June 21, 2010 at the Beit Zatoun House, Toronto
While the three-year-old siege of Gaza has been brought into dramatic focus of late, the 12-year embargo of Iraq that crippled the economy and wrought havoc on civil society continues in another form, post-invasion. At the same time, the ongoing war in Afghanistan has taken a terrible toll on its beleaguered population. The massive $1 billion security and military presence in Toronto this month for the G20 will protect the very world leaders who are overseeing wars and occupations that have cost trillions of dollars, and countless innocent lives. Independent media has a crucial role to play in exposing the reality of war and daily life in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan… Severe restrictions on visas and mobility for foreign and domestic journalists, as well as threats from government and paramilitary forces, hamper efforts to report reality on the ground.
rabble.ca blogger Derrick O’Keefe, New Internationalist co-editor and author of Dancing in the No Fly Zone, Hadani Ditmars, and Carmelle Wolfson and Jesse Rosenfeld of The Daily Nuisance discuss opportunities for breaking the siege of indifference and reporting from occupied lands.
Palestine:
As settlements expand across Jerusalem and Israel’s military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza intensifies, Palestinians are on the edge of a new popular revolt. Israel continues its crippling siege of Gaza, paving way for the brutal attack on a humanitarian aid mission into the Strip that took place this month.
Palestinian citizens of Israel are also feeling the pressure as urban renewal and gentrification is used as a pretext to force them out of their historic cities, while the government passes laws to criminalize public discussion of their identity and history. Meanwhile repression against Palestinians and Israeli solidarity activists continues, as does the Palestinian Authority collaboration with Israel.
Behind the regular headlines of tense relations between Israel and the US over settlements The Daily Nuisance www.thedailynuisance.com is exposing the on the ground reality and impact on those living in Israel/Palestine through photography, video, print, news, analysis and opinion.
While international mainstream news filters out and misinterprets local voices, TDN uses English to present local perspectives to an International audience. The editorial collective is comprised of Palestinian, leftwing Israeli and international journalists and media makers.
Jesse Rosenfeld
Jesse is a Canadian print and video journalist based out of Ramallah and Tel Aviv-Jaffa since 2007. He is the print editor of The Daily Nuisance and has written from the Middle East for The Guardian, The Nation, The National (Abu Dhabi English language newspaper), Haaretz English, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, NOW Magazine, Z Net and Electronic Intifada. He has also blogged for Allvoices.com, Mondoweiss and produced video content for The Daily Beast and The Real News.
—————————————-
Sponsored by the New Internationalist, rabble.ca, The Daily Nuisance and Canadian Peace Alliance
Video Production: Anita Krajnc
