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The double standards: Islam El Shehaby vs The World

August 17, 2016 3 comments

Islam El Shehaby (photo/Islam Elshehaby)

Islam El Shehaby (photo/Islam Elshehaby)

  1. FB_IMG_1471408916838

    Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby was 9 times African Champion 2002-2013 and he was World bronze medallist in 2010 in Tokyo. El Shehaby won 18 World Cup medals and achieved victories in Abu Dhabi, Dusseldorf, Cairo, Moscow, Qingdao and Baku. In 2016 silver at the Grand Prix in Düsseldorf.

Read more…

Categories: BDS, Celebrities For Palestine, Gaza/Palestine, News Tags: , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine; Cultural Activism with Ben Rivers

December 10, 2014 Leave a comment

by Marivel Guzman

A talk by Ben Rivers on Playback Theatre and Popular Struggle in Occupied Palestine. Photo: Bhagya Prakash. K

A talk by Ben Rivers on Playback Theatre and Popular Struggle in Occupied Palestine. Photo: Bhagya Prakash. K

Since December 2011, The Freedom Theatre’s Freedom Bus has engaged thousands of Palestinians and people from abroad in cultural actions that address Israel’s practice of settler colonialism, military occupation and structural apartheid. The Freedom Bus partners with village cooperatives, popular struggle committees and grassroots organizations to hold multi-day “solidarity stays” and “freedom rides” in villages, towns, refugee camps and Bedouin communities throughout the occupied West Bank. These events involve community visits, interactive seminars, guided walks, Hakawati (traditional storytelling), building construction, and protective presence activity.

A central feature of Freedom Bus events is the use of Playback Theatre. Through this method, a troupe of Palestinian actors and musicians invite stories from the audience and subsequently transform each account into a piece of improvised theatre. By sharing stories about the realities of life under colonization and apartheid, community members aim to mobilize audience members in the broader struggle for freedom and equality in historic Palestine.

Irene Fernández Ramos writes for her Storytelling, Agency and Community-building through Playback Theatre in Palestine What is Playback Theatre?
Playback Theatre is a form of non-scripted, interactive community-based theatre created in the 1970s in the United States by Jonathan Fox. A Playback Theatre event usually lasts around seventy-five minutes and it is constructed from the stories of members of the audience who are invited by a conductor to share short or long stories, or ideas, with the rest of the audience. The new storyteller steps forward and sits on the edge of the stage, where he or she is seen by the performers and by the audience. With the help of the conductor’s questions, this new ‘storyteller’ narrates his or her experience allowing the performers to understand the personal feelings lying behind the story and to translate them into improvised theatrical language. Read more on her essay here 

Endorsers of the Freedom Bus include personalities such Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Judith Butler, Maya Angelou, Noam Chomsky, Omar Barghouti and Peter Brook. (Click for the full list of endorsers).
The Freedom Bus is also endorsed by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), Code Pink in between other organizations.

Freedom Bus The heart and art of playbackUsing stories, photographs and video, Ben Rivers speaks about the Freedom Bus initiative and its role within the popular struggle movement.

Palestinian Solidarity Committee in India and 1 Shanthiroad last February organised a talk (Video) by Ben Rivers, a British-Australian drama therapist and co-founder of The Freedom Bus Initiative with The Freedom Theatre in Palestine, on playback theatre and popular struggle in Occupied Palestine. In the talk Ben focused on the cultural activities of the Freedom Bus Initiative, including ‘solidarity stays’ in which the team resides in a village for some days, acting as a protective cover or re-building homes . “We also work very closely with grassroots, popular struggle groups and organisations. We organize political actions together.” Excerpt from the Hindu.com

In his talk, Ben narrated some of his experiences working with the communities in occupied Palestine.

“In the South of the West Bank, in a region known as South Hebron Hills, we were on the outskirts of a village called Atwani, where a very small community lives. A lot of their land was stolen by people of a settlement nearby who were hostile. Palestinians who are grazing their sheep on the hills are regularly attacked by them. Palestinian children used to be stoned by the settlers as they walked to to school.”

Categories: Awareness, Celebrities For Palestine, Culture, Education and Politics Tags: , , , , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine; Gideon Levy on Real Journalism

December 6, 2014 Leave a comment

by Marivel Guzman

 

Gideon Levy, journalist and author

Gideon Levy, journalist and author

Gideon Levy, journalist and author, born in Occupied Palestine in 1953 in Tel Aviv, is an Israeli anti-Zionist that has made his mission to write everything about the Israeli occupation, and the dehumanization of Palestinians. He is without a doubt a courageous man, a man of integrity that puts the truth before his own personal security.

“As the late Goldwyn Mayer phrased once, After the Holocaust the Jews has the right to do what ever they want. It took me some years to realize that this old outcome of ongoing process very systematic of dehumanizing the Palestinians which enable the Israelis to feel good about themselves, to feel moral to feel even democrats while, when it comes to the Palestinians they behave so different, I can tell you is a deep conviction that any Israeli, left, right, center does not treat the Palestinians as not equals.” Excerpt from an interview for the film “How we can solve the Palestinians Israeli Problem” by Sami Moukaddem

Gideon Levy is a rare voice of courage in an Israeli media generally supine towards the political establishment. Since 1988, he has written the “Twilight Zone” column for the Israeli daily Haaretz, documenting unflinchingly the myriad cruelties inflicted on the Palestinian people under occupation. Electronic Intifada
Levy was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996.
They haven’t succeeded in silencing me, said Levy.

The killing of Palestinians by soldiers and policemen will never shock Israel

“I will continue to write about the brutality of this war, about the atrocities, the mass killing of civilians and the horrifying destruction in Gaza.”
Dehumanization allows Israel to strengthen its occupation and deny Palestinians rights, said Levy.
“Gideon Levy is the most hated man in Israel – and perhaps the most heroic. This “good Tel Aviv boy” – a sober, serious child of the Jewish state – has been shot at repeatedly by the Israeli Defense Force, been threatened with being “beaten to a pulp” on the country’s streets, and faced demands from government ministers that he be tightly monitored as “a security risk.” This is because he has done something very simple, and something that almost no other Israeli has done. Nearly every week for three decades, he has traveled to the Occupied Territories and described what he sees, plainly and without propaganda. ” The Independent, September 24, 2010
Israel is addicted to occupation“My modest mission,” he says, “is to prevent a situation in which many Israelis will be able to say, ‘We didn’t know.’” And for that, many people want him silenced.

For some Israelis, he is seen as a brave disseminator of the truth. But many others condemn him as a propagandist for Hamas. And his columns for the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper have made him, arguably, one of the most hated men in Israel.

“When I joined Haaretz newspaper, I started to visit the occupied territories,” Levy says. “I immediately realized this was what I wanted to do; to understand the brutality and inhumanity of the Israeli occupation.”

“I figured out three things. First, this was the biggest drama facing the state of Israel. Second, this story was not being covered by the Israeli media. And third, this was going to be my life mission – to report about the Israeli occupation to Israeli readers who did not want to know what was really happening
there.”

Israeli journalist Gideon Levy argues that Middle East peace will never come until the Israeli government drops its rejection of basic Palestinian rights. “Sure Israel wants peace, Israel just doesn’t want a just peace,” Levy says. “It is all about justice. You look backward and you ask yourself in which stage, in which moment, was Israel willing to give up the occupation? Give me one example in which there was a genuine readiness to put an end to the occupation. It was never there. It was all about gaining time and maintaining the status quo — namely the West Bank occupied, Gaza under siege, peaceful life in Israel. … If you want the ultimate proof for it, it’s the [West Bank] settlements. Israel never stopped building settlements, and [in doing so] says to the Palestinians and the world, [we] have no intention to give up this piece of land.” Levy also discusses why he has received threats after calling on Israeli Air Force pilots to refuse to bomb Gaza, and why he sees a potential Palestinian effort to take Israel to the International Criminal Court as a positive step.

Gideon Levy (21:53)

 

This is 1 part of 7 of Gideon Levy Presentation in Toronto.

 

 

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Jewish Identity, Opinion Maker Tags: , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine shows their support through cultural boycott – Junot Diaz

November 9, 2014 1 comment

by Marivel Guzman

Artists and Intellectuals Including Junot Díaz, Chuck D, and Boots Riley Call for Boycott and Divestment from Israel

Junot Diaz, becoming an author in Oprah.com Photo: Nancy Crampton

Junot Diaz, becoming an author in Oprah.com Photo: Nancy Crampton

More #Celebrities4Pal openly coming out endorsing Palestine, the voices are growing louder and thicker. Every day we discover more celebrities adding their voices to Cultural Boycott against Israel.
Junot Diaz, the 45-year-old Dominican-American Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  fiction editor at Boston Review. He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedom University, a volunteer organization in Georgia that provides post-secondary instruction to undocumented immigrants. Diaz is Pulitzer winner author of several books; This is How you Lose her, Drown, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, (Wikipedia)

Last September  Diaz called on the Brooklyn Book Festival to reject sponsorship from Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs. In an open Letter to the Brooklyn Book Festival advising against accepting Israeli Sponsorship

Tell the Brooklyn Book Festival to no longer accept partnerships with the Israeli government or complicit institutions.

“It is deeply regrettable that the Festival has chosen to accept funding from the Israeli government just weeks after Israel’s bloody 50-day assault on the Gaza Strip, which left over 2100 Palestinians – including 500 children – dead, displaced a fourth of the population, destroyed homes, schools, and hospitals, and involved numerous potential war crimes. Sustaining a partnership with the Israeli Consulate at this time amounts to a tacit endorsement of Israel’s many violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.” An excerpt from the open letter to the Brooklyn Book Festival

 

On September 30,  during his Lecture at Clark University he made mention of the pressure scholars feel when they speak out for Palestine, and shared his personal experiences as a call to support the Palestinian people.

“We are extremely excited to have an author of Diaz’s stature visit Clark,” said Paul Posner, director of the University’s Latin American and Latino Studies concentration and faculty organizer of the event.  “His work deals with issues – colonialism’s legacy in Latin America, cultural identity and language, immigration and gender relations, among others – that are of central importance to many of our students and faculty.”
Endorsing The U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel a statement from Diaz was published as a Press release saying that Diaz joins Chuck D and Boots Riley as prominent artists who have recently endorsed the boycott

” If there exists a moral arch to the universe then Palestine will eventually be free but that promised day will never arrive unless we, the justice-minded peoples of our world, fight to end the cruel blight of the Israeli occupation. Our political, religious and economic leaders have always been awesome at leading our world into conflict, only we the people alone with little else but our courage and our solidarities and our invincible hope can lead our world into peace.” Junot Diaz

 

Every day we discover a new Celebrities4palestine showing either they disgust for Israel Apartheid policy of segregation or their open support for Palestine.
It is commendable to recognize their openness, knowing that they are risking their careers. In the US it is career suicide to support Palestine, but when in comes to persons of integrity they can’t hide it, it is against their moral compass.

Celebrities in another kind of cultural work, article published in the Blog of huffingtonpost.com

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Education and History, News Tags: , , , , ,

Celebrities For Palestine – Suheir Hammad her Palestinian blood speaks with her poetry

October 31, 2014 1 comment

Suheir Hammad

Suheir Hammad

One of our own #Celebs4Pal Suheir Hammad, a Palestinian poetess, actress and peace activist. Suheir Hamad is a gift to us, to Palestine, to Palestinians, to the Palestinian Solidarity Movement and to the women of the world.  Suheir Hammad’s poetry is empowering by her women inner voice.

Over the years we have witnessed the pain of the land (Palestine) we seen her mothers taking their sons to the grave only with their courage and their pride as mothers of the martyrs of the land.

She is Palestinian one hundred percent Palestinian,  she takes her blood to the stages of the world. Her poetry is powerful, energetic and even though it is sad poetry, her poetry deliver hope.

“As a child I had this sense that God was a huge poet,” she said. Her father taught her nationalist songs, which she later realized were originally written as poems. She then went on to discover for herself the great
Palestinian poetry has this pain ingrained in its soul, Mahmoud Darwish poetry has been an inspiration for thousands of poets, Suheir Hammad, Palestinian herself, said that his poetry played a significant role in her life and eventually in her poetry.

In ‘Salt of the Sea’ Suheir Hammad walks the streets of Palestine showing her (Palestine) terrible tragedy of being occupied land,  “Salt of the Sea’  gives every Palestinian in the exile a taste of Palestine, to the world ‘Salt of the Sea’ gives testimony of an occupy land.

A fact little known is that our #Celebs4Pal Danny Glover, a known American actor was part of the Salt of the Sea production Co-producing of the project.

“The range of international co-producers — including Danny Glover’s Louverture Films — attests to the well-intentioned multinational desire to support Palestinian cinema, and “Salt” has received numerous pre- and post-production grants, including funding from San Sebastian’s Cinema in Motion 3 and the Hubert Bals Fund. Too bad Jacir’s characters are written to explain a situation rather than enjoy an independence of personality.” Variety.com
To understand Suheir’s poetry you need  to understand women’s struggles, Palestinian’s struggles and her being born out of Palestinian refugees that even though have found a place in the world to raise a family they never forget Palestine. How could they?

When she read the script of Salt Of the Sea, she saw poetry in it and acted as Palestinians and not as an actress. The film was a success but as Suheir said,

“the film is really marginalized” she explains, “ but it’s also part of a continuum… so now other films that are not that aesthetic or are not that drive will have a chance now, because it pushed the door open. The victory is to see your position as part of the continuum and that’s where the hope is.”

Roddy Doyle, Brigid Keenan, Suheir Hammad, Ahdaf Soueif,

Roddy Doyle, Brigid Keenan, Suheir Hammad, Ahdaf Soueif,

http://globalartscentral.com/suheir-hammad-the-palestinian-poet-born-black/

Salt of the Sea Trailer Trailer

Support Suheir Hammad with her career, her activism and  her poetry.

That is the beauty of being a #Celebs4Pal all their success,  and their power taken to the stages, at the end their support Palestine with their voice.

 

In her poems and plays, Suheir Hammad blends the stories and sounds of her Palestinian-American heritage with the vibrant language of Brooklyn to create a passionately modern voice. TED.com

Follow her in her twitter https://twitter.com/yosuheirhammad, and support her directly buying her poetry, attending her speeches and her acting career.

Suheir Poetry at Amazon.com

The only way to support Palestine is if we are strong, for that we must support each other and unfortunately we can not travel the world speaking for Palestine if there is no financial support. We are supporting Palestine when we support our #Celebs4Pal through their art.

Poems of war, peace, women and power

Poet Suheir Hammad performs two spine-tingling spoken-word pieces: “What I Will” and “break (clustered)” — meditations on war and peace, on women and power. Wait for the astonishing line: “Do not fear what has blown up. If you must, fear the unexploded.” TED.com


Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Facebook Activists, Ocuppied Land, Palestine Tags: , , , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine show their love for humanity through their music – Michael Heart

October 14, 2014 1 comment

From Michael Heart Official Page

Michael Heart, singer and composer of We will not go down, dedicated to the people of Gaza

Michael Heart the singer and composer of “We will not go down, Gaza Tonight” song dedicated to the people of Gaza, Palestine

Michael Heart has no propensity for nonsense. Neither in his life nor in his music. His no-frills approach to songwriting and production work is a clear testament to that. Despite his vastly diverse musicianship skills in different genres (clearly a direct result of having been raised all over the world), he has an affinity for authenticity and purity when it comes to his music. When he makes a Pop/Rock record, you just know it’s a Pop/Rock record.

Such is the case with his debut Pop/Rock CD titled “Unsolicited Material”. Although this record may not necessarily entirely sound like the work of his musical influences, you can definitely hear traces of artists such as Don Henley and Bryan Adams, in a song or two.

His raspy, breathy voice has a very identifiable sound, which commands attention from the listener. The songs are well crafted and the lyrical content is somewhat diverse, yet relevant. He tackles serious topics such as adultery (“Living In Sin”); the challenges of making a living (“Life Goes On”); war (“Damaged World”) and even domestic violence (“Finally Free”). Having said that, once in a while, Michael still lets his sense of humor come out in a song like “Wanna Be Bad”. After all, rock’n roll is about having a good time. And just for good measure, he includes the obligatory, radio-friendly, mid-tempo, Pop/Rock love song, “Lost In You”. Although the moods of the various songs on this CD do vary, there is still a common thread in all of these songs that unify them as a collective work.

Michael’s background is as diverse as can be. Born in Syria and raised in Europe (Switzerland and Austria) and the United States, he has lived a multi-cultural life and absorbed the music of different parts of the world (although his current CD release is purely categorized as Pop/Rock). He started out on piano and guitar at age 10. Shortly thereafter, he began dabbling in songwriting and eventually made the natural progression towards recording.

After earning his audio engineering degree from Full Sail (recording school), he moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and spent the past 20 years working on the local studio circuit both as a session guitarist and a recording engineer.

In that time, he has worked with such artists as Brandy, Will Smith, Toto, Natalie Cole, The Temptations, Phil Collins, Patty LaBelle, The Pointer Sisters, Earth Wind & Fire, Rickie Lee Jones, Lou Rawls, Jesse McCartney, Hillary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Paige, Al Jarreau, K-Ci & Jojo, Deborah Cox, Monica, Taylor Dayne, Keiko Matsui, Steve Nieves, Luis Miguel and Tarkan. Michael’s fluency in French was definitely an added bonus when he also worked in the studio with French artists like Calogero (The Charts), Marc Lavoine and Veronique Sanson. Other projects also included work with producers Rodney Jerkins, Philippe Saisse and David Foster. (note: on most of these recording credits, Michael is credited as “Annas Allaf”, his real name, Michael Heart being the stage name). Although most of Michael’s work has been in the recording studio, he has also done some touring (notably back in the early 90’s, when he toured as a Flamenco guitarist in a guitar trio with Juan Manuel Canizares, opening for Dire Straits). He has also recorded and toured with the smooth jazz band Jango.

Michael Heart A Voice for Gaza (Cover of Gaza Tonight)

Michael Heart A Voice for Gaza (Cover of Gaza Tonight)

Michael has also written songs in support of various causes.  The most recent song, “What About Us” was written about the tragic situation in Syria. The song “Freedom” was inspired by the popular protests in North Africa and the Middle East.  His song “We Will Not Go Down” was written about the horrific situation of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Michael also wrote a song called “Help is on the Way”, about the devastating earthquake in Haiti, in 2010.

These days, when he is not working on his own original music, Michael lends his production skills working with local artists in the Los Angeles area.

DOWNLOAD mp3 HERE http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-w…
A SONG ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS, NOT RELIGION.

ALL MUSIC RIGHTS RESERVED. Michael Heart Copyright 2009. Please do not use this song in any new videos.

http://www.michaelheart.com/

This is the original video. The very first one that was posted on YouTube in Jan 2009, by Michael Heart, before it spread like wildfire all over the internet. Yes, it is primitive and very low quality, but there it is.

Visit Michael Heart’s official YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZHg…

Check out his 2-part video interview here below:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmgfcL…

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FEgy-…

Thank you for supporting Michael and his music! You can buy his debut Pop/Rock album “Unsolicited Material” here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/unso…

Categories: Akashma, Awareness, Bands/Music, Celebrities For Palestine, Gaza/Palestine Tags: , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine: Julia Boutros sings for Gaza

October 14, 2014 1 comment

by Marivel Guzman

Julia Boutros in Dubai during One Candle Lit for Every Martyr Donations to be gathered on campus

Julia Boutros in Dubai during One Candle Lit for Every Martyr
Donations to be gathered on campus

Lebanese Christian Julia Boutros is considered one of the top pop singers of the Arab world. She has just released a new album, entitled ‘Righteousness is my weapon’ in which she praises the steadfastness of Hamas and other Gaza resistance groups for giving a bloody nose to the Jewish army.

 

“Righteousness is my weapon and I resist. Despite my pain I will resist, I will not give up, I will not give in. And about my country I will not compromise” said one of the verses of his praise song for Gaza resistance fighters.

“My home is here, my land is here. the sea, the plains, the river are ours. And how, while facing fire can I be peaceful” continue the song

 

The newly released “Al-Haq Silahi” (The Right is my Weapon) is an ode to the Palestinian resistance fighting in Gaza and all those who resisted Israeli occupation. The song rejects Israeli settlements, supporting the Palestinian claim to the natural landscapes of the occupied territories, said Albawaba
in veooz.com

 

Julia has vocally supported Hizbullah and the “Resistance” despite being a Christian herself – making her a living embodiment of how an “Islamic Resistance” could transcend nationalism.

According to wiki article 0n October 11, 2006, Boutros announced a new single called “Ahibaii” (My loved ones). The lyrics are based on a letter sent by Hizbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah to the fighters in South Lebanon during the 2006 Summer War between Hezbollah and Israel. The poet Ghassan Matar adapted the original text. The music is composed by Ziad, brother of Julia and arranged by Michel Fadel. The profits from the song’s sale went to help the families of Hizbollah fighters and to all Lebanese who died during the Israel-Lebanon conflict

Boutros began singing at the age of 12. From very beginning of her singing career, she decided to use her talent on behalf of others. Her first song, a French tune titled ‘A Maman“, was dedicated to all mothers on Mother’s Day. It proved to be the first step in a lifelong journey of dedication: her gift to others.

 

By the age of 14, she had released her first album, titled ‘C’est La Vie’ (This is Life), which was written and composed by Elias Rahbani. It was also around this time that the civil war in Lebanon broke out, playing a central role in Julia’s life and bringing into sharp focus her desire to commit herself and her singing to humanity and civilization in the Lebanese community in particular and the world in general.

 

Julia Boutros speaking at the American University in Dubai for an event to raise funds for Gaza

Julia Boutros speaking at the American University in Dubai for an event to raise funds for Gaza

On January 2009, the Palestinian Arab Cultural Club at the American University in Dubai organized the AUD Rally and Candlelight Vigil, in support of the people in Gaza. The event took place on campus where members of the faculty, administrative and student bodies at AUD assembled to raise their voices against the massacres in Gaza in the presence of the Consul General of the State of Palestine in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, Mr. Hussein Abdul Khalek, and Mrs. Julia Boutros – who participated to express her solidarity with the innocent in Gaza-, as well as prominent dignitaries from the media.

 

Early on, unlike other artists of her age, Boutros dedicated her career to a cause. This burning desire to be a voice for others led directly in 1985 to her recording “Ghabet Shams Al Haq”, which was composed by Julia’s brother Ziad Boutros, who composes most of her work today. The song expresses her anger at the continued killing of the innocents: children, women, men and the elderly civilians by Jewish army and its Christian Lebanese Phalangist collaborators.

“The only thing we were able to do at the time was to raise our voices and send a message to the world, and that was achieved by my first song” says Julia.

She wanted to send a message, and she did so, forcefully. One week after this song was released; Julia’s voice entered every house in the Arab world. Her voice had become their voice, with millions of people singing her songs. Even schools began teaching the children the real meanings of Julia’s words.

After “Ghabet Shams Al Haq”, Julia would say, “I felt that I had a responsibility and that it is to speak on behalf of my people whose voice goes unheard“.

Today, Julia’s fans range from children to elderly, as she became a national symbol for Nationalism, Patriotism, Resistance and even Romance.

Julia received several national and international awards, including the Lebanese President’s Award which was presented to Julia for her contribution, through her voice, to the Lebanese Islamic Resistance Hizbullah against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, shortly after the liberation of the South in May 2000.

Recently, and during the 2006 Israeli 34-day carpet-bombing of Lebanese civilian population, Julia Boutros was featured on Al Jazeera TV Station in a special program; she talked about the Politics in the Arab world, daring to say the least. She has today developed a fundraising project for the families of all Lebanese Martyrs who perished during the 34-day war.

 

Exclusive: Christian singer Julia Botrous honors fighters in Gaza with subtitles in English (الحق سلاحي). Her newly released 2014 music video “Righteousness is my weapon” refers to resistance movements in Gaza. Released on July 25, 2014, under Al-Mayadeen television.

 

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Gaza/Palestine, Lebanon, Middle East, News Tags: , , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine – Iranian pop musicians with one voice sing for Gaza children

October 11, 2014 Leave a comment

Iranian pop singers to sing for Gaza

“Singing of Love and Hope in Solidarity with Innocent Children of Gaza”

A number of Iranian pop singers participated in a series of concerts in Tehran in support of the children of Gaza.

The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has authorized 11 pop singers to have a live performances in Tehran for the festival of “Singing of Love and Hope in Solidarity with Innocent Children of Gaza”.

Xaniar Khosravi,

Xaniar Khosravi,

Xaniar Khosravi, before to his April live concert Khosravi was considered an underground pop singer, he was allowed to perform in public for the first time on April.

Khosravi is part of the group of Iranian singers to take part in the concert for Gaza’s children. Kkosravi is one of the emerging singers that become famous in the internet even before he staged a live concert.

When last April he announced his public performance the tickets were quickly sold out.

“I am so sad I couldn’t get a ticket. I wanna die,” one unlucky fan wrote on the singer’s Facebook page.

Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, musicians must be approved by the culture ministry, which checks whether a song’s lyrics and music can be deemed in line with the country’s moral values.

Iran had proved to be one of the few Palestinians supporters on the planet. It had supported Palestinian leadership and its people with money, weapon technology and political muscle on the floor of the United Nations.

Iran officially endorses the creation of a Palestinian state, In official forums Iran refers Palestine as under occupation by the Zionist regime. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, rejects a two state solution and stated that Palestine is inseparable

The list of singers that take part in the concert are as follow:
Xaniar Khosravi, Sirvan Khosravi, Morteza Pashaee, Kiarash Hasanzadeh, Mehdi Yarahi, Benyamin Bahadori, Behnam Safavi, Farzad Farzin, Reza Yazdani and Reza Sadeghi

“Singing of Love and Hope in Solidarity with Innocent Children of Gaza” Concert The rights for these live performances are reserved for Hafiz Institute of Art and Culture.

When people think about Palestine most probably relate to it by the media propagated Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Palestine is older that Israel supporters are willing to accept. Palestine is old, prove of that is Gaza that little tiny piece of Mediterranean port, in history books is considered one of the oldest sports on earth.

“Surely now there is room for us to turn to the spirit of Hafiz’s teaching. For if ever there was a time when we needed the universality of Hafiz as a guiding light it is today when there are forces that threaten the roots of humanity. Class and race competition threaten to submerge the highest joy of life and living – namely, the search for, and conquest of, true beauty and goodness which, could we but know it, are ever within our grasp.

In that spirit I appeal to the intellectual classes in this country to come and join up with the Iran Society, to help forward similar association, to study and understand Islamic, Hindu and Far Eastern philosophy, culture, literature and art. Thus the spiritual and emotional inheritance of Great Britain, Europe and America(North and South) should not be merely derived from Greece and Judaism, but from the world as a whole, for I am certain that Asiatic culture in its widest sense can bring as much to man’s common heritage as either Greece or Palestine.” Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, in Novemember 9, 1936, during his inaugural lecture before the Iranian Society, in London, United Kingdom.”

I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself
a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me
That I can no longer call myself
a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure soul.
Love has befriended Hafiz.
It has turned to ash and freed me
Of every concept and image my mind has ever known.
A poem by Hafiz, 1320 c.e to 1389

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Iran, News Tags: , , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine use their royalty status to seek justice; Queen Rania

October 6, 2014 2 comments

Queen Rania of Jordan Coronation

by Marivel Guzman

 

Queen Rania, a Palestinian by birth, is an international celebrity and has been often noted for her commitment to charity work geared toward women’s education, but also Rania had dedicated her precious time to seek justice for Palestinians. As a first lady, consort to the King of Jordan, she probably can not speak broadly without diplomatic repercussions for her country, but she does it in her role of social activist and she does very well.  Her vocal support for Palestine has been latent in the news since she married king Abdullah of Jordan.

As a Jordanian, Queen Rania whose family is of Palestinian origin, she is concerned with the plight of Palestinians, On 2011, Queen Rania led a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Jordan’s capital, Amman. She urged the international community to end the massacres being committed in the occupied territories.

In Jordan, where nearly a third of the population is composed of Palestinian refugees, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is “a hurt we feel each day,” Queen Rania Al Abdullah told a packed audience at Yale on Sept. 22, 2009.  (Video attached)

“Larry King Live” on April 16, Queen Rania seemed to almost usurp Jordanian foreign policy from her husband. When King asked her about Jordan’s position on Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians, she replied:

“Jordan has been very, very clear in this regard. We stand against any aggression committed against any innocent civilians, irrespective of the perpetrator or the victim. We do not approve of any aggression. We made that very clear.” Then — almost as an afterthought — she added, “King Abdullah also made that very clear.”  said the Globalist

On 27 July UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl met at UNRWA Headquarters in Amman with Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah to discuss the severe crisis and to express the Agency’s gratitude for the support of the Kingdom of Jordan.
During the meeting, which included several members of the UNRWA team, Her Majesty said that the attacks on helpless civilians on UNRWA premises and other humanitarian spaces in Gaza “demonstrate the blatant disregard for human life in this conflict. What more proof does the world need that there is no safe place in Gaza? No safe place for tens of thousands of desperate and defenseless civilians seeking refuge from the violence?”

Queen Rania addresses the audience during her visit to Yale University.
NY, USA/ September 22, 2009

 

 

Queen Rania makes an urgent plea on behalf of all the civilians living in Gaza for a “humanitarian ceasefire” and for the international community to do all it can to help alleviate the suffering.
Amman, Jordan/ January 5, 2009

 

 

 

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Education and History, Education and Politics Tags: , , , ,

Celebrities for Palestine awaken conscience speak up; Marjorie Wright

October 4, 2014 4 comments

by Marivel Guzman

Marjorie Wright, American writer and producer winner of the 2009 Armin T. Wegner Award

Marjorie Wright, American writer and producer winner of the 2009 Armin T. Wegner Award

Marjorie Wright is an American filmmaker of conscience concerned with human rights. In 2008 wrote and Co-directed with Lucy Martens, “Voices From Inside, Israelis Speak,” a film that weaves historic footage with modern-day views of Palestine: its partition walls, “apartheid roads,” demolished homes and the Israeli soldiers sent to “protect” Israel, says, The San Francisco Reporter.

In 2011 Wright was part of a group of 267  artists and supporters of the arts—including dozens of prominent playwrights, actors, directors, filmmakers, producers and theater professors from the U.S., New Zealand, Israel, England and other countries—have signed a public letter to Israeli authorities decrying the Israeli military’s attacks on The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, a northern city in the West Bank, Palestine, which was founded by Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was assassinated on  4 April 2011 in  Jenin.

Voices From Inside, Israelis Speak is a documentary film tracing an Israeli evolution of consciousness from early Zionism, a holocaust perspective, and seeds of militaristic nationalism to a positive modern perspective of conscience, honesty, and reconciliation: the real path to lasting peace.
The 16 peace activists interviewed for the film say citizens of Israel need to wake up to the country’s reality, particularly parents who send their sons and daughters to the army in which, “blinded by power,” they commit unspeakable acts.

Those Jews who speak out against human-rights abuses in Israel and Palestine increasingly face their own “ominous loss of rights,” Wright says. “There have been arrests, confiscation of computers, threats of huge fines and imprisonment.” Recent interviews with American Jewish academics, Wright says, point to the rise of what they call “fascist elements inside Israeli society and the erosion of rights even for Jewish citizens.”

The film was awarded  Arpa’s Armin T. Wegner in 2009, which each year is awards a motion picture that contributes to the fight for social conscience and human rights, “Voices from Inside: Israelis Speak.” “This feature length documentary film is based on the stories of 16 Jewish Israeli voices of conscience, each representing a different facet of the peace movement inside Israel,” says Zaven Khachaturian, Arpa Film Festival Curator who invited the film to the festival.

On 2013,  said of the film ” Voices Across the Divide,  that millions of dollars are spent on campus groups and in the media, aggressively promoting an Israel-right-or-wrong political stand and actively attacking students, professors, writers, and performers who exhibit sympathy or interest in “the other side.” This muzzling of the dialogue is a major threat to our fundamental principles of free speech and tolerance and thus to our basic democratic values. It is also deeply corruptive to our foreign policy and our ability to understand how others see us. Voices Across the Divide follows Alice Rothchild’s personal journey as she begins to understand the Palestinian narrative, while exploring the Palestinian experience of loss, occupation, statelessness, and immigration to the US, exploring voices for a just peace in the region.” Written by Alice Rothchild

Voices From Inside

 

Voices From Inside, Israelis Speak Part 2

 

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine, Films, Gaza/Palestine, News Tags: , , , , ,

Celebrities For Palestine standing tall for a just cause – Vanessa Redgrave

September 26, 2014 2 comments

by Marivel Guzman

'My politics have become rights-based. That’s my duty. I’m pledged to put children before anybody’s politics' … Vanessa Redgrave. Photograph: David Levene

‘My politics have become rights-based. That’s my duty. I’m pledged to put children before anybody’s politics’ … Vanessa Redgrave. Photograph: David Levene

It takes courage to speak about Israel’s crimes, but it takes integrity to speak for Palestine, Vanessa Redgrave the 1977 Oscar winner has been political activist for most of her life, during her Oscar acceptance speech in 1978, she took the opportunity to denounce the Zionist lobby, calling them “Zionist hoodlums”.

Redgrave is a well known actress that regardless of the Jewish lobby in Hollywood has managed to work in hundreds of films, just in United States she is being nominated more times for her acting roles more than any other actress in the US.
‘Howards End‘ (1993), The Bostonians  (1985), Julia (1977)  won her the Oscar, Redgrave has been nominated throughout her career 53 times, won 50 awards in diverse categories.

Hollywood is a big stage for worldwide actors and at the same time it is a place where you get blacklisted if you speak against Israel, for Vanessa Redgrave did not work she continued to work after that controversial speech at the Oscars.

This is a reminder to all celebrities that trade their integrity for stardom, a reminder to all celebrities that speak the truth about Palestine and then they retract themselves, Vanessa Redgrave should be your example of integrity, she has stand for her believes without fearing repercussions in here career.

Ms Redgrave is a hero that uses the stage for her roles as an actress and as the platform to speak for the voiceless.

Julia, The Palestinian and the Oscar controversy

In 1977, Redgrave funded and narrated a documentary film The Palestinian about Palestinians and the activities of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Vanessa Redgrave is a English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.

“when Vanessa Redgrave took the stage at the Oscars in 1978 and nearly detonated her career by denouncing the Israeli government for its treatment of Palestine” from the Hollywood Reporter

This is part of her acceptance speech at the 1978 Oscars:

“My dear colleagues, I thank you very much for this tribute to my work. I think that Jane Fonda and I have done the best work of our lives, and I think this is in part due to our director, Fred Zinnemann.”

“And I also think it’s in part because we believed and we believe in what we were expressing–two out of millions who gave their lives and were prepared to sacrifice everything in the fight against fascist and racist Nazi Germany,” Redgrave continued.

She later added, “And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you’ve stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression.”

 

Vanessa Redgrave talks about those who support Palestine and the right of self determination. NYC Ethical Culture Jan. 13, 2008.

 


Redgrave’s support of the Palestinian Arabs has reduced her opportunities in Hollywood and even back home in England, where such support was and is more common. Redgrave almost certainly would have been made a Dame by now but for her outspoken views.

She was once married to director Tony Richardson who once said about her, “Vanessa Redgrave is controversial, her enemies hate her, and her friends dislike her.” Others admire her belief of justice for the oppressed, which has led her to such places as Sarajevo and Tibet.

The Palestinian, a 1977 documentary, where Vanessa Redgrave funded and lends her voice premier was sabotaged by “Zionist hoodlums”  The cinema in which this film was to be shown (The Doheny Plaza theatre, Los Angeles) was bombed (15th June, 1978: 04.26am) prior to its screening that day. Causing some $1000 damage, the film was shown at the same cinema the following night.

“Put Gaza’s children before politics, says Vanessa Redgrave” reads the the Guarding headlines on August 1, when Israel was mercilessly killing Palestinian in Gaza.
“I believe in political solutions not in military solutions, like Uri Avnery in Tel Aviv. I fear for the lives of the Israelis who are rallying for peace every Saturday in Tel Aviv. Who go, like Uri Avnery, to the Palestinian villages to stop shootings and demolitions of homes.

Humanitarian agencies have to talk to governments that other governments categorise as “the bad guys”. Until governments agree to talk to the “bad guys” we can never have justice nor peace nor a future for our children anywhere.
Vanessa Redgrave
London, August 1, 2014

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine Tags: , , , , , , ,

Celebrities For Palestine use the universal language of music for a just cause – Hamed Zamani

September 23, 2014 1 comment

by Marivel Guzman

Hamed Zamani #CelebritiesForPalestine from Iran

Hamed Zamani’s live performance in Isfahan to mark the International Quds Day (July 25, 2014)

Hamed Zamani’s live performance in Isfahan to mark the International Quds Day (July 25, 2014)

Hamed Zamani attended as a guest in the penning ceremony of “Children of Gaza Are Children of Iran Show” for supporting the oppressed children of Gaza, which was held on August 4, 2014.

There is no news that Iran is a country that supports Palestinian without having to hide their support. We could not expect less of their celebrities that can openly speak out their mind regarding Palestine.

Celebrities in other parts of the world are not bound to the yoke of Hollywood, which it is a town run by Jews, correctly asserted by Mel Gibson and Gary Oldman, which remarks had got them into the hot sit in the American media, controlled by Jews, mostly.
There is no crime to say it, but the crime is when celebrities are single out for speaking against Israel’s crimes   committed against the innocent population of Gaza. Celebrities in US live their artistic live with a invisible single cord around their necks, for some inexplicable reason you see photos of celebrities praying in the Kotel wall in the occupied side of Palestine, Jews or not. It is as, if they have to “show their support” for Israel photographing themselves by the whaling wall, also it is almost obligatory for celebrities to take photos with the Israeli Prime Minister in turn. Not Iranian celebrities’ case! It is your talent that buys your fan’s heart not your support for Israel.

“Zamani a 25-year-old Iranian singer who has emerged in Iran’s music arena in the past two years. Zamani -who belongs to the new generation of Iranian pop singers-has been able to attract a wide audience especially among the youth.” PRESS TV, published an article on its online version last February.

Most of Zamani’s songs are based on national and religious themes, defending the values of Iran’s Islamic Revolution., said PRESS TV

Last August 4, where the first Iran TV “Children of Gaza Are Children of Iran”  show was broadcasted,  Zamani was a guess to the show, here is what one his fans has to say:

This was so touching!! I hope inshallah the people of Gaza, especially the children, are able to see this and know we love them and that they to us “the children of iran”! Also, when I say that Br. Zamani is as rare as gem, This is proof. Him and I are the same age, and yet he speaks and thinks so much wiser mashallah! The hadith from the Holy Prophet (swaw) is so powerful and needs to be read and acted. I agree with him that we can help in our ways! as he is doing with his beautiful music and awareness. I am moved by this interview and the singing live was wow! I cried, only because the truth hurts me so much. Inshallah one day soon there will be peace for the innocent. As Always, Thank you to Br. Zamani for doing what he does best, and to his english based website. Mashallah to you all! May Allah always be with you. Amaneh

The TV show “Children of Gaza Are Children of Iran” — produced for supporting the oppressed children of Gaza — broadcasted its first episode on August 4, 2014 simultaneously on different IRIB TV channels. Hamed Zamani appears as a guest on the first show

The TV show “Children of Gaza Are Children of Iran” — produced for supporting the oppressed children of Gaza — broadcasted its first episode on August 4, 2014 simultaneously on different IRIB TV channels.
Hamed Zamani appeared as a guest on the first show

 

“I’m the voice of voiceless”; this is what Hamed Zamani told in describing his role in the music area. In his opinion, part of the people and their beliefs and ideals – which are Hamed Zamani’s beliefs and ideals indeed – have been ignored in most of musical works, while this group of people form a big part of society that were deprived from having an artist who addresses their values and intellectual concerns explicitly and with no preciosity or concealment. Hence, Hamed Zamani has always tried to express the concerns of this type of music audience in the form of art, through making songs with sublime themes about Islam and Infallible Imams (A.S), Islamic revolution, Holy Defense, martyrs and war veterans, struggling with the Global Arrogance and International Zionism, resistance against pressures and sanctions imposed by enemies, martyrs of nuclear technology, and many other similar notions which have been less considered or completely ignored in other artists’ works. (From his official Website)

Categories: Celebrities For Palestine Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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