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Toronto: Palestinian Political Prisoner Solidarity Group Presentations in April

ON APRIL 13, SUMOUD, THE PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONER SOLIDARITY GROUP and AL-AWDA (TORONTO) PRESENT:

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Chahal Sabbag's critically acclaimed

* SOUHA SURVIVING HELL - journey into Khiam prison with Souha Bishara,imprisoned Lebanese resistance fighter. (60 min, 2001)

- and -

* Women in Struggle - four Palestinian women discuss their experiences in Israeli prisons. (56 min. 2004)

* Discussion and Update on the recent raid of the Jericho prison and kidnapping of the Jericho 6.

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Place: Medical Sciences Building Auditorium (Room 2158) - 1 King's College Circle
Date: Thursday, April 13
Time: 7pm

~ PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Tickets 5$ in advance, 10$ at the door.

Available at:

Toronto Womens' Bookstore (73 Harbord Street)
A Different Booklist (746 Bathurst Street), Tel: 416.538.0889
OPIRG - Univ. of Toronto (563 Spadina Ave, Room 101), Tel: 416.978.7770
Or contact Sumoud directly at: sumoud@tao.ca

NOTE: Proceeds will go to the upcoming 'Palestinian Child Prisoners Speaking Tour'

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ABOUT THE FILMS
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* Souha Surviving Hell *

The subject of Chahal Sabbag's latest film is the charismatic Souha Beshara, whom many call the fiancee du Liban. In 1989 at the age of twenty-one, Souha, a devoted communist, agreed to attempt the assassination of Lebanese General Antoine Lahad, who was collaborating with the Israeli Army in the South of Lebanon. Lahad survived, but Souha was quickly arrested and thrown in the Khiam prison where she spent ten years for the attempt on Lahad's life. Conditions in Khiam were horrific, and Souha endured six of those years in solitary confinement.

Chahal Sabbag follows Souha in the months following her release, as she tirelessly travels Lebanon -- speaking about her experiences at Khiam and searching out others who were imprisoned there. And despite all she suffered in Khiam, Souha is a survivor who shares her story with a sense of hope for the future -- both her own and that of Lebanon.

* Women in Struggle *

The focus of the film is on the lives of four Palestinian women who speak of their lives after being released from the prisons of the Israeli colonizer and of their involvment in the Palestinian national liberation struggle. Without narration, these women give their testimony in their own words about their past experiences of incarceration, and their current suffering and social engagement within the context of the current Intifada.

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MORE INFO ON THE SPEAKING TOUR
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Sumoud Political Prisoners Solidarity Group is organizing its second annual Free Palestinian Political Prisoners speaking tour. The focus of this year's tour is Palestinian child political prisoners (currently there are 350 Palestinian children being held in Israeli Apartheid jails).

Tour dates are April 17th (Palestinian Political Prisoners Day) to May 2nd. Participants include a child ex-political prisoner, a children's rights activist from Defense for Children International(Palestine Section) and a representative from Sumoud.

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ABOUT SUMOUD
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Sumoud (steadfastness in Arabic), is a political prisoner solidarity group established by a group of activists in Toronto, Canada. We campaign primarily around Palestinian political prisoners being held by Israel, of which there are approximately 8000 currently behind bars. We also take up the imprisonment of indigenous, immigrant and racialized people in North America, as well as the role of the prison industrial complex in criminalizing poverty and political resistance. Central in our approach is an understanding of the illegitimacy of the prison as an institution in itself and the need for its abolition.

To find out more about Sumoud, establish a Sumoud group in your community and support our work, contact us at sumoud@tao.ca or visit our website at sumoud.tao.ca

posted by Annamarie at 11:03 PM