BDS, books, videos, etc.

Dear friends,

This is a hodgepodge of an e-mail with a few links of projects/events I'm personally connected to in some way (plus a couple other things...):

1) On June 15 I took part in an event called "Jewish Perspectives on the Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (BDS) Campaign." Yonatan Shapira and I spoke in favor of BDS, and Kathleen Peratis and JJ Goldberg spoke against. Moderated by Esther Kaplan. You can hear more about each of us in the intros in the video. There were 200+ people there, spilling out into the hallways of a church basement (after every Jewish space the organizers could think of had turned them down). It was a really interesting discussion to have within a room of mostly (but not entirely) Jewish people, and teased out some of the issues of BDS as well as some of the underlying issues behind the BDS movement and behind Jewish participation or reluctance in supporting the movement. There's a lot of discussion about the character of Israel as a Jewish state, for example. I'll say no more, but if you have 2 hours, give it a look (or if you want to see all the speakers' opening statements, they're each about 10 minutes long near the beginning. I'm the first one, and start at around 8 minutes (after the intros): The link: http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/jewish-perspectives-boycott-divestment-sanctions-bds-campaign

2. I have a chapter in a recently published book called "Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation." I'm happy to report that most if not all of the women in the book are not only confronting "the occupation" (of '67, as is usually implied), but going deeper into the core issues of Zionism, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and more. My chapter is about the search for my friend's home in Jerusalem; his family had been kicked out in 1948 and had not been back since. Check it out: http://www.shiftingsands-book.com/

3. Another book recommendation: "Letters from Palestine: Palestinians Speak Out about Their Lives, Their Country, and the Power of Nonviolence," edited by Kenneth Ring and Ghassan Abdullah. I am impressed by the variety of people and the fact that the book is in the words of the people it is about. I also know many of the people featured in the book, and several of them are people I put the editors in touch with. Sorry all I have is an Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Palestine-Palestinians-Country-Nonviolence/dp/1604944161/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277998162&sr=8-2

4. Just a little FYI and testament to the growing popularity, success, and visibility of the cultural boycott movement, CNN did a 3 minute piece a few days ago: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/06/28/hancocks.cultural.boycott.cnn?iref=allsearch

5. Another powerful 3 minute video - this Jewish (and now Israeli) man is originally from Hebron (before Israel was a state), and recently met with the Palestinian mayor of Hebron to ask permission to be buried in a Muslim cemetary there and to state that he will reclaim his property in Hebron the day that Palestinians are able to reclaim the properties taken from them in 1948: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294067 (scroll down for the video).


I'm sure I missed a million other powerful and interesting videos and books, but I just wanted to share a few here. I'm leaving for Palestine soon to work with the Students Boycott Apartheid delegation (students working on inspiring BDS campaigns around the country) and to participate in the Right to Education international student conference. I hope to write to you all from Palestine.

Til then,
Hannah