Bil'in Palestine Conference April 18-20, 2007

The Palestinian summer celebration 2007June 20 - August 18th 2007

Come and celebrate Palestine, learn Arabic, study history, know the people and their culture, share some time with local families and volunteer with a local community organization
The Palestinian summer celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life and culture in Palestine in addition to donating some of their time to a local community organization through voluntary work and internships. The Palestinian summer celebration 2007 will take place in the Bethlehem area in Palestine, between Wednesday June 20th and August 18th 2007. the annual celebration is organized by Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies www.sirajcenter.org in partnership with Bethlehem University www.bethlehem.edu and the US based Society for Biblical Studies, www.sbsedu.org.

Participants will also have the opportunity to listen and question high level speakers of various positions and expertise. Educational opportunity:An Arabic language Course and a Modern Palestine Course are offered by Bethlehem U as apart of the program. Three credits hours will be given for each course, upon the participant’s request.

An opportunity to serve a good cause: Voluntary work in over 50 different organizations in Bethlehem and the surrounding towns of Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and Doha, also in the three refugee camps in the vicinity Dehaisheh, Aida and Azza who have been suffering the longest tragedy in the history of humanity.

Where to go home to:Accommodation will be in the hospitality of local families in the Bethlehem and the vicinity depending on the voluntary work place. Participants will have the chance to share the lives of the local family’s and get exposed to real life situation where they can practice there freshly learnt Arabic and Palestinian culture, experience the tasty traditional Palestinian dishes and all other aspects of Palestinian extended family life. Such an experience will give the participants the chance to build relations with their host families that may last for ever. Never the less accommodations at guesthouses are available for daily, weekly or monthly rates.

For more information: http://www.sirajcenter.org/courses.htm

YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN BIL'IN, PALESTINE
18 – 20 APRIL 2007

February 2007 marks the second anniversary of the weekly non-violent protests in opposition to the "work-site of shame" for the Apartheid Wall that has annexed almost 60% of the land of Bil'in village in the West Bank. Bil'in has become a symbol both of the theft of land across Palestine and of the power of non-violent grassroots movements in building local and international resistance to Occupation.

The International Conference will follow upon a Palestinian conference to be held in March to extend the Popular Non-Violent Struggle across Palestine and offers Israelis and Internationals opportunity to join their Palestinian partners in spreading non-violent resistance to the injustice suffered by Palestinians: land confiscation, home demolitions, checkpoints, and imprisonment behind the Wall.

The year between June 2007 and May 2008 provides an effective framework for highlighting the ongoing Palestinian catastrophe: 90 years since the Balfour Declaration, 60 years since the Nakba, 40 years of Occupation, 25 years since Sabra/Shatila, 20 years since the First Intifada, 5 years of building the Apartheid Wall. Join us in strategizing effective, concerted non-violent action in Palestine and across the globe!

WHEN: 18 – 20 APRIL, 2007 with a major non-violent action on the final day
WHERE: BIL'IN VILLAGE near Ramallah, Palestine
SPEAKERS:

Dr. Azmi Bishara, Palestinian Israeli Knesset member
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Irish Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Dr. Ilan Pappe, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
Luisa Morgantini, Italian EU Parliament member and Peace Activist
Stéphane Hessel, former French Ambassador
Jean-Claude Lefort, French parliament member
Amira Haas, author and journalist, Ha'aretz
Sam Bahour, Palestinian activist and entrepreneur
Representatives of the Bil'in Popular Committee

WORKSHOPS: NON-VIOLENT STRATEGIES TO OPPOSE OPPRESSION
Boycott, divestment, and sanctions
Building economic independence
Media & Advocacy
Direct Action

COST: Accommodations per night, 20 Euros plus Conference Registration, 20 Euros per day (April 18 -19)

TO REGISTER and for information on options for pre-and-post conference activities see: www.bilin-village.org

For Pre and post Confrence tours: http://www.sirajcenter.org/bilin.htm