New Video about the situation faced up kids coming to school from Tuba. Enjoy
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Israeli Settler Hits Sheep with Assault Rifle
I'm just playing catch up. Here's another video you'll want to watch. A detailed story about this event (and it's a little funny) is here.
I'm just playing catch up. Here's another video you'll want to watch. A detailed story about this event (and it's a little funny) is here.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Friday, May 07, 2010
With a little help from my friends: How you can help tell the stories of At-Tuwani
I'm starting a new project, loyal readers, and I really want your help. Here are all of the details. If you have an questions, just drop me a line.
Help tell the stories of Palestinian nonviolent resistance!
Support Joy in writing “At-Tuwani: A Graphic Novel”
What:
I want to write a comic book about a different kind of hero and I need your help. I’m hoping to raise the money to cover one month of living expenses so that I can work on the rough draft of a graphic novel script about the inspiring people that I have been living with for the last 2 and a half years.
Since 2007, I have been working in a small village in rural Palestine called At-Tuwani, located at the southern tip of the West Bank. In At-Tuwani, my neighbors don't have capes or superpowers, but they’re true heroes. In the midst of violence and injustice, the people of At-Tuwani are choosing the path of nonviolent resistance. The village of At-Tuwani daily faces violence from Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank as well as injustice at the hands of the Israeli army. I’ve been dreaming about writing a graphic novel that will let other people get to know this village. I want to tell the stories of farmers who graze sheep and harvest olives in the shadow of Israeli settlements, of kids who boss around Israeli soldiers, of women who risk arrest to remove road blocks, and normal people who live their lives with great courage. I’ve been writing and blogging about my friends in At-Tuwani since I met them. Now I’m ready to bring their story to life for a wider audience.
Why:
The stories of the people of At-Tuwani need to be told. By creating a graphic novel, I can make their lives accessible and immediate - almost as real as being there. I’ve always found graphic novels to be magical. Even though a graphic novel is simply a book-length comic, a graphic novel has the power to suck a reader into a story in a way that words alone can’t. Through realistic pictures and real dialogue, my readers will be able to see and hear the lives of Palestinians and I think that will help them understand and feel for the village of At-Tuwani. And bringing the nonviolent struggle of everyday Palestinians into the homes and hearts of people all over the world is the best way I can support my friends in At-Tuwani.
How:
Here’s where you come in.
The first step to making this dream come true is to write the first draft of a script. Once my script is finished, I can find an artist to bring it to life and together we can begin the process of finding a publisher. Because my graphic novel will mostly be based on essays I’ve already written, I'm confident that I can make significant progress on a rough draft with a month of dedicated work. I’ve completed a detailed outline of the novel and I hope that I can finish a first draft of over half of it by the end of July. Will it be difficult? Yes. But I can’t think of a better way to take on this task. I thrive on deadlines. With you holding me accountable, I’m sure that I can make this dream a reality.
How to Donate:
$700 will cover my living expenses for a month and allow me to spend that time writing. Your donation, large or small, will make a meaningful dent in this amount. To donate, just leave me a comment with your email. I'll send you an email back with donation information. Your email will not be published. Sorry for the paranoia, but there are settlers who read this blog and I'd rather not give them any contact information for me.
I’m extremely grateful to have the support of people like you. I want to make sure that you know how grateful I am. To give you an idea of how I feel, I want to offer the following gifts to donors.
$5 or more - Receive exclusive updates about the script during my month of whirlwind writing. Be a part of the team that keeps me writing!
$10 or more - Be listed as a contributor in the print version of the graphic novel.
$25 or more - Receive a signed photograph from At-Tuwani. See the village for yourself!
$50 or more - Receive a special gift from the At-Tuwani women's cooperative. Touch and feel a little piece of women’s resistance.
$100 or more - Receive a special extended thank you in the print version of the graphic novel, a gift from the At-Tuwani women's cooperative, a signed photograph from At-Tuwani and have the chance to see the first draft of the script and offer feedback when it’s completed!
I hope that you’ll join me on this journey to tell the stories of At-Tuwani Village. Writing a rough draft is only the beginning and I plan to keep you updated as I continue to get this book finished and available to people around the world. I’m so happy to have people like you in my life.
Sincerely,
Joy
PS: If you donate, please help me be able to send you your thank-you gift. Include your name, email address and if you choose to donate $25 or more, include your mailing address.
I'm starting a new project, loyal readers, and I really want your help. Here are all of the details. If you have an questions, just drop me a line.
Help tell the stories of Palestinian nonviolent resistance!
Support Joy in writing “At-Tuwani: A Graphic Novel”
What:
I want to write a comic book about a different kind of hero and I need your help. I’m hoping to raise the money to cover one month of living expenses so that I can work on the rough draft of a graphic novel script about the inspiring people that I have been living with for the last 2 and a half years.
Since 2007, I have been working in a small village in rural Palestine called At-Tuwani, located at the southern tip of the West Bank. In At-Tuwani, my neighbors don't have capes or superpowers, but they’re true heroes. In the midst of violence and injustice, the people of At-Tuwani are choosing the path of nonviolent resistance. The village of At-Tuwani daily faces violence from Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank as well as injustice at the hands of the Israeli army. I’ve been dreaming about writing a graphic novel that will let other people get to know this village. I want to tell the stories of farmers who graze sheep and harvest olives in the shadow of Israeli settlements, of kids who boss around Israeli soldiers, of women who risk arrest to remove road blocks, and normal people who live their lives with great courage. I’ve been writing and blogging about my friends in At-Tuwani since I met them. Now I’m ready to bring their story to life for a wider audience.
Why:
The stories of the people of At-Tuwani need to be told. By creating a graphic novel, I can make their lives accessible and immediate - almost as real as being there. I’ve always found graphic novels to be magical. Even though a graphic novel is simply a book-length comic, a graphic novel has the power to suck a reader into a story in a way that words alone can’t. Through realistic pictures and real dialogue, my readers will be able to see and hear the lives of Palestinians and I think that will help them understand and feel for the village of At-Tuwani. And bringing the nonviolent struggle of everyday Palestinians into the homes and hearts of people all over the world is the best way I can support my friends in At-Tuwani.
How:
Here’s where you come in.
The first step to making this dream come true is to write the first draft of a script. Once my script is finished, I can find an artist to bring it to life and together we can begin the process of finding a publisher. Because my graphic novel will mostly be based on essays I’ve already written, I'm confident that I can make significant progress on a rough draft with a month of dedicated work. I’ve completed a detailed outline of the novel and I hope that I can finish a first draft of over half of it by the end of July. Will it be difficult? Yes. But I can’t think of a better way to take on this task. I thrive on deadlines. With you holding me accountable, I’m sure that I can make this dream a reality.
How to Donate:
$700 will cover my living expenses for a month and allow me to spend that time writing. Your donation, large or small, will make a meaningful dent in this amount. To donate, just leave me a comment with your email. I'll send you an email back with donation information. Your email will not be published. Sorry for the paranoia, but there are settlers who read this blog and I'd rather not give them any contact information for me.
I’m extremely grateful to have the support of people like you. I want to make sure that you know how grateful I am. To give you an idea of how I feel, I want to offer the following gifts to donors.
$5 or more - Receive exclusive updates about the script during my month of whirlwind writing. Be a part of the team that keeps me writing!
$10 or more - Be listed as a contributor in the print version of the graphic novel.
$25 or more - Receive a signed photograph from At-Tuwani. See the village for yourself!
$50 or more - Receive a special gift from the At-Tuwani women's cooperative. Touch and feel a little piece of women’s resistance.
$100 or more - Receive a special extended thank you in the print version of the graphic novel, a gift from the At-Tuwani women's cooperative, a signed photograph from At-Tuwani and have the chance to see the first draft of the script and offer feedback when it’s completed!
I hope that you’ll join me on this journey to tell the stories of At-Tuwani Village. Writing a rough draft is only the beginning and I plan to keep you updated as I continue to get this book finished and available to people around the world. I’m so happy to have people like you in my life.
Sincerely,
Joy
PS: If you donate, please help me be able to send you your thank-you gift. Include your name, email address and if you choose to donate $25 or more, include your mailing address.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Monday, May 03, 2010
The Shepherd's Granddaughter, a Young Adult novel about At-Tuwani?
I'm dying to check out The Shepherd's Granddaughter. Based on this interview, I'm betting the author spent some time in At-Tuwani. Any one of you been able to read it?
I'm dying to check out The Shepherd's Granddaughter. Based on this interview, I'm betting the author spent some time in At-Tuwani. Any one of you been able to read it?
One simple thing that you can do:
Here's an action alert I just got. You know you want to participate.
Here's an action alert I just got. You know you want to participate.
Dear Friend,
Israel is about to be admitted to an exclusive economic club, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Despite the Government of Israel's failure to comply with OECD demands and standards, the organization announced in January 2010 that it will "complete" Israel's membership by 2010 (expected in May). However, the OECD needs consensus to admit a new member state into the organization, so it only takes ONE country's dissent to stop Israel from joining until it has met international human rights standards. The Israeli Government has yet to comply with the Goldstone Recommendations and until it does, admission to the OECD should be withheld.
We are gathering signatures to be delivered before the OECD Council meeting on May 11, 2010 and then more signatures before the Ministerial meeting on May 28-29.
Please sign the petition and
forward to your friends and colleagues.
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) appeals to peoples and governments of OECD member states to defer Israel's OECD accession until it respects international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people and shows commitment to the fundamental values shared by OECD members. You can read more about the appeal here.
WHY SHOULD WE STOP ISRAEL?
- Membership in the prestigious OECD club of nations will reward Israel for its war crimes and breaches of international law. Membership is expected to bring financial stability to Israel's economy, attract investment and reduce the country's risk premium, in direct contraction with the 2005 BDS call.
- OECD admitted that Israel breached a key requirement of membership by including the settlements in its economic report. By accepting Israel, OECD will give the official approval to Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territories. "The OECD is treating Israel as though it has seven million citizens when, in reality, it has 11 million subjects, of whom four million are Palestinians living under occupation," said Israeli economist Shir Hever.
- Only pluralistic democracies can be accepted as OECD members. Israel is an ethnocracy, with about 30 laws specifically privileging Jews over non-Jews who make up 20% of Israel's citizens. OECD will be violating it's own foundation principles in this way.
Pressure works! The European Union reversed a decision to upgrade relations with Israel last year following similar concerted action. Send this action alert to your contacts list. Be sure to look for photos here.
Keep up the pressure to lift the siege of Gaza,
GFM Team
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Harvest in At-Tuwani, 2010: The Same Old Beauty
(I know it's been a while, but I'm back in Palestine! More to come over the next few days.)
Harvesting barley is a lot harder than harvesting olives. To harvest barley you have to bend over at the waist, pull up handfuls of dry stalks, and then beat the dirt off of the roots. I’m not embarrassed by my olive picking ability, but I harvest barley only slightly better than your average four-year-old Palestinian kid. After my first couple of hours harvesting barley with the A. family, my hands and arms were red with scratches, but I was smiling.
A couple of years ago, a teammate of mine described how tiring the spring harvest can be. “But it’s a holy sort of exhaustion,” I remember him saying. That’s certainly how I’ve been feeling lately. It’s a simply a joy to harvest barley and wheat with my neighbors. While we work, we laugh and share the latest village gossip. Sometimes, I get to listen to my neighbors sing. Harvesting is good work. I can’t help but feel whole and happy.
“Bring the camera over here,” my neighbor N. said. He pointed to a burned patch in the middle of the field. The patch was about two feet across and three feet long. “Did you hear what happened?” N. asked me. When I shook my head, N. explained. “The day before yesterday, in the morning, settlers set a fire here.” N. told me that F., another neighbor, had seen them. “When he started yelling, the settlers left. Here, “continued N. “Take my picture.” N. stood in the burned patch and posed. I took some video. Then it was time to start working again. When in another hour, the field was harvested and the burned patch ground was barely noticeable. With the farm work for the day done, N., his four year old son, and I walked home. “Come on, let’s run!” said the little boy. N. and I laughed.
“What an evil waste,” said a friend of mine when she heard what about the burnt wheat. We’re not the best people to ask, but one of my teammates estimates that settlers have destroyed 30 to 40 percent of this year’s crop, mainly by grazing their sheep in Palestinian fields. “It’s just plain theft,” remarked another of my teammates. “It’s more than that,” I quipped. “This is ethnic cleansing.”
Still, I can’t help but think about the sound of our laughter as the A. family and I picked barley together. I’m drawn back to the same contradiction I seem to always write about. The occupation is indeed an evil waste. Nevertheless, Palestinians are stronger than this attempt to drive them off of their land. The power joy and beauty – of life itself - remains undaunted.
(I know it's been a while, but I'm back in Palestine! More to come over the next few days.)
Harvesting barley is a lot harder than harvesting olives. To harvest barley you have to bend over at the waist, pull up handfuls of dry stalks, and then beat the dirt off of the roots. I’m not embarrassed by my olive picking ability, but I harvest barley only slightly better than your average four-year-old Palestinian kid. After my first couple of hours harvesting barley with the A. family, my hands and arms were red with scratches, but I was smiling.
A couple of years ago, a teammate of mine described how tiring the spring harvest can be. “But it’s a holy sort of exhaustion,” I remember him saying. That’s certainly how I’ve been feeling lately. It’s a simply a joy to harvest barley and wheat with my neighbors. While we work, we laugh and share the latest village gossip. Sometimes, I get to listen to my neighbors sing. Harvesting is good work. I can’t help but feel whole and happy.
“Bring the camera over here,” my neighbor N. said. He pointed to a burned patch in the middle of the field. The patch was about two feet across and three feet long. “Did you hear what happened?” N. asked me. When I shook my head, N. explained. “The day before yesterday, in the morning, settlers set a fire here.” N. told me that F., another neighbor, had seen them. “When he started yelling, the settlers left. Here, “continued N. “Take my picture.” N. stood in the burned patch and posed. I took some video. Then it was time to start working again. When in another hour, the field was harvested and the burned patch ground was barely noticeable. With the farm work for the day done, N., his four year old son, and I walked home. “Come on, let’s run!” said the little boy. N. and I laughed.
“What an evil waste,” said a friend of mine when she heard what about the burnt wheat. We’re not the best people to ask, but one of my teammates estimates that settlers have destroyed 30 to 40 percent of this year’s crop, mainly by grazing their sheep in Palestinian fields. “It’s just plain theft,” remarked another of my teammates. “It’s more than that,” I quipped. “This is ethnic cleansing.”
Still, I can’t help but think about the sound of our laughter as the A. family and I picked barley together. I’m drawn back to the same contradiction I seem to always write about. The occupation is indeed an evil waste. Nevertheless, Palestinians are stronger than this attempt to drive them off of their land. The power joy and beauty – of life itself - remains undaunted.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Amira Hass covers the attack on the Raba'i family
If you've been keeping up here, you've read all about the day on which soldiers attacked the Raba'i family and torture Musab Raba'i for several hours. Amira Hass is now writing about the incident and her article is worth a read: Settlers' call sends Palestinian shepherd to IDF beating - Haaretz - Israel News
Here's the bit of it I love, describing the police integration of Musab's brothers following the incident:
By the way, I'm home in the States right now, so this blog is going to be a little quiet for a while. Take care of yourselves.
If you've been keeping up here, you've read all about the day on which soldiers attacked the Raba'i family and torture Musab Raba'i for several hours. Amira Hass is now writing about the incident and her article is worth a read: Settlers' call sends Palestinian shepherd to IDF beating - Haaretz - Israel News
Here's the bit of it I love, describing the police integration of Musab's brothers following the incident:
They say the military policewoman asked them, "Which terror group do you belong to?" Juma answered: "I don't understand." She said: "To Hamas, to Fatah?"
And he replied: "No, I'm in a third group."
"Which?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.
"The group of the small farmers."
By the way, I'm home in the States right now, so this blog is going to be a little quiet for a while. Take care of yourselves.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Israeli Apartheid Week: Guess who's on the boycott list!
Guess. Really, guess. Come on.
You might be thinking boycotting Israeli apartheid doesn't have anything to do with you. After all, you're not going to be building a building a renting a CAT bulldozer (CAT manufactures bulldozers that Israel uses to demolish Palestinian homes) and you don't have the money to buy your mom Ahava (which steals dead sea resources from Palestine). So think boycott doesn't have anything to do with you, right?
No, guess. Just guess who you could be boycotting right now.
How about Blockbuster? Yep, there are blockbusters in illegal Israeli settlements. You could make your movie night a night for justice just by boycotting Blockbuster. Pretty cool, right?
Or how about Ace hardware? Yeah, Ace makes money off of Israeli apartheid too. They're selling in settlements built on Palestinian land, so buy from somewhere else when you're building your new deck.
And then there's Motorola. Now there's a company who really deserve to be the target of our boycott. Motorola provides communication equipment to the Israeli military. Let's hang up on them.
So, congratulations. You - yes you! - can boycott Israeli apartheid. Join the campaign!
Guess. Really, guess. Come on.
You might be thinking boycotting Israeli apartheid doesn't have anything to do with you. After all, you're not going to be building a building a renting a CAT bulldozer (CAT manufactures bulldozers that Israel uses to demolish Palestinian homes) and you don't have the money to buy your mom Ahava (which steals dead sea resources from Palestine). So think boycott doesn't have anything to do with you, right?
No, guess. Just guess who you could be boycotting right now.
How about Blockbuster? Yep, there are blockbusters in illegal Israeli settlements. You could make your movie night a night for justice just by boycotting Blockbuster. Pretty cool, right?
Or how about Ace hardware? Yeah, Ace makes money off of Israeli apartheid too. They're selling in settlements built on Palestinian land, so buy from somewhere else when you're building your new deck.
And then there's Motorola. Now there's a company who really deserve to be the target of our boycott. Motorola provides communication equipment to the Israeli military. Let's hang up on them.
So, congratulations. You - yes you! - can boycott Israeli apartheid. Join the campaign!
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Israeli Apartheid Week: Take some Action!
Here's an idea for what you can do for Israeli Apartheid Week. I've stolen this shamelessly from a US campaign to End the Occupation staff member:
Write letters to the editor in response to this one: http://tinyurl.com/y9vx5a5
Here are resources for your letters: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2552
Just do it!
Here's an idea for what you can do for Israeli Apartheid Week. I've stolen this shamelessly from a US campaign to End the Occupation staff member:
Write letters to the editor in response to this one: http://tinyurl.
Here are resources for your letters: http://www.endt
Just do it!
Monday, March 01, 2010
Israeli Apartheid Week 2010!
So my friends, it's Israeli Apartheid Week. Yep, you heard what I said. And here's my question for all of you - what will you be doing to mark it? Seriously, leave me a comment and let me now what you'll be doing this week to let people know about the crimes of apartheid that Israel is committing against Palestinians. Inspire me! The best answer will receive a fabulous prize. I'm not joking. :-)
So my friends, it's Israeli Apartheid Week. Yep, you heard what I said. And here's my question for all of you - what will you be doing to mark it? Seriously, leave me a comment and let me now what you'll be doing this week to let people know about the crimes of apartheid that Israel is committing against Palestinians. Inspire me! The best answer will receive a fabulous prize. I'm not joking. :-)
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