Episode 38 - Philadelphia Eid al Fitr Gala

WPEB 88.1 FM, West Philadelphia's only community radio station, present Radio Against Apartheid, amplifying voices for justice and equality in the Middle East.

On this week's show, DJ Ev and Matt are joined by Seff Al-Afriqi and Salima Rashid, the organizers for the Philadelphia Eid Al Fitr Gala this Saturday night. We offer previews of the spectacular performers at the gala, with radio exclusive spoken word pieces from Seff Al Afriqi.

The Eid Gala will feature the spoken word poetry, comedy, and conscious art of Preacher Moss, creator of the 'Allah Made Me Funny' comedy tour, poet Sunni Patterson, hip hop artist Qadir Lateef, and Seff Al Afriqi and Jamarr Hall, both alumni of the Philly Youth Poetry Movement.

Proceeds from the event will go to relief efforts for the people of Syria and Burma facing community devastation and massacres.

Saturday, August 25th
7:00pm - 10:00pm

Philadelphia Clef Club
738 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146

You can purchase tickets online at their Eventbrite page, by contacting Seff or Salima, or at the door.

Further details are on their Facebook page.

Also this week:

- Hunger strikes continue for Palestinian prisoners inside of Israeli jails, as Samer al Barq is on his 93rd day of hunger strike, and Hassan Safadi is on his 63rd day of hunger strike.

Safadi is now refusing water, after Israeli prison guards beat him unconscious on August 13.

- The US State Department for the first time has recognized settler violence against Palestinians as terrorism in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2011. Given the lack of law enforcement, we remain skeptical of the positive effects this recognition may have for Palestinians.

The news comes as two attacks on Palestinians are reported over the weekend:

On Thursday, Israelis firebombed a taxi with Palestinians, injuring the six passengers, including one four year-old child who remains in critical condition.

Then over the weekend, Israeli youth in West Jerusalem attacked three Palestinians, leaving one unconscious and in critical condition. During the attack, Israeli police are reported to have stood and watched as Israeli youth contributed to what news outlets, including the New York Times, report was a lynching.

- Israel continues to target, imprison, and deport migrants from Sudan, while the Independent reports that the State of Israel is changing the nationality of some migrants and sending them to a country which is not their home, where their lives may be endangered by continued violence and turmoil.

- On Thursday, the state police of South Africa massacred 34 striking workers in Lomnin, at the Marikana platinum mine. The mine is the world's largest platinum mine.

For several weeks, thousands of workers have been on strike demanding better wages for their labor. Their struggle is indelibly connected with the end of Apartheid rule, and the continued inequality in South Africa.

- Artists in San Francisco are exercising their right to free speech and modifying the racist advertisements by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (the collaborative outfit of Pamela Gellar and Robert Spencer). One wheat-pasted bus reads "In a war between the colonizer and the colonized, support the oppressed. Support the Palestinian right of return. Defeat racism."