Here is a calendar of upcoming events, up and down the country. Some are organized by us, others by like-minded organizations and groups.
It’s that time of the year again folks.
Please submit nominations for Committee members and President one week beforehand, being 5pm Sunday 14 August.
After the formalities are over, we will be showing the movie “The Concert.”
“The Concert” is a 2009 French comedy-drama film by Radu Mihăileanu, starring Aleksei Guskov, Mélanie Laurent and Miou-Miou.
It is about the redemption of a former world-famous conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra, known as “The Maestro,” Andrey Simonovich Filipov, who had had his career publicly broken by Leonid Brezhnev for defending Jewish musicians and is reduced to working as a mere janitor in the theatre where he once conducted, becoming an alcoholic in the process.
It won the Best Original Score and Best Sound awards at César Awards 2010. It was also nominated for two Magritte Awards in the category of Best Film in Coproduction and Best Editing for Ludo Troch in 2011, and Best Foreign Film at the 68th Golden Globe Awards.
Please bring a plate of finger food. We’d be grateful if you avoided pork or seafood products.
CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY: RAPHAEL WEIN AND NAFTALI GROSS
Tuesday October 25, 12 noon
THE NZ INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INVITES YOU TO WHAT PROMISES TO BE AN ENGAGING AND FASCINATING ADDRESS
Ethical Dilemmas of Serving in the Israeli Defense Forces: Israel’s war against terrorism.
About the Speakers:
Raphael is a Business Administration and Political Science Student at Ariel University and is a reservist in the IDF. Naftali is a medical student at the Hebrew University and a volunteer paramedic for Magen David (the equivalent of St John’s Ambulance Service in NZ) and is also a reservist in the IDF. Both were combatants in the 2014 Gaza War.
Venue: Logie 104, University of Canterbury, Ilam, Christchurch.
A map showing the location of the venue may be obtained by clicking this link.
Admission is free
Feel free to pass this notice on to anyone else you feel may be interested.
It’s that time of the year. If you would like to nominate another member for the committee, please send your nomination to our secretary, Rebecca (contact details below).
After the AGM we will be showing a hilarious episode of “Yes Prime Minister”, the episode when PM Jim Hacker discovers what his Ministry of Foreign Affairs really thinks about Israel.
Please bring a plate of finger food. Of course, please exclude any pork and seafood products.
We are forming a group to go view this documentary on Sunday June 16. If you’d like to join up, call our Wellington Regional Coordinator, Joanna Moss on (022) 154 7865.
“…by the end, Keane and McConnell are tugging so hard at heartstrings that most viewers will be unable to resist, even the ones who can see the puppeteers in constant motion.” – Hollywood Reporter
It’s hard to imagine anybody living a normal life in the Gaza Strip. Frequently labelled as the world’s largest open-air prison, it makes an appearance on news reports every time a confrontation erupts between Israel and Hamas. On TV sets thousands of miles away, this tiny piece of land has been reduced to an image of violence, chaos and destruction.
The Gaza which is seldom seen is ordinary, everyday Gaza, a coastal strip smaller than Lake Taupō and home to an eclectic mix of almost two million.
So what do the people who live there do when they’re not under siege?
Gary Keane and Andrew McConnell’s atypical approach to their subject matter yields unexpected, unfamiliar stories of people plagued by conflict but not defined by it.
“We don’t wanna be killed or injured. We simply want to live.”
– Paramedic in Gaza
Gaza cannot be understood in a purely political context or by analysing tragic sound bites during conflict. It can only be understood by immersion, by living amongst its people and by recognizing and exploring its rich social diversity and cultural subtleties.
As the filmmakers travel through the physically broken and battered landscape, they allow their subjects to speak for themselves.
Through them, we gain a nuanced understanding of what life is really like for Gaza’s citizens. In Keane and McConnell’s tender portrait of beleaguered humanity, we experience familiarity and affinity with this unique community.
100% on Rotten Tomatoes
A kite with an incendiary device is readied for its launch
Folks
The NZ Institute of International Affairs (NZIIA) has invited us to their event:
Title: Who lives behind the Gaza blockade, and what can Aotearoa NZ (and we) do?
Speaker: Marilyn Garson
Date: Tuesday, Feb 25
Time: 5.30p-6.30p
Venue: South Arts Lecture Theatre A6, University of Canterbury Campus
Abstract: Marilyn Garson worked for 18 years with excluded communities affected by war. She has established locally owned social enterprises with Cambodians with disabilities, Afghan women and others.
In 2011, she was invited to move to the Gaza Strip. As the economic director of a large NGO programme, she led an ambitious Gazan team. In 2013, she became a consultant to the office of UNRWA’s then-Gaza director. They set about launching the GGateway enterprise to create technology-related jobs behind the Gaza blockade. Marilyn volunteered to stay in Gaza as part of the UN emergency response team that prepared to shelter 35,000 displaced Gazans – but 293,000 people needed shelter through 50 days of bombardment.
Marilyn recently published Still Lives – a memoir of Gaza, chronicling four years of work (2011 – 2015), and the lives being lived behind the Gaza blockade.
As a Jew, Marilyn has skin on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. She discusses the conflict, and NZ’s aid policy, in the unifying language of law and human rights.
She asks, who really lives behind the Gaza blockade, and what can we do about it?
Shalom
NZ Friends of Israel Assoc Inc
Box 37 363
Halswell
Christchurch
New Zealand 8245
+64 (27) 433 9745
contact@nzfoi.org
www.nzfoi.org
Our AGM will be held on 2pm, Sunday 12 July at the Piharau Room, Halswell Centre, 341 Halswell Rd, . Send nominations for the committee to us by 10 July.
After the AGM we will be showing the highly entertaining comedy about a Jewish Bakery, entitled “Dough”. Please bring a plate of finger food. No pork or seafood products. Thanks.
Dough is a heartwarming about a Jewish baker and his community.
Some of the most interesting movies that I’ve seen focus on food: “Big Night”, “Chocolat” and “Chef”, to name a few. Now we have “Dough”. Part look at Jewish baking, part look at a mixing of cultures, it hits all the right notes. Basically, it reminds us that we’re all human, all trying to survive in this modern world. But it’s also got some funny stuff and great lines. I’ve liked Jonathan Pryce in every role where I’ve seen him, and I hope that newcomer Jerome Holder gets more roles like this one. Definitely worth seeing. — IMDB
Iron Dome SAM missiles on the left, rise up to intercept Hamas’ rockets on the right.
CHRISTCHURCH: IN THE WAKE OF THE LATEST GAZA-ISRAEL CONFLICT, WHAT’S NEXT?
20 June 2021, 2.30pm
Halswell Community Centre, 328 Halswell Rd, Christchurch.
GPS coordinates: -43.581902, 172.568741
- Why did the police storm the Temple Mount?
- What is Sheikh Jerrah?
- How was the conflict conducted by both sides?
- What was the reaction in NZ to the conflict?
- Why was there no public rally in support of Israel in Christchurch?
Please bring a plate of finger food. No seafood or pork based products, thanks.
Hi Folks, its AGM time again.
This year, its in the Library of the Old Vicarage, 335 Halswell Road, Christchurch 8025.
We look forward to seeing you.
