SFJP@UH shares learning opportunities for the fall + Decolonial November

The HCUCC Justice and Witness Missional Team shares the following from Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine at The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (SFJP@UH) as a response to the resolution of witness, A Call to Education and Action Regarding the Crisis in Gaza, affirmed at the ‘Aha Pae ‘āina in June 2024:

From SFJP@UH:

As Israel's US-funded genocide gets more nightmarish with each passing day, coming together to educate ourselves, to organize, and to agitate is more urgent than ever. So, too, is creating community with those saying no to all forms of colonial violence.

Please come, then, if you can to the following events, and scroll down for details about each of them. Also follow us on Instagram @sfjpuh (and check out our beautiful new logo, designed by Malia Osorio!)

Fri., Oct. 25, 4:45-6:16, UHM Art Bldg, Rm 132: HEALING GAZA, a panel featuring three surgeons who have spent time working in Gaza;

Sat., Nov. 2, 10:30-2:45, NHSS "The Bookshelf," UHM QLC Rm 113, Palestine film festival and lunch (for lunch register here);

Th., Nov. 7, 3-5, UHM Dept. of English, KUY 410: Lecture by Nadya Tannous, "You Can't Kill an Idea: Palestine Will Be Free";

Fri., Nov. 8, 5-7 PM, NHSS "The Bookshelf," "Live Like a Porcupine, Fight Like a Flea: Radical Worldbuilding on the Ashes of Empire," a panel discussion featuring Nadya Tannous, Nadia Ben-Youssef, and 'Ihilani Lasconia, moderated by Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio. Live screening by Malia Osorio (bring a t-shirt or fabric).

Wed., Oct. 23, 5:30-7 PM HST, JVP-Hawai'i storytelling workshop, "Wrestling with Zionism," rsvp at tinyurl.com/jvphiwrestle

HEALING GAZA

from MSAUHM:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We would like to invite you to a special event where we will explore serving humanity as a tool for professional development. A panel of three distinguished medical doctors and expert surgeons in their respective fields, each with a wealth of experience and knowledge, will share their experiences serving in Gaza on a humanitarian mission.

While we are taught to serve humanity, history shows how those in power have misused our contributions to destroy humanity. Our efforts for societal development have often been turned into tools of destruction. Together, we will explore how rebuilding and volunteering can counteract the harm caused by those we have empowered.

RSVP link: https://forms.gle/TB94K3czphuFzPYy9

Event: Healing Gaza: Inspiring Future Professionals Through Acts of Service and Humanity (Talk- followed by Q&A for the panelist)

Speaker: Panelist: 1) Dr. Abdul-Ghani, MD Thoracic surgeon, 2) Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, MD General, Trauma, and Critical Care Surgeon, 3) Dr. Mark Perlmutter, MD, Orthopedic and Hand Surgeon. Hosts: Dr. Arif Rahman and Dr. Cynthia Franklin

Date & Time: October 25, Friday, 4:45 pm- 6:15 pm

Venue: UH Manoa Art Building, Auditorium # 132 (2535 McCarthy Mall Rm 132, Honolulu).

Parking: Pay at the parking pay booth $1/hr. And park anywhere around the venue.

DECOLONIAL NOVEMBER EVENTS:

SFJP@UH will participate in Palestine Cinema Days Around the World 2024

Sat., Nov. 2, 2024

10:30-2:45; register for lunch here!

NHSS, "The Bookshelf" (UHM QLC 113, nr Varney Circle)

10:30-11 am: Maaloul Celebrates Its Destruction (1984), Michel Khleifi, dir.

Ma’aloul, a Palestinian village in Galilee, was destroyed by the Israeli army in 1948. Its people were deported to Lebanon and to the neighbouring city of Nazareth. Each year, they return to Ma’aloul and on the site where their demolished village once stood, they organise a picnic.

11-11:45: Resistance, Why? (1971), Christian Ghazi, dir.

This recently salvaged documentary film by the radical documentarian Christian Ghazi captures a crucial cross-section of the Palestinian resistance in Lebanon in 1970, including never before seen footage of Ghassan Kanafani.

11:45 am-1 pm: Lunch and discussion. (RSVP will be required for lunch; register here!.)

1-2:15: Aida Returns (2023), Carol Mansour, dir.

This is a painful, humorous, and often absurd story of multiple journeys: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggles with Alzheimer’s, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida finally finds rest. This film is an effort to restore an individual and a collective memory, and a poetic affirmation to exiled Palestinians forbidden from returning to their hometowns, even after death.

2:15-2:45 pm: Discussion

pls. note: earlier that day, starting at 7:30, you can join Local 5 for a labor march to support the striking workers. More details on this soon.

Thurs., Nov. 7, 3-5 pm in UHM KUY 410: "You Can't Kill An Idea: Palestine Will Be Free," a lecture by writer and organizer Nadya Tannous!

About Nadya Tannous: Nadya is a passionate community organizer and writer, born and raised in the Bay Area (Ohlone Territory), with a focus on political education, movement building, and returning land to the people and people returning to the land. Nadya is a long-time organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and currently serves as the Deputy Director of Honor The Earth, an Indigenous-led Environmental Justice organization tackling climate disaster at its root causes of settler-colonialism, racial capitalism, militarism and imperialism. She is also a member of the Art Against Imprisonment coalition, and is excited about their newest Oakland mural project, “Sumud: Resistance Until Liberation.”

Fri., Nov. 8, 5-7, NHSS "The Bookshelf," "Live Like a Porcupine, Fight Like a Flea: Radical Worldbuilding on the Ashes of Empire," a panel discussion featuring Nadya Tannous (organizer, writer), Nadia Ben-Youssef (Advocacy Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights), and 'Ihilani Lasconia (SFJP@UH member and PhD student in Political Science), moderated by Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio (SFJP@UH member and Prof. of Indigenous Politics).

Reception to follow. There will be live screen printing so bring a t-shirt or other fabric!

Main sponsors for Nadya's visit: SFJP@UH, Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, ASUH. With additional support from JVP-Hawai‘i; Hawai‘i for Palestine; Maui for Palestine; Sabeel-Hawai‘i, Anakbayan-Hawai‘i, Academic Labor United; UHM Native Hawaiian Student Services; the UHM Departments of American Studies, English, Ethnic Studies, Geography and Environment, Political Science, UHIP, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Solidarity during these terrible times--we owe it to our friends in Palestine and Lebanon to keep showing up, as we also do so with the recognition that none of us are free until all of us are free.