As noted in my previous long-ago blog posting, I hope to attend this conference in Gaza in two weeks rather than in the secondary teleconference facilities in Ramallah. Whether conference attendees are allowed into Gaza depends on Israeli military officials. Right now it’s too soon to know.
I leave for the Middle East this coming week, and hope to blog regularly during the six weeks I’m away. There’s a lot going on I would have commented on when I was blogging more regularly, but right now I’m too busy getting ready to leave….
From the Gaza conference organizers at Gaza Community Mental Health Programme:
9 October, 2008
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme and World Health Organization finalize plans for conference on Siege and Mental Health
The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) and World Health Organization (WHO) will be hosting GCMHP’s 5th International Conference entitled “Siege and Mental Health… Walls vs. Bridges”, October 27-28, 2008 in Gaza, with video-conference workshops to be held in Ramallah, West Bank. The conference will convene at the Rashad El-Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza City.
The event will gather more than 100 international participants, while hosting 45 local and international speakers. A variety of topics confronting key issues surrounding the Gaza siege will be discussed throughout the conference. Panel workshops will focus on International Law and Human Rights, Effects on Women, Children and Family, Public and Mental Health, Prisoners, and Democracy. These workshops are intended to both increase awareness of the ongoing crisis in Gaza, and serve as a forum by which ideas and solutions can be promoted and pursued.
The conference will open with the modern contemporary art exhibition “Colour Siege”, illustrating some of the creative images inspired by the experience of siege. The exhibition will open the evening of October 26 and will remain on display until the close of the conference on October 28th. Works consist of photographs, videos, installations and a variety of modern art forms. The exhibition will be open to the public.
This year’s conference will also mark the first attempt to incorporate a range of hands-on activities into its schedule of events. Coinciding with the workshops will be a series of field visits to locations affected by the siege, organized in cooperation with the Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege in Gaza. Conference participants will be given the opportunity to tour refugee camps, hospitals, factories and other sites impacted by Israeli policies, restrictions and closures.
With an opening address by Gaza Community Mental Health Programme founder and president, Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, and Mr. Tony Laurence, Head of WHO in West Bank and Gaza, the conference marks a momentous attempt at increasing international and public awareness of the impacts of the siege on Gaza.
The event will serve as an open forum, where human rights will be placed in the spotlight and top academics and researchers come together to provide evidence concerning the damaging impact of the Israeli siege on the civilian population. The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme and World Health Organization would like to welcome and invite the world to Gaza City, in hopes that by placing human rights above politics, together we can end the siege on Gaza and find a humanitarian solution to this crisis.
We are calling upon the world to consider October 27 as a day of solidarity with the Palestinians and to organize a day of action to raise awareness concerning the crisis in Gaza.
Tags: Gaza, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, mental health, siege
[...] rest is here: Gaza Conference Notice Share and [...]