Daniel Barenboim Given Honorary Palestinian Citizenship

The full article is available here.

Lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti said he lobbied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to make Barenboim a citizen.

Barenboim deserved a Palestinian passport, Barghouti said, because the conductor had shown "solidarity with Palestinians under the most difficult circumstances."

"It was a nice gesture," Barenboim said in a telephone interview from Berlin.

At least one Israeli lawmaker wanted action taken against barenboim for his acceptance of the honor. "'It's a disgrace to the state of Israel that a man like Barenboim holds Israeli citizenship, and it would be fitting for it to be revoked,' Yakov Margi of the Shas party told the Maariv daily newspaper's Web site."

Madison-Rafah Sister City Project Hosts Film Series

Last night I attended the first of 4 film screenings sponsored by the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. The topic was "Refugees of the Nakba: Then and Now." The evening included the 1950 British documentary "Sands of Sorrow" and excerpts from the 2004 documentary "Until When ..." After the screenings, there was a discussion that included the perspectives of two Palestinian members of the Madison community.

Upcoming screenings are:

January 27, 2008: The Occupation Understood
showing of "Occupation 101" (2006)

February 10: The Wall: Final Borders of Apartheid?
showing of "The Israeli Wall in Palestinian Lands" (2004), "Building the Wall at Abu Dis" (2006), and "Endless Checkpoints" (2006).

Feburary 24: The Worst of All: Gaza Strip and Rafah
showing of "Gaza Strip" (2002) and "ISM Rafah" (2006)

All showing are at 7:00 p.m. at Escape Java Joint at 916 Williamson. For more information contact Paul Beckett at snkbeckett@yahoo.com.