On Monday, January 29 there was a meeting in Barbur of different women’s groups from the Negev and Jerusalem. In the meeting took part women from Kiryat Gat, Rahat, NGOs Sidreh and Desert Embroidery from Lakiya, Beer Sheva and Al Azariya and also women from Ahoti Movement – for Women in Israel and comme il faut company who are taking part in a project of Resource Incubator for Economic Initiatives by Women: Women Creating a Feminist Economy.
Jerusalem, 2006. Photograhy: Shabtai Gold
Monday 29.01
at 19:30
Social Gaps in Israel
A lecture by Shir Hever, political economy researcher at The Alternative Information Center
First lecture in the series of four lectures on the Israeli economy
In recent years we witness a worrying widening of the economic gaps in Israel. While a small number of capitalists continue to get richer, the majority of the population is suffering from decline in income, from the rise of unemployment and poverty and from the bigger dependency on the welfare payments. The statesmen changed the tone and accuse the poor and the unemployed of their condition instead of taking responsibility for the problem.
At the same time we witness cuts in welfare payments – at the time when they are needed most. Why social gaps in Israel widen so fast? Who suffers from increase in inequality? Does inequality facilitate growth? Are the social gaps connected to the Israeli control of the Occupied Territories?
Friday 9:30 26.01
First working meeting of the Community Garden Project in Barbur.
Cleaning up the territory and preparing the garden for planting –
Everybody is invited!
On Wednesday, January 17, a meeting of Nachlaot neighbourhood residents worried the sad state of building and planning supervision in the neighbourhood and the city center.
Apart from all concerned, the neighbourhood architect David Dweik and representatives of Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights were invited to the meeting. More than 40 neighbourhood residents came.
As a result of the meeting, it was decided to organize the Action Committee.
The first meeting of the Committee will be held on 24.01 at 19:00 in Barbur.
In the framework of the exhibition Unrecognized:
Saturday, 13/01, 20:00 :
Why Unrecognized? An introduction to the story of the Bedouin in the Negev. Speakers:
Salman Alranami , Alsiraj organization – The Bedouin in the Negev and the state of Israel.
Noam Lubell , Truman institute, Hebrew university; Concord institute, College of Management – Indigenous populations and International Law.
Hilel Cohen , Jerusalem – Israel Religion and the Bedouin in the Negev.
On Thursday January 11, at 20:30
we’ll screen the film by Uri Rosenwaks
THE FILM CLASS
Producers Uri Rosenwaks, Majid Alkamalat
Cinematography Nag’ah Abu Zaeila
“Some two years ago, I came to Rahat, a Bedouin town down in Israel`s Negev Desert, to teach a group of Black Bedouin women a class in filmmaking. Little is known of the Black Bedouins and their history. As a matter of fact, they were brought to the Negev, and the Middle East at large, as slaves. Kidnapped in Africa by Arab slave traders, they were auctioned off in Zanzibar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and until 50 years ago, the Black Bedouins were still enslaved by the White ones.
When I first started working with the group, I had no knowledge of it. The women never mentioned the issue, though I found it increasingly intriguing. Only after about 18 months of working and making short films together did I work up the nerve to suggest that we make a film telling the history of the Black Bedouins. Suddenly, a small and modest course in filmmaking became a place in which a great taboo comes into the open. The women still suffering discrimination to this day unveil a story which few have spoken of.”
Uri Rosenwaks
On Saturday, January 6, at 20:30 there will be an opening of the exhibition
Unrecognized
Stories and images from the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, Israel
The exhibition is the summary of the long-term project by Tal Adler and it will accompanied by lectures and meetings.
150,000 Bedouin, Israeli citizens, live in the Negev. About half of them live in villages unrecognized by the state of Israel. Most villages have thousands of residents but the villages are not part of any municipality and do not enjoy basic services as water, education, health facilities, electricity, paved roads, etc.
“The Bedouins are taking over state lands illegally” is a well accepted claim in main stream Israeli public opinion. Reading through the history of the Negev and the state of Israel reveals the opposite: the state took over most of the Bedouin land in the Negev, and this process continues on to this day.
Tal Adler, photographer, artist, teacher and social-political activist, started the “Unrecognized” project in 2003 following reports of Bedouin fields in the Negev which had been sprayed with a toxic substance from the air, by the state. Adler met with individuals, groups, organizations and representatives of the various unrecognized villages. The result is a traveling exhibition of around 35 stories and photographs, one from each unrecognized village. The exhibition is used as a platform for events, lectures and meetings about the unrecognized villages and a chance to get to know their stories and special circumstances.
On Thursday January 4, at 20:30
we’ll screen the film by Ronen Amar
(S)elections
Producer Osnat Trabelsi
Documentary, 60 min
Hebrew, Eglish Translation
“If there was a moment in my life when I knew what I want of myself, it seems I had missed it. I want to leave my mark in the history books and at the same time I like to sleep and idle. Now I can’t mull over this anymore, the options are in front of me and I have to choose. To learn from my rich uncle and try to devour life like he does, or is it better to get out of the race after money and power and let others to conquer the world.”
The filmmaker Ronen Amar (winner of the first prize at Doc-Aviv festival for “My Family’s Pizza”) follows two totally different characters, both residents of the southern town Netivot which he is originally from.. Amar follows his cousin Eyal Mesika – a succesful building contractor who has decided to run for mayor’s office and change the reality of the town, and his friend Koko Sha’harabani – who has chosen to “withdraw from the race” and search for himself. As the local elections approach, both of Amar’s heros now both face a crossroad in their lives. Both are desperately looking for the right path and both are subject to dilemmas which will ultimately force them to assume responsibility for their destiny.
On Tuesday January 2, at 20:30
we’ll screen the film by Shosh Israeli
Ester’s Children
Documentary
A group of orphan children in Kenya exposed for the first time in their life to the making of art.
The movie is in between the complete lack of knowledge and the craving for the art making, through the exposure to different kinds of tools during a few weeks of work.
