Reminder-- please give feedback on event proposal

[Alexis Gewertz]

Hi all,

 

Thanks to those of you who have replied with your great thoughts! Just a reminder that we’d like to have your feedback by Wed. April 8^th. Thank you! Hope everyone is staying dry today… or staying inside!

 

--Alexis

 

Alexis Gewertz

Event Coordinator, GesherCity Boston

126 High Street

Boston, MA 02110

(617) 457-8666

agew...@jccgb.org

www.geshercity.org

 

[flyingb...@gmail.com]

Hey Alexis. Sorry I haven't been giving a lot of input about the event. My grandfather died and I am out of town. I won't be able to make the meeting on the 22 maybe I could give you call after the meeting and see where you need me the most. Thanks kathy

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

---

From: "Alexis Gewertz"
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 16:44:57 -0400
To: <GCis...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [GC Israel Event] Reminder-- please give feedback on event proposal

[David Cohen-Henriquez]

HI Alexis how are you?

I am currently away from the country and haven´t been checking my email so much.

Let me know what input has been given for the event and I will help you guys as much as I can.

I am currently in the process of finishing school, finding a job and planning to get married, so my life it´s a little hectic right now, but I will try to lend you any help I can.

Have a pesach kasher ve´sameach, with a taste of freedom and the foretaste of redemption.

L´shalom,

David Cohen-Henriquez

[Lauren Herman]

Dear all,

Thank you very much for all of your work to put this together; I'm sure it was not easy to try to weave together everyone's thoughts and ideas, so I appreciate all of your efforts.

In general I think I prefer the first format better, with different areas of focus (either in one room or multiple) because it allows for a greater diversity of perspectives and can appeal to a broader audience.  That said, I really like the point brought up in the second format - allowing for thought provoking discussion.  Since this was one of the key propelling forces behind the event, it seems important to include and I'd be curious to explore further how we can ensure that this is structually built into the plan and not just an afterthought. 

 

One key overarching question for me is really, what is our goal and who do we want to be engaging?  Are we looking to plan an event that is geared towards and going to turn out people who already love Israel?  Or do we want to plan an event that will also include those who feel ambivalent about Israel, making space where they can comfortably attend and engage with the many different sides of Israel (both positive and negative)?  

 

Along these lines, I have some concerns about the "festival vibe" that was proposed.  I've been asking around to get a sense of the type of program that different people I know within the young adult Jewish community might like to attend around Israel and a lot of what I've been hearing reflects the complicated relationship that many people feel.  It seems that there are a lot of people who would like a space to explore different aspects of Israel and their relationship to it, from a complex and dynamic perspective (particularly on the tail end of a war) and would not feel comfortable with an event that only highlighted the positive aspects without raising any deeper questions or concerns. 

 

One way that I think we could easily do this would be to ensure that some of the art and exhibits we choose reflect some of the different issues that Israelis face and that we, as Jews, might grapple with. 

Some people/groups/causes to include might be:  

 - B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization has been working with ARTE to create an award-winning internet documentary series about the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip and souther Israel: Gaza and Sderot: Life in spite of everything. 

 

- Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifadah. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely. http://www.shovrimshtika.org/index_e.asp

- Gisha is an Israeli human rights organisation that focuses on the right to freedom of movement for Palestinians. Recently Yoni Goodman, the head animator from "Waltz with Bashir" (award winning animated documentary about Israel's war with Lebanon), made a short animated film for Gisha. I think it is a simple, eloquent illustration of the impact of Israel's closure policy in the Gaza Strip. Watch it here: http://www.closedzone.com/.

- There was an exhibit that a colleague of mine brought to Boston a few years ago called "Offering Reconciliation."  Offering Reconciliation is an exhibition of ceramic bowls designed by 135 prominent Israeli and Palestinian artists on the theme of reconciliation. The exhibition was commissioned for the Parents Circle-Families Forum, an organization of 500 bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families committed to reconciliation through creative public dialogue and education.  For more info: http://www.brandeis.edu/reconciliation/about.html.  I think the bowls have been auctioned off but we could contact the Parents Circle to see if there is something similar we could host.

 

- Another Brandeis related event was a conference on "Art and Life in the Time of War" which included many performance artists.  http://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/news/2006/2006.Jan.21.html.  We could also ask some of those organizers for ideas.

 

 

In terms of dress code, I would agree with what others have said - Boston tends to be a pretty casual place and so I think we can not mention anything specific and allow folks to dress according to the venue. 

For entrance fee, I think $10 is pretty reasonable, although I've found it sometimes useful to have a sliding scale where participants can pay what they feel they can afford and where noone will be turned away because of cost.   I also really like the idea of donating the money raised to a charity. 

 

A couple ideas of places we might want to donate:
- I recently recieved an email from the AIPAC chapter of my alma mater describing a fundraiser that was supporting Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam, the “Oasis of Peace,” specifically towards benefiting children as part of their Humanitarian Aid/Medical Relief Program. This village was jointly established by Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and is engaged in educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples. (For more information see their website http://nswas.org/)

 

- Another organization that does good work in Israel is the New Israel Fund (NIF).  According to their website, they say: NIF is the leading organization committed to democratic change within Israel. Since 1979, NIF has fought for social justice and equality for all Israelis.  We believe that Israel can live up to its founders' vision of a state that ensures complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, without regard to religion, race or gender. http://www.nif.org/

I think that answers all of the questions.  I hope you all have a very happy Passover and I look forward to continuing this conversation and planning.

 

Warmly,
Lauren

[Matt Hoffman]

I like what Lauren said about having something that is engaging and will bring in people who have differing levels of ambivalence towards Israel. But I think as part of that, we need to be multi-dimensional, and not just one-sided. All of the organizations/events listed below are highly critical of Israel, and while having this viewpoint represented in some form might be fine, I do not think it should be the only viewpoint shown. Criticism is great, but not if it's unaccompanied by some celebration and positive information.

Matt Hoffman
413.548.6806
matt...@gmail.com