After three months of independent reporting from the frontlines of the Israel-Palestine conflict, freelance photojournalist Jon Elmer and activist Valerie Zink will share their experiences of daily life on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories. Bombings, incursions, curfews, shootings, detentions, closures, and harassment are all part of the routine of life for Palestinians, and for the foreign reporters and witnesses living among them.
In the months before their trip, Jon and Val created FromOccupiedPalestine.org, an online journal featuring frontline reportage and an extensive resource archive. Throughout the months spent living and reporting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – from Jenin to Rafah - Val and Jon conducted and recorded some 50 interviews and testimonies with a cross-section of Palestinian society ranging from school children to resistance fighters, from Israeli politicians to Palestinian paramedics, from fourth grade math teachers to mothers who have lost children in the intifada.
We welcome you in joining us for an evening of photography, anecdote, analysis and discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Presentations include a slideshow, photo display/sale and the tabling of books, pamphlets, human rights reports, and CDs.
TOUR SCHEDULE
**See tour schedule
BIOS
Jon Elmer, 24, is a writer, photographer and activist who once studied philosophy at Dalhousie University. His interviews, writings and photographs have appeared in various publications, in several languages, including The Progressive, CounterPunch, Z, and the Journal for Palestine Studies.
Valerie Zink, 22, is a Halifax-based activist and history student at Dalhousie University.
IN THE NEWS
* Toronto Star, 8 January 2004: "The truth is out there", by Antonia Zerbisias
"...Don't be confused by the coverage [of the Nablus incursions] cited here because chances are you have seen none of it, no matter how much of a media junkie you may be. Mostly, the "operation" on the town, where homes have been dynamited and civilians confined to quarters, has merited a few sentences in the back pages of North America's newspapers, including this one. Not even CBC, the network that stands accused by the National Post and myriad Jewish groups of a systemic anti-Israel bias, has given the siege more than a few seconds of airtime... I know about Nablus thanks to sites such as palestinemonitor.org, palsolidarity.org and fromoccupiedpalestine.org." -- read full story
* Halifax Coast, 22 January 2004: War Stories", by Emily Kimber.
"...But first he had to win their trust. It wasn't easy. The Palestinians, he says, knew the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, once used faked Canadian passports in a plot to assassinate a militant Palestinian resistance leader, Khaled Mashaal, and that Israeli intelligence often uses journalists to collect information. Not surprisingly, ordinary Palestinians view Canadian journalists suspiciously. "The only way to combat that is to live amongst the people," Elmer says. "So instead of going into a city and collecting a story in two hours, I lived in a city for two months. I ate dinner with the families and drank coffee in the bars, played soccer with their children..."
ENDORSEMENT
"FromOccupiedPalestine is a recently launched project witnessing and documenting the horrors of the Israeli occupation. Living and travelling all over the occupied Palestinian territories under conditions of danger and harassment by the Israeli army, they continue to bring us the truth. Their site is a valuable source of information and documentation on virtually every aspect of the conflict. If in the future we cannot say that we did not know, it is much thanks to the hard work of such people." – Tanya Reinhart, Israeli professor of linguistics at Tel Aviv University, commentator and author of Israel-Palestine: How to End the War of 1948 (Seven Stories, 2002)
* The G7 Welcoming Committee approves: "If you live in western Canada, we strongly urge you to check out an incredible project that's on tour right now called From Occupied Palestine. It's a photo show and talk/discussion presented by Val and Jon, who spent three months in the Occupied Territories late last year, and it is not to be missed - truly enthralling, and at many points shocking." - G7 Welcoming Committee Records, News, 12 March 2004
CONTACT
Valerie Zink and Jon Elmer
val |at| fromoccupiedpalestine.org
jon |at| fromoccupiedpalestine.org
RESOURCES
*please email us for the printable format/resolution*
Poster: The Wall (colour)
Poster: Israeli sniper (colour)
Poster: Israeli soldier and Palestinian student (b&w)
Tour dates included
19 April in Calgary, AB
Ending the Occupations: Iraq, Palestine, and Canadian indigenous lands
A panel discussion
Carpenters Union Hall - 7pm
3 April in Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast
Sechelt Public Library - 2pm
1 April in Victoria, BC
UVSS Armed with Understanding Lecture Series,
David Lam Auditorium, University of Victoria - 6pm
31 March in Vancouver, British Columbia
SFU Harbour Centre,
BeerCompany Theatre, room 1700 - 7pm
directions: click here
29 March on the radio in Victoria, BC
Radio Free Victoria, Guerrilla Radio
CFUV 101.9FM - 5:30pm (Pacific)
listen online: click here
* tune it at 5pm (pst) to hear author Mickey Z
23-24 March in Banff National Park, AB
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge, Artists in Residence Program
18 March in Calgary, Alberta
Amnesty International Calgary
Old Y for Community Organizations,
223 - 12 Avenue SW - 7:30pm
more info: click here
15 March in Moose Jaw, SK
Services Employees International Union Hall,
39 Athabasca Street West - 7:30pm
13 March in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Amigos, 632 10th Street East - 7pm
11 March in Winnipeg, MB:
Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House,
91 Albert Street - 7:30pm
Read about Mondragon!: click here
10 March in Winnipeg, MB:
CKUW FM 95.9, "Black Mask" - 5-6pm Central Time
listen live online!: click here
10 March in Winnipeg, Manitoba:
University of Winnipeg, Bulman Student's Centre - Noon
8 March in Thunder Bay, ON:
Hammarskjold High School - 9:30am
(*classroom talk, closed to the public)
7 March in Thunder Bay, ON:
Lakehead University, ATAC Building rm 1001 - 6pm
6 March in Thunder Bay, ON:
Lakehead Unitarian Hall, 129 S. Algoma St - 7pm
3 March in High Park, Toronto:
A slideshow at Aaron and Steve's house - 9:30pm
1 March in Mississauga, ON:
U of T Mississauga, Student Centre Boardroom - 6:30pm
directions: click here
29 February in Peterborough, ON:
Trent University - 2:30pm
26 February in Toronto, ON:
York University, Student Center GSA rm 430 - 2pm
25 February in Toronto, ON:
U of T Scarborough, Humanities wing rm. H310 - 5pm
24 February in Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto, Galbraith Building,
35 St. George Street - 7pm
24 February in Burlington, ON:
Nelson High School, 1:55pm (*closed to public)
16 February in London, ON:
University of Western Ontario, Kresge K106 - 7pm
12 February in Hamilton, ON:
McMaster University, Health Sciences 1A6 - 6pm
11 February in Kingston, ON:
Queens University, Chernoff Hall room 117 - 7:30pm
7 February in Kingston, ON:
OPIRG's Action on Antiracism Conference: "Israeli Apartheid"
a panel with Jaggi Singh and Scott Weinstein
Queens University, Stirling Hall 412B - 1pm
5 February in Ottawa, Ontario:
Tory Building Room 210, Carleton University - 7pm
27 January in Halifax, NS:
Ondaatje Auditorium, FASS building,
Dalhousie University - 7pm
listen to the talk!: click here
25 January in Saint John, NB:
UNB Saint John - 3pm
24 January in Fredericton, New Brunswick:
MacLaggen Hall Auditorium,
University of New Brunswick - 2:30pm
22 January in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island:
Basilica Recreation Centre, Rm 108 - 7pm
20 January in Chester, Nova Scotia:
Chester High School - 1pm