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 In
december 2006 the Alternative Information Center opened a political
café in the old cave down in the building. The aim of the café
is to bring internationals and Palestinians together in order to
share information, knowledge and experiences and to be a place of
activity and creativity for future projects. Ever Tuesday and
Saturday night the AICafé organises an event, such as film
screenings, lectures, presentations and cultural nights with
traditional music or dance.
Since
the AICafé opened its doors many different events have been
organised. We had lectures about the political situation in
Palestine, about the issue of water in Palestine, the settlement
projects, the construction of the wall, boycot of Israeli products
etc. Many organisations have been invited to present themselves and
their projects and initiatives. We had film screenings with the
presence of the director, such as Hanna Elias who made the film
´Olive Harvest´ and we screened short films made by young
Palestinians from the refugee camps in and around Bethlehem.
We
also invited individuals and groups from Israel to come, such as the
Anarchists against the wall, Breaking the Silence and Palestinians
who live in the 48 lands. Shai Carmeli Polak, the director of the
film ´Bil´in Habibti´, screened his film and some
of the members of the popular committee of Bil´in came to
discuss with us the situation of Bil´in village.
During
ramadan we organized an iftar meal and we invited an imam to explain
about the background and ideas of the month ramadan.
There is
always room for questions and discussions and after the event we open
the bar downstairs and people can continue their conversations or
visit the library that we are setting up. The library contains books
about the history and political situation of Palestine as well as
books and brochures about other interesting subjects.
The
events are usually attended by an average of 20 to 30 people, two
third of them internationals and one third Palestinians from all over
the Westbank. In summer time or when we have a special event, we
sometimes host up to 50 people.
The international visitors
are mainly volunteers who are working in Bethlehem district, Hebron
or Ramallah, in different NGO´s. They see the AICafé as
a place to get information, to network, to meet other active people
and to share their personal experiences.
 Recently the
Alternative Information Center and Jadal Center have renovated the
outside courtyard so that it now can be used as a theatre. During
last summer we organized an open mic night for people to share with
us their talents in music, theatre, dance and other kinds of
performances. That night we had more than 100 visitors.
The
programmers of the events in the AICafé are open for
suggestions for new events. You can contact us by sending an e-mail
to:
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AICafe 
