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Saturday 28^th of July,

7.30 pm (AICafé)

Panel discussion: The political situation in Palestine. Analysis and alternatives by the democratic forces.

Hasan Abdel Jawad from the PFLP and Maher Al Wahsh from the DFLP will give the perspective of the democratic forces. Where is the left wing movement? Why do we hear only from Hamas and Fatah? Why is the left wing movement so weak? What are the ideas of the PFLP and the DFLP?

The debate will be moderated by the writer and AIC board director, Dr. Nassar Ibrahim.

Arabic spoken and English translation.
 

Tuesday 31st of July
AICafé, 7.30 pm 

Movie Screening: 'I Cento Passi' ( The Hundred Steps)

After a brief introduction on Italian Mafia brought by Laura Conti, an Italian Journalism student which serves as intern in the AIC will be screened the movie I Cento Passi, winner of 8 “Donatello’s David” Cinema Awards.

Whenever people hear about Mafia they automatically think of the ‘God Father’ movie, shootings between gangsters and other clichés  Mafia is, however, something quite different. It is a kind of hidden cancer in the contemporary society. Mafia is either an attitude towarsd life, an attitude that we can find even  in our own country. Do you want to know something more about how in the history Mafia has always operated affecting the life of thousands of people and how there were people who have given their life to oppose to this criminal movement?

Followed by a traditional vegetarian Sicilian meal: Pasta ch’i Mulinciani i Ricotta, Pasta with eggplants and Ricotta cheese for just 15 NIS.

The Movie:
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Lenght: 114 min.  
Release Date: 1 September 2000 (Italy)
Genre: Crime / Drama

"I cento passi" (one hundred steps) was the distance between the Impastatos' house and the house of Tano Badalamenti, an important Mafia boss, in the small Sicilian town of Cinisi. The movie is the story of Peppino Impastato, a young left-wing activist that in the late seventies (when almost nobody dared to speak about Mafia, and several politicians maintained that Mafia did not even exist) repeatedly denounced Badalamenti crimes and the whole Mafia system using a small local radio station, with the arm of irony.

Peppino was born in Cinisi, into a Mafia family. His father Luigi Impastato had been sent into internal exile during the fascist era, and was a close friend of Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti. His father's brother-in-law, Cesare Manzella, was an important mafia boss who was killed in car bomb attack in 1963. As an adolescent, Peppino broke off relations with his father – who kicked him out of the house – and initiated a series of political and cultural Antimafia activities. He was killed during the election campaign on the 8th of May by a charge of TNT placed under his body. His life became an example of fight against the Mafia.

You can find a small trailer on You Tube here .

Saturday 4th of August

AICafé, 7.30 pm

"The Global Refugee Problem: States' Irresponsibility's". 

AIC's own Anahi Ayala Iacucci and Amali Tower will share their personal and professional experiences working with refugees in Thailand and Kenya, and will discuss the durablesolutions offered to refugees.

Anahi Ayala Iacucci is an intern with the AIC, serving in human rights
monitoring with AIC's Settlement Violence Project.  She has worked in
Kenya with People for Peace in Africa, providing primary assistance to
resettlement refugees from Somalia, DRC, and Sudan.
Anahi has a degree in International Political Science, and is
currently finishing a specialization in Human Rights, in Padova,Italy.

Anahi is a seasoned traveler, who herself has lived in refugee camps
in Western Sahara.

Amali Tower also serves with the AIC, serving as a researcher for the
"Economy of the Occupation."  She has worked in Chiang Mai, Thailand,
working with Karen and Kachin refugees from Myanmar.  She has also
worked in areas of refugee resettlement, with political asylees and
victims of torture and human trafficking.

Amali has a degree in International Development Studies, focusing on
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.  Currently, she is pursuing a
Masters in International Affairs in Human Rights at Columbia University.

Both lifelong travelers, Amali and Anahi have each traveled to over 30
countries around the world in pursuit of cultural understanding and humanitarian interests.

Tuesday 7th of August

AICafé, 7.00 pm

Movie Screening : 'The Olive Harvest'

 The Director, Hanna Elias will be there to talk about the making of this film and how the Israeli crew cooperated with a Palestinian cast.

Writer/director Hanna Elias chose to work with an Israeli crew as a statement that Israelis and Palestinians can and ought to work together. "By working together we establish not only professional working habits, but we also build trust and mutual respect. This is the best way to deal with a conflict that has engulfed all of us in a hundred years of violence. The only way to change it is to create ways for us to work together and learn about each other, so we can see each other as human beings and create new possibilities in our region."

The movie:
Upon his release from an Israeli prison, older brother Mazen develops romantic feelings for his childhood friend, Raeda. However, Raeda is already engaged to Mazen's younger brother Taher, their love kept a secret because of the tradition for the eldest brother to wed first.

The two brothers become estranged soon after reuniting as they struggle to win over Raeda's heart. Mazen, with his romantic poetry and simple love for the olive groves that provide his community and family with their livelihood, shares in Raeda's dreams to remain in the village and harvest the olives. Taher, on the other hand, prefers to live in the city and ambitiously seeks to contain the growing Jewish settlement of the territories as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Counsel. Although his love for Raeda is strong, Taher's devotion toward this cause leads him to neglect his commitment to her. Unsure of her true feelings, the beautiful Raeda is forced into making a decision by the feuding brothers and by her authoritative father. Each of the three central characters find themselves painfully torn between conflicting choices in this tale of love and loyalty to family, to those that they love, and to the land that they are connected to.

More than a mere love story, The Olive Harvest explores the dynamics of human relationships - between brother and brother, woman and man, father and daughter, sister and sister, and person to land.