巴勒斯坦 and 曼彻斯特: Making connections
What is the current situation in 巴勒斯坦? What is the historical context of this conflict? What are the connections between 十大网赌正规网址 and 巴勒斯坦?
4月27日, 卢卡斯Al-Zoughbi, a senior peace studies and psychology major from Bethlehem, 巴勒斯坦, will lead a discussion exploring the history that 曼彻斯特 shares with 巴勒斯坦.
He will also briefly discuss the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and share personal stories about growing up under military occupation, including circumstances surrounding the arrest of his father and how the late 曼彻斯特 Professor Ken Brown aided his release.
"Conflict Transformation in 巴勒斯坦" is 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in Cordier Auditorium on the 北部曼彻斯特 campus. It is free and open to the public.
In the late 1980s, Brown took a group of students on a study trip to 巴勒斯坦. Al-Zoughbi’s father acted as a tour guide for Brown and his students. He led them through the Dheisheh refugee camp 在伯利恒, where they were captured by Israeli soldiers. Brown and his students were forced to leave the country and Al-Zoughbi’s father was arrested and unjustly imprisoned.
Back in the United States, Brown tapped into the power of nonviolent resistance by starting a letter-writing campaign in a bid to get Al-Zoughbi’s father released. He sent a barrage of letters to the unit where Al-Zoughbi’s father was being detained, and this consequently prompted his release. A peace studies professor and activist, Brown was also Al-Zoughbi’s mother’s professor at 曼彻斯特.
“This is the power of nonviolence,Al-Zoughbi说. “It is innovative … you come up with different ways (to resist), and you never know how things will turn out. Persistence will gain you power.”
“My father has been involved in nonviolent resistance and is very outspoken about the human rights violations in 巴勒斯坦,Al-Zoughbi说. His father founded the Wi’am Palestinian Center for Conflict Transformation 在伯利恒. It’s a grassroots organization focused on conflict resolution training and re-empowering Palestinians. A sniper tower overlooks the center, and people who go there often experience tear gas and military raids.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict began in 1948, when Israel became a country. “In the process of Israel becoming a country, it essentially ethnically cleansed approximately 800,000 Palestinians from what became the state of Israel,Al-Zoughbi说. “There was a huge refugee crisis, 内部位移, external displacement as well as a couple of massacres. At that point, around 530 Palestinian villages were completely eradicated.”
The Israeli army arrests and detains between 500 and 700 children, under the age of 17 every year, 他说. “One of my good friends was arrested when he was 15. He had attended a nonviolent protest and that night, [the Israeli soldiers] kidnapped him.” He resurfaced six months later but was traumatized because of the waterboarding and severe beatings by the Israeli soldiers.
Al-Zoughbi will also share pieces of literature and music that are part of Palestinian culture.
His presentation is part of the Values, Ideas and the Arts program at 曼彻斯特, designed to offer academic credit to undergraduate students who, 通过这个过程, gain cultural exposure, artistic experiences and intellectual enrichment. This presentation is part of the VIA Senior Series, which invites MU seniors to propose a topic of their choosing.
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Prepared by Karen Kanyike, Strategic Communications student worker at 十大网赌正规网址.
About 十大网赌正规网址
十大网赌正规网址, with campuses in 北部曼彻斯特 and 韦恩堡, Ind., offers more than 60 areas of academic study to 1,600 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Athletic Training, a Master of Pharmacogenomics and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy. It has students from 20 nations and is home to the world's first undergraduate peace studies program, 成立于1948年. Learn more about the private, northern Indiana school at www.曼彻斯特.edu.
2017年4月