael Perlov & Yariv Mozer – Mozer Films Ltd.
After the screening there will be the conversation with the directors Daniel Gal and Avi Goldstein and Maya de Vries, Ir Amim Public Outreach Coordinator.

In this context, we would like to inform you of several new causes for concern:

1. Tunnels and galleries
The plan to create tunnels for pedestrian tourist traffic between Wadi Hilweh and the
Old City has led to a revival of gallery excavation—a common 19th century practice abandoned with the onset of stratigraphic excavation. New galleries have been excavated in all parts of the City of David, and the plans for further tunneling suggest that galleries have now been recognized by the IAA as acceptable archaeological procedure.
Currently active gallery excavations include:

1. Excavations around the Gihon spring. A gallery has been cut westward toward the rock scarp upon which the Middle Bronze Age fortifications excavated by Kenyon in the 1960s rest (see photos). In addition, another gallery is being excavated on the north side of the spring area.

2. Excavations along the Early Roman street that climbs from the Siloam Pool area toward the upper city on the east flank of the central valley. These include two tunnels excavated on either side of the mosque that flanks the pool.
3. Extensive excavation is now taking place in connection with the large drain that is associated  with the street, beginning midway up the slope and extending up towards the Giv‘ati parking lot. The excavations were presented in the past as mere clearance of debris from the drain, but they may well extend beyond it.

Excavators for the IAA have stated that the gallery excavations tunnel through unstratified midden tips which have been methodically excavated in the past and can therefore be removed summarily. (One might compare this to the removal of Temple Mount fills by the Muslim Waqf in 1999, which generated severe criticism from those who now are responsible for the tunneling in Wadi Hilweh). We would suggest that the branding of all the material as unstratified will be a self-fulfilling prophecy as long as tunneling continues.

Here is what William Dancey says about tunneling in Brian Fagan’s Oxford Companion to Archaeology (1996; p.230):

“Early archaeological excavation was little more than mining for artifacts, and engineers were frequently consulted for advice on tunneling into deep deposits. Although a minerals extraction approach such as this continues today among vandals and uneducated collectors, professional archaeology has changed radically. Where at one time little or no attention was given to the spatial relationships or context of things in an archaeological deposit, today a set of rigorous standards guides archaeological digging. At the core of these controls is the need to record finds within a local grid system and to document the soils and sediments containing the finds.”

There is no doubt that today, engineers are the most sought-after experts in the City of David, providing the knowhow and miles of steel girders to shore up the subterranean excavations, as indeed described by El’ad’s David Beeri:

“Behind this wall there are 18 meters of mountain, and up above are Arab houses [that might collapse]. I want to get to the bottom of the mountain, to find the cistern … So we start to excavate cautiously, supporting all this with iron support beams that hold up the mountain and the houses. We found ourselves with 5 kilometers of welded iron beams in there, sheer madness. We drove the price of iron up.”

For the full record of Be’eri regarding the excavations, click here.
2. The El’ad-supported development plan for Wadi Hilweh
A new development plan initiated by the Jerusalem Municipality purports to serve the interest of all inhabitants of Wadi Hilweh, as well as those of the antiquities of the City of David. It transpires that El’ad actually funded some of expenses of the architects employed by the municipality in preparing the plan. This has led to a petition at the Jerusalem District Court, still pending.

Among the troubling provisions of the plan are at least 14 new houses and three “public buildings” to be built by settlers within the confines of the ancient mound. This establishes without a doubt the main priority of El’ad and highlights the disingenuousness of their claim to be protectors of the antiquities of the site. Also, extensive parking areas and new roads planned in and around Wadi Hilweh will convert the neighborhood into an urban island, entirely given over to the needs of the tourist industry (as envisioned and managed by El’ad). Almost no provisions are made for the needs of the present inhabitants of the area. See here maps of the plan.

3. Givati
As we suspected all along, the Givati parking lot excavations—officially described as test excavations in order to determine the presence of significant antiquities—are little more than an elaborate prologue to the construction of a new visitors’ center and tourist hub. All attempts at any kind of transparent academic oversight of the planned construction have been blocked. The excavation of the third quadrant of the parking lot has begun. Interestingly, the first quadrant was excavated to a depth of about 15 meters, removing all layers down to Early Roman; the second quadrant stopped one layer above—in the Late Roman stratum (although soundings were carried to a greater depth) Where will the third quadrant stop? Perhaps it is not too late to call for a full excavation and preservation of the remaining portions of the Early Islamic strata. This would be a golden opportunity to undo some of the damage already inflicted and to convert the entire operation into a positive demonstration of the power of a multicultural approach to the antiquities of Jerusalem.

The first two quadrants                                                                          The third quadrant prepared for excavation

We therefore ask you to join in support of our call to change the way archaeology is being conducted in the City of David:

We, the undersigned, renew our support for or join the call to take archaeology in the City of David out of the hands of Elad. We have found new causes for concern in the conduct of archaeological work in this area, with increasing evidence for doubtful professional practices that are the inevitable result of the untenable ethical position implicit in the ongoing excavations. We call upon the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and National Parks Authority to take the lead in transforming the antiquities of Jerusalem into an instrument of mutual respect and understanding between the different communities in Jerusalem, including the residents of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, and between the different cultures to which they are heirs. We call upon these organizations to put a stop to the overt political exploitation of the antiquities of Jerusalem.

What else can you do?
Share this information with people who might be interested and can join the effort.
Raise the issue within the academic debate at your university.
Write of your concern to the Israel Antiquities Authority and to other colleagues in Israel and in the world.

For any question, suggestions or thoughts, please contact us. We would be happy to discuss all this directly with you, and try to find ways to cooperate.

For donation please press here.

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