I Saw it in Palestine

I'm currently in the process of giving presentations on my experiences living in Palestine. As always, I'm looking for venues and audiences. Got any ideas?

Below is a description of my work and the presentation formats I'm comfortable with. Check it out and make note of what I am and am not willing to do. I've decided to post this information just to give potential hosts a better idea of what I can do and what I can't – I've been getting a number of requests for formats that I'm not able to provide, so I thought this might be helpful for everyone.

Thanks for helping to get the story of Palestine out to the world!

Coming Soon! Hopefully, after a bug in my blog is ironed out, I'll be embedding a calendar in the side bar to show when I am available for presentations. Check it out, comment, call or send me an email and we'll get a presentation scheduled for you!

Presentation description:

Portland resident Joy Ellison has returned from spending three months
in the West Bank supporting Palestinian nonviolent resistance. Joy
Ellison is an Earlham College graduate with a degree in Peace and
Global Studies and has traveled to many places besides Palestine,
including Northern Ireland and Bolivia. This summer marked her second
trip to Palestine, where she has spent a total of 5 and half months
working with Christian Peacemaker Teams, International Women's Peace
Service, and the Holy Land Trust. She is planning to return to
Palestine this year to continue working with Christian Peacemaker
Teams.

With photographs, maps, and video clips, Joy's presentations attempt
to bring her experiences in Palestine to life for other Americans.
She focuses on explaining the basics mechanisms of the Israeli
military occupation of Palestine and sharing how Palestinians,
Israelis and international partners are building peace through
nonviolent resistance.

I'm happy to give presentations in the following formats:
· Formal presentations: I have prepared a 45 minute – hour long powerpoint presentation with pictures and map to illustrate my experiences. I am very happy to give this presentation to groups of any size and answer questions. I think that this presentation is the most clear and informative and works well for groups with considerable or very little knowledge of the situation.

· Informal question and answer secessions: I'm very happy to speak about my work very briefly (5-10 minutes) and answer questions or participate in a discussion with a group of any size. I find that this is a good format for discussing both the political and the personal aspects of my work and works well in college classrooms, Sunday Schools, and homes.

· Host a video presentation: I have a small selection of videos about Palestine and I am very happy to introduce myself, show a video and answer questions afterwards.

· Elementary school classrooms/children's religious classes: I have designed an hour-long presentation about live in Palestine appropriate for first graders through 5th grade. The presentation focuses on the lives of Palestinian children and Palestinian culture, religion, and food. Presentations can be shortened if needed.

· Spoken messages/sermons, etc.: I am willing to prepare a message, sermon or other talk for religious gatherings or other large gatherings.

· Nonviolence trainings: I love to give nonviolence trainings focused on exploring what it means to use nonviolence to build peace and justice. Trainings, however, always require preparation, so I do request an honorarium based on the amount of preparation time I spend.

· Interviews: I am always willing to give interviews. I have selection of articles that I have written on Palestine that I can provide for publication and re-publication.

· Table/present information: I am occasionally willing to set up information and flyers about my work and the situation in Palestine, but I am selective when choosing a venue/schedule for such an event. I am, however, always very happy to pass on information so that other people can pass out information themselves.

I prefer not to:

· Lead people in mediations/prayers/silence: I'm often asked to lead times of reflection or mediation, but I strongly prefer not to do so. Because I take these times of reflection seriously, I find preparations for them to be very time consuming. I have one pre-prepared outline for such a presentation. I am only willing to led mediations if this outline will fit the desired format.

· Participate in a debate/panel discussion on Israel/Palestine: My work is focused on sharing my experiences and discussing nonviolent peacemaking, not debating the issues. I feel that there are other people who are better suited to that and I'm not sure that the format gets us anywhere. I have presented alongside other peace activists in an informal question-and-answer session and I am happy to do similar presentations.

· Tap-dance :-)