Why a Madison, WI chapter of Playgrounds for Palestine

When Susan Abulhawa came to Madison for the Wisconsin Book Festival in fall 2007, I was able to interview her on my radio program, A Public Affair, on community radio WORT. Having read her novel, "The Scar of David," I felt moved to offer to help the group that she founded, Playgrounds for Palestine. Susie invited me to come to Philadelphia to meet members of the PfP board, and to join the board as the founding member of a Madison chapter. I was able to tack a visit to Philadelphia onto a work trip to NYC, and agreed to found a Madison chapter. Madison is a prime location for a PfP chapter since there is already a lot of activity around and high level of awareness of Palestinian issues. I look forward to engaging people already active on Palestinian issues to work on PfP projects, and also to reach out beyond those existing networks to draw others in.