Palestine Unlocked – Celebrating Life and Culture: 4 – 21 June 2015 (Oxford, UK)

Don’t miss this fascinating series of Palestinian films! Open Bethlehem, Omar and High Hopes will be shown at the Phoenix Picturehouse. Each film will be followed by a Q&A/discussion panel. Omar 6pm, Thursday 4th June, Phoenix Picturehouse. For tickets &…

Friday 5th June – Palestine Unlocked hosts a comedy night at Oxford’s number one comedy venue, The Glee Club. Tim Renkow, Sajeela Kershi, Chris Coltrane, and Nabil Abdulrashid will be performing live, with Ivor Dembina compering. Support a great cause and…

Saturday 6th June – Palestine Unlocked’s Opening Ceremony will feature Al-Zaytouna who will perform Palestine’s national folk dance – the ‘Dabke’ – followed by a brief workshop so you can have fun learning the steps! A local Morris dancing side will…

Sunday 7th June – Did you know that Gaza holds the Guinness World Record for kite flying! In July 2010 a staggering 7202 kites were flown simultaneously. Come and join us as we celebrate the Palestinian tradition of kite-flying and…

Monday 8th June – Nobel Peace Prize nominee and General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti will be in conversation with Edward Mortimer about the future of Palestine. Mustafa Barghouti has been an active member in Palestinian politics…

Tuesday 9th June – Palestinian authors Dr Ghada Karmi, Karl Sabbagh and Selma Dabbagh will speak about their work and writing. Ghada Karmi –will speak about her new book “Return: A Palestinian Memoir”. Beautifully written and deeply moving, Return is…

Wednesday June 10th – A rare opportunity to discover the range and variety of extraordinary voices in contemporary Palestinian poetry translated by Scotland’s most acclaimed poets. Editor Sarah Irving and poets involved in the project will bring this poetry and…

Friday June 12th – Tom Sperlinger, Reader in English Literature and Community Engagement at the University of Bristol discusses his recently published book written following 5 months teaching English Literature at the Abu Dis campus of al Quds University in the Occupied…

Friday 12th June – writing from a city under occupation and under fire. Sarah Irving will present some of these stories collected in the prize-winning collection The Book of Gaza (Comma Press, 2014) alongside some of its editor, Atef Abu…

Saturday 13th & 20th June – Jan Chalmers will talk about the Palestinian History Tapestry Project. The Tapestry will be exhibited in St Giles Church throughout the festival. Jan will explain and demonstrate how the embroidery project was initiated and how…

Saturday 13th June – Ashtar Theatre’s 48 Minutes for Palestine and Gaza Monologues, at the Pegasus Theatre 2pm & 7.30pm, Saturday 13th June, Pegasus Theatre. For tickets and more information about getting to Pegasus, click here. Or call (01865) 812150…

Sunday 14th June – Storyteller and author Chris Smith will perform this story, together with a number of other wonderful stories and songs from Palestine. Chris lived for 15 years in Palestine and currently runs Storytelling Schools and Storytelling Republic here…

Sunday 14th June – a sermon by Sami Awad, of the Holy Land Trust, Bethlehem. Sami Awad is the Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust based in Bethlehem. The organisation exists to lead in creating an environment that fosters…

Monday 15th June to Saturday 20th June – a series of talks by health professionals who have worked in Gaza. The flyer will be available to download soon. Oxford Medical Teaching Initiative in Palestine: Oxford Medics who have travelled and…

Monday 15th June – Impossible to Possible: what does nonviolence mean in Palestine today? Palestinian Christian Sami Awad, the Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust will lead discussions about nonviolence and its role in bringing a just and lasting…

Wednesday 17th June – a reception with the Lord Mayor of Oxford to mark the opening of the Oxford-Palestine Photo Exhibition. 4pm Gallery, Museum of Oxford, Town Hall.Event run by Oxford Ramallah Friendship Association

Thursday 18th June – a sermon by Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK . In recent years, His Grace’s comments and views have frequently been sought on matters of human rights, civil liberties and international religious freedom,…

5 Broken Cameras Friday 19th June – This Oscar nominated film is a first-hand account of protests in Bi’lin, a West Bank village affected by the Israeli West Bank Barrier. The documentary was shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad…

Saturday 20th June – Iyad Burnat, of the Oscar Nominated film Five Broken Cameras, and Dr Richard McCallum, Sociologist at The Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, will be speaking at the Friends of Sabeel UK Conference. 10am – 4.30pm; Church Mission…

Saturday 20th June – Dr Mads Gilbert and Dr Mohammed Maqadma (UNWRA) talk about their experiences of providing medial care in Gaza during the military assaults. Dr. Gilbert and Dr. Maqadma both worked in Gaza during Israeli assaults, including the…

Sunday 21st June – Unlocking Palestine: Moving Forward, at Bonn Square, Oxford The official closing ceremony of the ‘Palestine Unlocked’ festival. Speakers from many organisations will give short speeches, including members from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Neturei Karta.