Join us for a dynamic panel discussion that will aim to tackle concepts surrounding art, media and activism in the 21st century, especially as it relates to the occupation of Palestine and global struggles for justice.    

Panelists: Dr. Susan Greene (Director, Art Forces, Artist and Psychologist); Lara Kiswani (Executive Director, Arab Resource & Organizing Center, Activist); Kara Q. Smith (Managing Editor, Art Practical); Erin Yoshi (Director, Estria Foundation, Artist/Activist)

Moderated by KQED journalist, Roula Seikaly

Recently, more than 2,000 citizens of Gaza were killed by Israeli forces; activists with the support of labor unions interfered with the Israeli shipping company, Zim, up and down the West Coast; and a monumental mural in solidarity with Palestine was completed in Oakland CA. This panel seeks to investigate how these events are connected, the roles that media has played in them and how media has impacted our understanding of current events and the way history is shaped.

Please join us for a discussion of these topics moderated by Roula Seiklay with a Q&A discussion that is free and open to the public.  

Oakland, Calif. The Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural is a monumental work of public art located in Uptown Oakland on 26th Street between Telegraph and Broadway. The project expresses solidarity with Palestinians across movements in tradition of Bay Area muralism. The result is a public tribute to the human spirit and its unassailable right to thrive in spite of political oppression and injustice–wherever it is taking place in the world.

  The Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural adopts the image of the tree as a central motif and global visual signifier to link seemingly disparate issues and distant locations. Spanning 157 feet and reaching 22 feet high, the mural is comprised of nine separate panels, where each artist or team of artists has painted his or her own interpretation of a tree to address social and political issues.These issues include the shared histories of colonization, environmental exploitation, internal exile of indigenous peoples, resilience and resistance to these injustices.

OPSM ENDORSERS

AMED- Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative at SF State, American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine, Arab Cultural and Community Center, AROC, Art Forces, Buena Vista United Methodist Church, The Estria Foundation; Freedom Archives; Friends of Sabeel-North America, Interfaith Peace Builders, International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), Jewish Voice for Peace, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Middle East Children's Alliance, Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural Project, Palestine Youth Movement, Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center, SNAG Magazine (Seventh Native American Generation), Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Dignidad Rebelde, and the Trust Your Struggle Collective.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• @estriaorg
• @ArtForces
• @Sabeel.fosna
• #Artists4Palestine

PARTNERS

The Estria Foundation (TEF) is a non-profit organization with offices in California and Hawaii. TEF creates art in public spaces locally and globally with artists, youth, educators, and activists in order to raise awareness and inspire action in the movement to resolve human and environmental issues. The Foundation's goal is to educate and engage youth on the intersections of art and movements for social justice.www.estria.org

Art Forces (formerly Break the Silence Media and Arts Project) works in the intersection of trauma, memory, creativity, resilience and resistance, making visible the connections between struggles for social justice globally and histories that have been obliterated or forgotten. Starting in 2001, Art Forces has collaborated with grassroots organizations in Palestine's West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon to create public art projects aiming to educate and engage US audiences.www.artforces.org

NorCal Friends of Sabeelis a project of Friends of Sabeel-North America, a non-profit, tax exempt, Christian ecumenical organization seeking justice and peace in the Holy Land through nonviolence and education.  www.fosna.org/content/norcal.

SPONSORS

Akonadi Foundation, Left Tilt Foundation, Middle East Children's Alliance, and People's Life Fund.