UPDATE: view photos from this event here

Join the Rachel Corrie Foundation at Sylvester Park (corner of Capitol and Legion St.) in Olympia, Monday, May 13th from 11AM-2PM for Palestine: Remembering Al-Nakba, an installation of over 100 small tents inscribed with the names and details of Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948. The visiting display, created by Palestine Solidarity Committee in Seattle, will commemorate and protest the events of 1947-9, when two-thirds of the Palestinian people were forcibly displaced and over 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed. Our Palestinian/American neighbors will join us at the display to informally share their own and their family stories.

This coming week marks 65 years since the Nakba (Arabic for “Catastrophe”) when 750,000 Palestinians were dispossessed, forced into exile, and ethnically cleansed from their homes as the State of Israel was being created in 1948. Today, Palestinians face an ongoing Nakba as Israel continues to deny the right of return to Palestinians guaranteed in UN Resolution 194, illegally colonizes Palestinian land, and imposes a brutal military occupation in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Palestinians are now one of the largest and longest-suffering refugee populations in the world.

The Olympia Film Society will be showing The Gatekeepers May 11th through May 16th. Join us following the film on Wednesday, May 15th for a Rachel Corrie Foundation hosted informal discussion of this important and provocative documentary. Meet us in the Legion Room of the Urban Onion at 8:30 pm to share your thoughts and discuss the film. All who have seen The Gatekeepers are invited!

116 Legion Way SE, Olympia, WA 98501 For information call (360) 754-3998

Tuesday, April 9th at 7 PM– Traditions Café and World Folk Art

Reem Kelani will provide an authoritative, captivating introduction to music of the Arab uprisings drawn from her experiences in Tahrir Square during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, with short demonstrations of song accompanied by jazz pianist Bruno Heinen. The singer’s debut album “Sprinting Gazelle: Palestinian songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora” gained worldwide acclaim for musical excellence and intellectual integrity.

“Her voice combines the poignancy of Billie Holiday with the glass-busting power of Aretha Franklin ” – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent

She currently studies and records the music of Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish (1892-1923), “the father of contemporary Arabic music.” Her profile in the Arab and non-Arab world continues to grow, all the more to her credit as an unsigned artist who has preserved her independence – musically, spiritually and politically. For the past decade, Kelani has worked with the best of British jazz musicians, introducing them to and training them in Arabic music. She has toured extensively in the UK and internationally, and brought musicians together on international tours, extending her UK based line-up to include performers from Syria, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Portugal. Kelani is back in Washington five years after her residency at Seattle International Children’s Festival. She will also perform April 12th at Seattle’s Town Hall.

“Palestinian singer Reem Kelani was a new name in my world, but the woman was so endearing I’ll never forget her.” – Gary Bannister, Artistic director, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle

Tickets: $15, Student/low income: $10 Traditions Café and World Folk Art 300 5th Avenue SW, Olympia, WA 98501 360-705-2819

http://reemkelani.com/ http://www.traditionsfairtrade.com/pages/tradhome.html?../events/index.php~Content

This event is cosponsored by the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.