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Formal notice of FOPWA Annual General Meeting

If you want to help shape the work of our organisation over the coming year, it’s vital that you attend our Annual General Meeting, which will be held from 2.00pm to 5.00pm on Saturday February 20th at the Hellenic Club, 75 Stirling St, Perth.

The agenda will be as follows:-

2.00pm-2.45pm: A watershed moment - reflections on the work of 2009 and
building the movement in 2010
2.45pm-3.00pm: Break
3.00pm-3.15pm: Membership officer’s report
3.15pm-3.30pm: Treasurer’s report
3.30pm-3.45pm: Election of office bearers
3.45pm-4.00pm: Break
4.00pm-5.00pm: Resolutions session

The resolutions session will be an opportunity for us to map out our strategic outlook for the coming year. Resolutions MUST be forwarded to this email address (friendsofpalestinewa@gmail.com) no later than 5.00pm, Wednesday February 17th. Only financial members may table motions and/or vote during the session. If you wish to join FOPWA or renew your membership, please download, print and send us a membership application form:-

http://www.fopwa.org/join-us/fopwa-membership-application-form

Alternatively, bring your completed membership form with you to the AGM and we will issue you with a membership card.

Debate in The Perth Voice

Below are two articles from the last two editions of The Perth Voice.

The first is dated 16/1/10 and is by Steve Lieblich, the director of public affairs of the Jewish Community Council.

Below his article is our reply.

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Commemorating GAZA - 1 year on. Perth, December 27.

Dear Friends of Palestine,

 

On December 27 we will commemorate 1 year since Israel began its deadly “Cast Lead” attack on the defenceless civilians of Gaza.

 

At least 1400 died and 5000 were seriously injured.

 

Israel continues to strangle Gaza; prohibited items ranging from crayons to concrete, so as winter takes hold Palestinians are building shelter out of mud bricks!

 

Please forward an invite all your contacts.

 

We hope that you will join us to remember this tragedy.

 

The siege on Gaza continues. We’d like to make the city shoppers reflect on this.

 

Details:

* Sunday December 27th (during extra shopping hours) * Gather at Wesley Church, crn Hay and Wiliam Street, Perth * Arrive at 12 noon. * We will walk as a funeral procession through the Hay and Murray Street Malls. * Wear black items

 

We do hope you can take some time out of your holiday period in solidarity for the continuing suffering of the Palestinian people.

Seven Jewish Children: A Play For Gaza Performance

Our performance of Seven Jewish Children last Saturday was a great success.  Around 50 people were in attendance and all the performers did a great job.  In the end we staged the play directly outside the doors of Kulcha, thus ensuring the arts venue’s management received the message loud and clear that censorship of such an important play is a complete outrage and will not be accepted lying down by anyone concerned about the preservation of free speech in our society. 

There was plenty of interest shown from passers-by and many people got to take home a copy of the script.  We also raised $211.70 for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

All in all it was a worthwhile event: we raised awareness of some important aspects of the history of Israel; struck a blow against censorship; stood firm against what can only be described as the intimidation tactics of the local Zionist lobby (the misnamed Jewish Community Council); raised money for an important charity; and had a lot of fun to boot!

Check out the photos from the performance below and make sure you keep an eye out for the next performance of the play we hope to stage early in the new year.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the performance either as a cast member or a spectator!

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FOPWA presents and performs Seven Jewish Children

In light of the fair degree of media attention its cancellation has received, we have decided to organise a performance of Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza this Saturday.

We will be inviting people to have their say on both the play itself and the political questions it raises immediately after the performance.  We will also be handing out copies of the play to passersby.

So please join us this Saturday evening on the cafe strip in Fremantle, judge the play on its merits, and take a stand against censorship!

Friends of Palestine WA presents
Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza
6.30pm, Saturday November 21st
Opposite Kulcha (Dome Cafe on ground floor)
13 South Terrace, Fremantle

Seven Jewish Children Action

Latest update on the cancellation of “Seven Jewish Children” performance

11/11/09

Friends of Palestine WA
P.O. Box 1410
West Perth 6872
Ph: 0407 850 962

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

We have received information this afternoon which indicates the WA branch of Amnesty International made the final decision to cancel this Sunday’s performance of Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza, in part because the play’s controversial content did not fit in with the other events scheduled for the ARTillery Youth Arts Festival.  However, the WA Branch President of Amnesty International has confirmed to us this decision was taken principally as a result of concerns raised by Kulcha about the controversial nature of the play.  These concerns were raised by Kulcha following pressure being applied to the arts venue by representatives of the Jewish Community Council of Western Australia (JCCWA).

Notwithstanding this new information, Friends of Palestine WA unreservedly condemns Kulcha for its part in the decision to cancel the play.  Furthermore, we are extremely disappointed that Amnesty International caved in to pressure from Kulcha and the JCCWA in ultimately deciding to cancel the performance. 

Friends of Palestine WA and its many hundreds of supporters are incensed at this brazen act of censorship.  It is partly as a conscious act of rebellion against this censorship that we intend to put on our own performance of the play in February next year.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR COMMENT PLEASE WRITE TO friendsofpalestinewa@gmail.com OR CALL THE CONVENER OF FRIENDS OF PALESTINE WA, ALEX WHISSON, ON 0407 850 962

Friends of Palestine WA condemns Kulcha’s decision to cancel the performance of “Seven Jewish Children”

11/11/09

Friends of Palestine WA
P.O. Box 1410
West Perth 6872
Ph:  0407 8…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIENDS OF PALESTINE WA CONDEMNS KULCHA’S DECISION TO CANCEL THE PERFORMANCE OF SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN: A PLAY FOR GAZA THAT WAS DUE TO TAKE PLACE THIS SUNDAY.

FURTHERMORE, FRIENDS OF PALESTINE WA IS DISAPPOINTED THAT CONTRADICTORY REASONS HAVE BEEN GIVEN FOR THE CANCELLATION.

As part of its ARTillery Youth Arts Festival, the WA branch of Amnesty International was due to hold a performance this Sunday of Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza, a six-page long, ten-minute piece written by the British Jewish playwright Caryl Churchill in response to Israel’s massacre in Gaza last northern winter.  The play was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London on February 6th and has since been performed in several other places around the world, including to an audience of 700 at the State Library of Victoria in May.

The play itself is composed of seven scenes addressing various aspects of recent Jewish history, from the Holocaust, the foundation of the state of Israel, through to Israel’s recent assault on the people of Gaza.  It can be downloaded at the following address:

www.royalcourttheatre.com/files/downloads/SevenJewishChildren.pdf

For unknown reasons, the Fremantle venue that was due to host the performance, Kulcha, decided at the last minute to cancel the play.  Thus far, separate enquiries from members of Friends of Palestine WA have elicited contradictory reasons for the cancellation. 

In response to the cancellation, Friends of Palestine WA convener Alex Whisson said: “Amnesty was due to hold a performance of the play at Kulcha on November 14th and the play has now been canceled.  We have been given contradictory reasons for the cancellation.  We are outraged that a play written by a Jewish playwright principally in response to Israel’s massacre in Gaza last northern winter could in any way be considered offensive let alone anti-Semitic.  This is a question which should not only concern Palestine solidarity activists but anyone with an interest in preserving free expression in a supposedly democratic society.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR COMMENT PLEASE SEND AN E-LETTER TO friendsofpalestinewa@gmail.com OR CALL ALEX WHISSON, CONVENER OF FRIENDS OF PALESTINE WA, ON  0407 850 962 

Protest letter to WesTrac CAT

Please download,print, and sign the letter below if you wish to add your voice to the growing call for WesTrac to end its relationship with Caterpillar.

Once you have signed the letter, please print your name and address and send it to Friends of Palestine WA, P.O. Box 1410, West Perth 6872. We will then send it to WesTrac on your behalf.

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FOP(WA) activities (as at October 09)

On September 25, in line with the international day of solidarity for Palestine, Friends of Palestine (WA) held an information stall and computer video images for late night shoppers in Perth. The focus was on signing letters of protest to Caterpillar, and advertising the lecture at UWA on October 27 (see events tab).

There will be another information stall in the Murray Street Mall at 12 noon on Saturday 24 October (by the escalators up to Myer).

We encourage you to attend our next organisng meeting:
Tuesday October 20
at 6:30pm
at Citiplace Community Centre, Perth train station
[at the top of the escalators just outside the entry gates - after hours entry is via grey double doors at the back of the bookshop].

Please come along and be comfortable. We love new faces and ideas.

From teargas to arrest: FOPWA member Sarah Haynes talks about defending Palestinian homes

On Tuesday October 27th (details below) Friends of Palestine WA member Sarah Haynes will share her experiences of campaigning alongside Palestinians, Israelis and other international volunteers in the ongoing struggle to defend Palestinian communities from the ever-expanding reach of the Zionist colonial project.

After a brief historical overview Sarah will speak about her participation in a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in (which naturally enough came under tear gas attack by Israeli soldiers, a weekly occurrence in the besieged village); her involvement in a home-rebuilding program with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; and her arrest in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheik Jarrah for the grave ‘crime’ of attempting to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home.

The presentation will include a photo essay and there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion of the way forward for the Palestine solidarity campaign in Western Australia.  So please join us for this much-needed antidote to all the mainstream media nonsense currently doing the rounds about a renewed peace process and Israeli commitments to a settlement freeze.

Israeli Apartheid vs International Law: Perth local Sarah Haynes talks about defending Palestinian homes

Tuesday October 27th, 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start

UWA Social Sciences Lecture Theatre

Entry by donation (all proceeds go to the ICAHD)