Benefit Dinner Sunday May 18th!

Mark your calendar for PfP-Madison's first benefit dinner!
Sunday, May 18th, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m
King of Falafel
453 W Gilman, Madison

Enjoy a tempting buffet of Middle Eastern delicacies at King of Falafel, and learn about the children of Jenin Refugee Camp for whom we are raising funds to build a playground. We will also have fair trade olive oil and olive oil soap for sale.


$20 for adults, $10 for children 6 - 10, and kids 5 and under free!


Space is limited -- email pfpmadison@gmail.com to reserve your place, and bring along family and friends for a fun and delicious evening!

We Have Fair Trade Olive Oil and Olive Oil Soap!

We just received our first shipment of olive oil and soap from Zatoun -- a Canadian, all-volunter organization that is very committed to fair trade and supporting Palestinian farmers and non-profits. (There is more information about Zatoun below.)

We have three wonderful products to sell, and because of a very generous donor, 100% OF THE PRICE WILL GO TO SUPPORT PfP - MADISON'S PROJECT TO BUILD A PLAYGROUND IN JENIN!

* Fair Trade Extra Virgin Olive Oil -- 750 ml bottles of the best oil you will ever taste! Great for dipping, dressings, and cooking. And healthy, too! $22/bottle


* Four Bar Gift Box -- This is soap made in Nablus, which was the home of the modern formulation of soap in 700 AD. It was a center of soap making for 1400 years. Pre-1948, there were 45 soap factories there. Today, there are barely 2 in operation, and only part-time.

The soap comes in 4 varieties, one bar of each in the gift box: honey, goat's milk, lemon, & dead sea mud. $20/box

* Scent-Free, Pure, White Soap -- hand made by a women's collective in Tibay, a christian village in Palestine. It is made of pure olive oil, with no additives, and has a dedicated following among parents for use with infants, and with people with sensitive skin. $6/bar

ORDER BEFORE APRIL 15th, AND GET A SPECIAL BONUS! Any order of $40 or more will get a bar of the pure, white soap free! Buy early for Mothers Day and Fathers Day! And we'll even deliver it to you within the Madison area by May 1st. Send an email to pfpmadison@gmail.com with your order, or drop a check in the mail to PfP- Madison, PO Box 5091, Madison, WI 53705-0091 and tell us what you'd like (and how to get in touch with you). AND THANKS!

Do you have a book club, faith community, social group or co-workers that might be interested in the soap or oil? Let us know and we can set you up with materials and can help make it a successful PfP fundraiser!

More on Zatoun:

Zatoun works closely with American Friends Service Committee. All the oil goes to Canada, and is then shipped on from there. It cannot be sent directly into the U.S. because they have chosen to make a statement by printing "Product of Palestine" on the labels, and that means it cannot go through U.S. customs. Other oils use different language to get around that, but they feel strongly enough about it to deal with the consequences.

Zatoun partners with the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA), based in Jenin. Zatoun tries to do have as much of the production done in Palestine as possible to support the economy, so the entire manufacturing process -- label printing, carton making, bottling -- is all done there. They calculate that they have been able to contribute $350,000 to the Palestinian economy in the past 5 years.

Currently, there is no global fair trade standards for olive oil. But Zatoun is so committed to fair trade that they pursued certification through a Swiss organization, the Institute for Market Ecology, and had them review their standards, examine the distribution chain, and monitor
them in order to receive certification.

Playground Destruction Protested in the West Bank

Demonstration takes place on playground near Qalqiliya, two days before it is due to be demolished March 13th, 2008

The whole story is available from the International Solidarity Movement.

"A large protest took place today in the West Bank town of Azzoun against the planned demolition of the children’s playground in the town. 450 protesters came from the local area, the village womens development association and the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), who celebrated their 25 year anniversary at the demonstration. ...

The playgrounds construction was near completion when on the morning of February 22nd, 2006, bulldozers accompanied by Israeli soldiers arrived and demolished half of the park - which consisted of two swimming pools and changing rooms.

The justification given by the Israeli army for the demolition was that the park lacked a building permit for that specific ground, an area which falls within Area C, thus under Israeli civil and military control."

Great News from Palestine -- Playgrounds #6 and #7 finally released from the port!

Those of you that have been following the blogs by PfP national board members Susan Abulhawa and Sonia Rosen (Sonia is there now and her blog is available here) during their time in Palestine know that PfP has been struggling with approval from the Israeli authorities to transport our playground equipment from the port to our partner ANERA.

Just today, Sonia found out that the materials have finally been released! She wrote:

"I received a call from Lana this afternoon while I was in the Old City, and she told me that we have received approval from the Israeli authorities to bring the playgrounds into the West Bank and install them at the two sites. They will be released from the port within the next few days and should arrive at the ANERA warehouse and be distributed to the their respective sites by the beginning of next week.

I am so relieved that this issue has been taken care of, even though I am still disappointed that I was not able to be here for the actual installation.

Thank you to Lana from ANERA for being so persistent with the authorities!"

The playgrounds will be installed in Bethelem and in Beit Anan (the Beit Anan site is at the left -- the playground will be a great addition!) The situation of having to wait so long for the equipment to be released from the port has underscored one of the benefits we will enjoy when we are able to construct the playgrounds in the West Bank instead of shipping them from the U.S. As if the opportunity to contribute to the local economy wasn't enough of an incentive, the red tape we can avoid certainly is!

Don't Forget: My Name is Rachel Corrie tonight, and next Friday and Saturday!

You'll want to be sure to see the one-woman play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie", about the young woman killed almost exactly five years ago while defending a home in Rafah from demolition by the IDF. Yesterday's opening night performance played to a sold-out crowd, and was incredibly moving. Adding to the experience was a talk-back with the producer/director, actor, and Rachel's parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie.

Visit the Madison Rafah Sister City Project wesbite for more information on tickets.

Craig and Cindy Corrie on WORT Friday, March 7th

Listen to "A Public Affair" on WORT (89.9 FM) Friday from noon to 1:00 p.m. to hear host Diane Farsetta interview Cindy and Craig Corrie. (If you are not near a radio, you can also listen live on-line at www.wort-fm.org.

Cindy and Craig are the parents of Rachel Corrie, who was killed March 16, 2003 while defending a Palestinian home in Rafah, Gaza, from destruction. The Corries are in town for the opening performance of the one-woman play "My Name is Rachel Corrie." See this post for more information on the performances.

Call in during A Public Affair with your questions and comments! If you can't listen live, you can also download the program to listen later from the WORT archive, available at www.wort-fm.org

The Catastrophe in Gaza

All of us that are active in Palestinian issues -- and anyone concerned with human rights -- are outraged and disgusted by Israeli attacks on the civilian population of Gaza. Here are some accounts by activists to read:

• Jennifer Loewenstein, Associate Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, member of the board of the Israeli Coalition against House Demolitions-USA branch, founder of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project and a freelance journalist, wrote this excellent piece for CounterPunch.
• Kathy Walsh, of the Madison Rafah Sister City Project has written this reflection
• Sonia Rosen, PfP board member currently in Palestine for playground installation, wrote this account

How Playgrounds will also help the local economy

All the playgrounds that have previously been installed by PfP (and the two that Susie Abulhawa and Sonia Rosen are installing right now in the West Bank) have been manufactured and purchased in the U.S. and then shipped to Palestine. But we have an exciting new model that will soon be in place.

From now on, playgrounds will be constructed in Palestine. Our goal is to have something innovative and unique, and to even be able to incorporate Palestinian cultural elements in the designs. (To see results of a PfP-sponsored playground design competition, click here.)

We will not be buying actual playgorund equipment from manufacturers. In a way, it will be the same process as if we were building a buiding. We will advertise in the newspaper and take bids from local contractors, who will then take the designs and make architectural plans. There are fiberglass and metal factories there that will be used to make molds and pieces and some of it will be made from stone and other natural materials. We are not yet sure where they will get the raw materials. Most likely these will come from Israel because for all practical purposes they control the flow of all raw materials that are not native, like steel and aluminum, for example. Any stone will come from local quarries, as will other natural materials, hopefully.

We are so excited to make this transition in the way that the playgrounds are produced. Not only will we be providing fun, safe, and colorful equipment for children, but we will be helping to stimulate the devastated local economy as well.

Want to help? Consider making a tax-deductible donation TODAY! Send a check made out to "PfP-Madison" to the address to the left, or use the link to give by credit card through PayPal.

Our 2008 Project: A Playground for Jenin!

PfP-Madison is excited to announce that our first fundraising project is to raise $12,000 in 2008 to build a playground in the Jenin Refugee Camp.

This camp in the West Bank — home to 12,000 refugees — was destroyed during the last Intifada and hundreds of its citizens were massacred by the Israeli Army in 2002.

Needless to say, many children have been traumatized (42.3% of the camp’s residents are under the age of fifteen). In addition, since the playground equipment will be produced in the West Bank, our projects will also help to stimulate the devastated local economy.

There are so many ways that the playgrounds will benefit the communities. Please help us succeed!

Send a check made out to "PfP - Madison" to:
Playgrounds for Palestine - Madison
PO Box 5091
Madison, WI 53705-0091

Or return to the home page and follow the link to PayPal to make a credit card donation.

And THANK YOU!

My Name is Rachel Corrie to be Performed in Madison!

PfP-Madison will be tabling at the performances. Come out to see an important play about social justice and commitment, and support humanitarian aid for Gaza.

My Name is Rachel Corrie comes to Madison

Friday and Saturday March 7 & 8

7:30 pm

Orpheum Theater, 216 State Street

and

Friday and Saturday March 14 & 15

7:30 pm

Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street

On March 16, 2003, 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, of Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer in Rafah in the Gaza strip while attempting to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home. Her e-mails were subsequently published in the London Guardian, catching the eye of actor Alan Rickman and Guardian writer Katharine Viner. Rickman and Viner stitched together Rachel's e-mails and other writings provided by her parents into a powerful one-woman play, My Name is Rachel Corrie.

The play premiered at the Royal Court Theater in London, England in the spring of 2005, to sell-out houses and rave reviews. However, the U.S. premiere at the New York Theatre Workshop was "un-scheduled" amid cries of censorship. The London production subsequently had a successful off Broadway run at the Minetta Lane Theater in New York and since then about a dozen additional productions have been or will be mounted in Canada and the U.S. An Arabic version of the play is scheduled to open in Haifa, Israel on March 16 as a commemoration of Rachel's death. The producers have plans to tour it throughout Israel and the West Bank.

We are pleased to announce that on March 7 a local production of My Name is Rachel Corrie will open at the Orpheum Theater, 216 State Street, in Madison. Rachel's parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, will join us for opening night and be the featured guests at a benefit fish fry dinner at the Orpheum Lobby Restaurant, beginning at 5:30 pm. The play will also be performed on Saturday, March 8 at the Orpheum. Both shows begin at 7:30 pm. Play tickets are $5.00. Dinner tickets are $25 per person or $40 per couple and include play admission, with net proceeds going to a humanitarian project in Gaza.
On Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 the play will move to the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street, also at 7:30 pm. A donation is requested for admission.


For more information call 608-906-3207 or e-mail rafahsistercity@yahoo.com
For reviews of other productions of the play, and for background on the play and the Rachel Corrie case, visit www.rachelcorriefoundation.org or www.madisonrafah.org


The script in the form of a book of the same name is available for purchase at Rainbow Bookstore on Gilman Street, and will be available at the performances too.