The Jewish Museum of the Palestinian Experience is a project of the Coalition for Peace with Justice and has extended the reach of the Coalition’s educational efforts nationally. Live materials from this educational museum have been presented from coast-to-coast, from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, CA, with two events in Chicago, IL, and others in Lima & Archbold, Ohio; Fort Wayne & Elkhart, Indiana; Champaign and Normal, Illinois; and Greensboro, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
If you are interested in hosting an exhibit at your church, school or local library (or anywhere else), you can find information here.
Upcoming Events
To be announced
Past Events
Promised Land Gives a Voice to Palestinian Exiles
Direct from the refugee camps, The North America Nakba Tour, the Coalition for Peace with Justice and Promised Land Museum will present “The Exiled Palestinians, Stateless Palestinians from the Camps in Lebanon,” a talk featuring two women with a different message from Palestinians living within the occupied territories—theirs is the story of refugees displaced from their homeland.
The presentation will be held on October 23 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Forsyth County Central Library auditorium in downtown Winston-Salem.
Khawla Hammad has been a stateless refugee in Lebanon for 69 years. At the age of sixteen, she was expelled from her village of Kabri, in Palestine. Now she is 84 years old and still a refugee in Lebanon, with no citizenship in any country at all. Israel expelled most of the population in 1948, and has prevented them from returning to their homes after what Palestinians call al-Nakba (the Catastrophe). In repeated Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Khawla’s three children were killed, among many others.
Khawla will be joined by 23-year-old Palestinian refugee, journalist and translator Amena Elashkar, the great granddaughter of other Nakba survivors. She and her parents were born as stateless refugees in Lebanon and have never lived in their own country. Amena first met an Israeli during last year’s tour, and Khawla not since 1948. They have a different perspective from Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and the part of Palestine that became Israel.
“We are pleased to give a voice to these misrepresented people,” says Promised Land Museum founder, Dr. Steven Feldman of Winston-Salem. “Our mission is to support peace and justice by fostering awareness of the common humanity of Christian, Muslim and Jewish families living in Israel and Palestine, so co-sponsoring this event along with the North American Nakba Tour fits nicely with our goals.” Promised Land Museum is based in Winston-Salem and provides Jewish and Israeli historical materials to inform people about the Palestinian experience through an exhibit that has travelled throughout the United States. Exhibit materials will also be presented, giving attendees of this event perspectives of both Palestinian and Jewish voices.
For more information about the tour visit www.nakbatour.com. Please direct questions to info@promisedlandmuseum.org.
Gaza Surf Club
Promised Land Museum and a/perture cinema are proud to present a screening of Gaza Surf Club. Join us to view this documentary by Philipp Gnadt, which tells the story of young Palestinians, sick of occupation, war and religious fanaticism who have found their own means of protest: surfing, breakdance and parkour. Following the film stay for a discussion led by Promised Land Museum curator, Dr. Steve Feldman, who will share his recent experience visiting Palestinians in the West Bank.
Grand Opening
DURHAM, N.C., March 2, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On Friday, March 18, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., a reception and exhibition at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C., will mark the grand opening of the online museum PromisedLandMuseum.org: The Jewish Museum of the Palestinian Experience. Dr. Steve Feldman will be welcoming press and other visitors at the exhibit in the Winners Room of the National Press Club.
A project of the Coalition for Peace with Justice, the museum complements the common understanding of the founding of Israel with first hand resources describing how Palestinian families came to be expelled from their homes and villages.
The Jewish Museum of the Palestinian Experience takes what had been two narratives—separate Israeli and Palestinian narratives—to help people see one consistent story of how a state run by Jews was formed in a land where non-Jewish people were the majority.
The exhibition will include major highlights from the more extensive collection of online resources. Feldman, director and creator of the museum, says that the museum fills gaps in his Jewish American education and upbringing. “Jewish morality is ingrained in us. American Jews have been on the front lines of anti-discrimination efforts. The museum, which presents largely Jewish sources and a Jewish perspective, documents our role in making and keeping Palestinian families refugees from their homes, actions inconsistent with our Jewish values.”
The museum presents first hand materials supplementing available resources from Jewish Voice for Peace’s Facing the Nakba Project and from other organizations that offer educational materials and programs about the Nakba from a Palestinian perspective. The Nakba, or “catastrophe,” refers to the 1948 exodus when Palestinian families were driven from their homes.
The mission of the Coalition for Peace with Justice (CPWJ) is to work for a just and sustainable peace in Israel-Palestine. CPWJ educates the public, advocates for change based on equal rights, and directly supports peace builders in Israel-Palestine.
Coalition for Peace with Justice
1821 Green St.
Durham, NC 27705
919-342-8928
cpwj.contact@gmail.com, www.cpwj.org
Contact: Dr. Steve Feldman, Phone: 336-577-1164
Email: sfeldman@wakehealth.edu, Website: promisedlandmuseum.org