Feb. 25: Art Under Oppression, Omar Barghouti at Louder Than a Bomb

Haymarket Books and Young Chicago Authors are Proud to Present

ART UNDER OPPRESSION
Featuring Omar Barghouti, leading Palestinian human rights activist; choreographer; and author
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Civil Rights

"Lucid and morally compelling... perfectly timed to make a major contribution to this urgently needed global campaign for justice, freedom, and peace." —Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Part of the 12th Annual "Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival"
Cosponsored by the School of the Art Institute Students for Justice in Palestine (SAIC SJP)
with performances from Kevin Coval and Louder Than a Bomb All-Star Samuel Carroll
Q and A with Omar Barghouti
zines from the SAIC SJP
Book signing

Saturday, February 25th at 4:00 pm
Columbia College Chicago, Quincy Wong Center
623 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60605
FREE
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/zzUJZS

FEATURING Omar Barghouti, a leading Palestinian human rights activist and dance choreographer, this presentation explores art under oppression. Not immune from the reach of racism, sexism, homophobia, war, and strife, art can express a myriad of reactions to oppression, from passive reflection to active resistance—which can take diverse and almost limitless forms. With examples from dance and various art forms, this presentation explores an evolutionary vision of art of the oppressed as rooted, transformative, communicative and evolutionary; as art which negates and transcends oppression.

OMAR BARGHOUTI is a choreographer, cultural analyst and human rights activist. A key contributor to the development of contemporary Palestinian dance through work as choreographer and dance teacher in El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe, Al-Bireh, and Watan Contemporary Palestinian Dance Company in New York, Omar has published many articles focusing on dance as cultural resistance to oppression. Barghouti is also the author of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Civil Rights.

PRAISE

“No one has done more to build the intellectual, legal, and moral case for BDS than Omar Barghouti. The global Palestinian solidarity movement has been transformed and is on the cusp of major breakthroughs.”
—Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

“When powerful governments will not act, ordinary people must take the lead…. Essential reading for all who care about justice and the plight of an oppressed people.”
—Ken Loach, filmmaker

“This is a book about the political actions necessary to hinder and finally to stop the Israeli state machine that is operating every day to eliminate the Palestinian people. It is like an engineer’s report, not a sermon. Read it, decide, and then act.”
—John Berger, author

“Barghouti explains with lucidity, passion, and unrivaled intelligence…that bringing an end to apartheid in Palestine and seeing justice and equality for all the people who live there is not a distant dream but a reality we can bring about in the next few years.”
—Ali Abunimah, author of One Country and cofounder of the Electronic Intifada

“I have been to Palestine where I’ve witnessed the racially segregated housing and the humiliation of Palestinians at military roadblocks. I can’t help but remember the conditions we experienced in South Africa under apartheid. We could not have achieved our freedom without the help of people around the world using the nonviolent means of boycotts and divestment to compel governments and institutions to withdraw their support for the apartheid regime. Omar Barghouti’s lucid and morally compelling book is perfectly timed to make a major contribution to this urgently needed global campaign for justice, freedom and peace.”
—Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“Those who think they are free to disregard international law because they are powerful… are dead wrong. At the same time it is the tolerance of such behavior that has led Israel to believe that they can literally get away with murder.… Omar Barghouti’s book…is timely and responsibly written by a man who understands that creative and relentless nonviolence is the only way out of the dire situation in which Palestine, and our entire world for that matter, finds itself.”
—Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, M.M., former president of the UN General Assembly

“Barghouti reminds us what public responsibility entails, and we are lucky to have his re lentless and intelligent analysis and argument. There is no more comprehensive and persuasive case than his for boycott, divestment, and sanctions to end the Israeli occupation and establish the ethical claim of Palestinian rights.”
—Judith Butler, University of California at Berkeley

“I commend this excellent book by Omar Barghouti.…BDS is a nonviolent way in which each of us and our governments can follow our conscience and rightful moral and legal responsibility and act now to save Palestinian lives by demanding that the Israeli apartheid regime give justice and equality to all.”
—Mairead Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate