Dear colleagues and friends, supporters and funders,
Season’s Greetings
It’s been a tough year. We end 2016 with the June Brexit vote and Trump election win in November; devastating conflicts in Syria and Yemen and news that has seen Arctic temperatures rising far higher and faster than scientists had predicted.
After Trump’s USA election win, there were some in the USA who drew strength from the idea that it’s ‘darkest just before the dawn’ and that now is the time for progressives to rise to the challenge with policies and campaigns that can push the far-right back. Let’s hope this observation proves to be the case as we do all we can to support those ever-growing justice movements around the world who are fighting to make this a reality.
Below is our 2016 round-up. Please be in touch if you want to know more, get involved or help our work in any way. Where-ever we are, what-ever we do, there’s a lot to ‘push back’ in the coming months and years. Continue reading →
When you watch Trump surrogates or key Brexiteers on TV – and I have, painfully, for hours – some common tactics immediately emerge. One is dedication. The populist right has no qualms over hogging airtime, talking continuously and batting off attempted interruptions and just relentlessly, repeatedly hammering the case on and on until their political opponent is exhausted and overwhelmed and gives up trying. To nice progressives, this approach seems rude – it feels aggressive. This will be 10 times truer for women, who are already battling all kinds of biases and who, however little they speak, will often be viewed as monopolising airtime.
But there is something to be said for taking up more space – politely, while making clear that your point deserves and commands attention. Continue reading →
Indeed, a revolution had occurred. But the contours of that revolution would not be clear for decades. In 1974, young liberals did not perceive financial power as a threat, having grown up in a world where banks and big business were largely kept under control. It was the government—through Vietnam, Nixon, and executive power—that organized the political spectrum. By 1975, liberalism meant, as Carr put it, “where you were on issues like civil rights and the war in Vietnam.” With the exception of a few new members, like Miller and Waxman, suspicion of finance as a part of liberalism had vanished.
Over the next 40 years, this Democratic generation fundamentally altered American politics. They restructured “campaign finance, party nominations, government transparency, and congressional organization.” They took on domestic violence, homophobia, discrimination against the disabled, and sexual harassment. They jettisoned many racially and culturally authoritarian traditions. They produced Bill Clinton’s presidency directly, and in many ways, they shaped President Barack Obama’s.
The result today is a paradox. At the same time that the nation has achieved perhaps the most tolerant culture in U.S. history, the destruction of the anti-monopoly and anti-bank tradition in the Democratic Party has also cleared the way for the greatest concentration of economic power in a century. This is not what the Watergate Babies intended when they dethroned Patman as chairman of the Banking Committee. But it helped lead them down that path. The story of Patman’s ousting is part of the larger story of how the Democratic Party helped to create today’s shockingly disillusioned and sullen public, a large chunk of whom is now marching for Donald Trump. Continue reading →
From Pink to Prevention activities & toolkit this Breast Cancer Prevention Month
Dear friends, supporters and colleagues,
As we find ourselves mid-way through the global fundraising phenomena that is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we askare environmental and occupational links to the disease ‘an elephant in the room’?
We want to draw attention to a breast cancer narrative that is excluded from the ‘pink’ limelight.
For decades now, scientists and activists alike have argued that the persistent exclusion of environmental and occupational risk factors for breast cancer (eg carcinogens and hormone disrupting chemicals) by government, breast cancer charities and industry is, at the very least baffling and, at worst, obstructing a basic public health right to know. We argue that the time has come for policy-makers to explain why they are refusing to acknowledge the evidence that links these risk factors to breast cancer.
We hope you find something of interest in our activities listed below – from our new online toolkit, to our book launch on 31st October, to our calls for action on breast cancer charities and politicians alike. Help us widen the breast cancer risk-factor debate – and let everyone know about this ‘elephant in the room’ each and every October.
Best wishes
Deb, Diana, Helen & Ho-Chih From Pink to Prevention Campaign
ONLINE TOOLKIT TO HELP WIDEN THE DEBATE ON BREAST CANCER RISK FACTORS
From Pink to Prevention has produced an online ‘tool-kit’ to help you understand the nature of the problem we are facing – both in terms of the links between environmental and occupational risk factors as well as the inaction of those with the power to address it. It includes an interactive webpage, PDF and poster which brings together some of the leading experts, writers and campaigners from across Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, UK), USA, Canada, Australia and the Philippines; it also includes films to watch, in-depth resources and how to take action. Please share as widely as you can.
BOOK LAUNCH MONDAY 31ST OCTOBER 6PM-8PM.
From Pink to Prevention supported by Unison, the Alliance for Cancer Prevention and the Breast Cancer Consortium, are hosting the launch of So Much to Be Done, a book of writings by the late Barbara Brenner, with readings by her partner of 38 years Susie Lampert. Barbara was 15 years as the director of the hugely influential organisation Breast Cancer Action based in San Francisco and was a leading contributor to the film Pink Ribbons, Inc.
Venue: UNISON Café 130 Euston Road London NW1 2 AY
Event is free. Please RSVP to info@frompinktoprevention.org
Tea, coffee and snacks will be provided.
SPREAD THE WORD AND SIGN OUR BIG QUESTION PETITION
We advocate that better diagnostics and treatment is not mutually exclusive with looking at how our profoundly polluted environment, homes and workplaces impact on our bodies and health, while also taking into consideration the ‘precautionary principle’ – better safe than sorry. https://www.change.org/p/breast-cancer-charities-remove-the-pink-ribbon-blindfold-and-ask-the-big-question-3
EARLY DAY MOTION
We are delighted that Caroline Lucas MP will table an Early Day Motion to Parliament calling upon the Government to act upon the urgent inclusion of environmental and occupational risk factors into all National Cancer Plans and strategies.
It will run until spring 2017. We would like to get as many MPs signing as possible. Once our EDM is live, we will let you know!
From Pink to Prevention activities & toolkit this Breast Cancer Prevention Month
Dear friends, supporters and colleagues,
As we find ourselves mid-way through the global fundraising phenomena that is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we askare environmental and occupational links to the disease ‘an elephant in the room’?
We want to draw attention to a breast cancer narrative that is excluded from the ‘pink’ limelight.
For decades now, scientists and activists alike have argued that the persistent exclusion of environmental and occupational risk factors for breast cancer (eg carcinogens and hormone disrupting chemicals) by government, breast cancer charities and industry is, at the very least baffling and, at worst, obstructing a basic public health right to know. We argue that the time has come for policy-makers to explain why they are refusing to acknowledge the evidence that links these risk factors to breast cancer. Continue reading →
Everyone knows that wealth is unequally distributed. The work of Thomas Piketty has made this a mainstream concern. But the magnitude of the gap between white and black Americans is on a different scale. According to a recent report from two progressive think tanks, CFED and the Institute for Policy Studies, white households own, on average, seven times as much wealth as African-American households (and six times as much as Latino ones). The Forbes 100 billionaires are collectively as rich as all black Americans combined. At current growth rates, it would take black Americans two hundred and twenty-eight years to have as much wealth as white Americans have today.
Some of the reasons are clear: the unemployment rate among black Americans is roughly twice that of whites, and black people earn, on average, between twelve and twenty-two per cent less than white people with similar education and experience. But the wealth gap between black and white Americans is much bigger than the income gap, thanks to a toxic combination of institutionalized discrimination, persistent racism, and policies that amplify inequality. As Thomas Shapiro, a sociologist at Brandeis and the co-author of the seminal book “Black Wealth/White Wealth,” told me, “History and legacy created the racial gap. Policies have maintained it.” Together, they contribute to what he’s called “the hidden cost of being African-American.” Continue reading →
Of the features of modern society that exacerbate that fear and threaten that hope, the distribution of wealth may not be the most important. Money matters to people, but status matters more, and precisely because status is something you cannot buy. Status is related to identity as much as it is to income. It is also, unfortunately, a zero-sum game. The struggles over status are socially divisive, and they can resemble class warfare.
Dear friends, supporters and colleagues,We hope there is something here for everyone in our autumn round-up, whether film related, campaign related – or both.
It’s been a summer where we have seen no let-up of the horrors inflicted by all sides on the people of Syria; calls to halt the sales of UK arms to Saudi Arabia as it continues its attacks on Yemen’s civilian population; Donald Trump seemingly rising in the polls; confusion after Brexit; and an unhealthy media preoccupation with Jeremy Corbyn resulting in attention to deeper domestic issues inevitably being sidelined.
But we are seeing progress in one hugely significant area. TTIP is now on the ropes. It has been a long battle – and it’s not over yet – but it proves that civil society’s determination to take on huge vested interests can pay off, as hundreds of thousands citizens across the EU who took part in the effort to stop TTIP can testify to.
We are working across a variety of projects that connect with many of the issues above. A short round-up is below. As always, a big thanks to ALL our funders – individuals and grant-makers alike.
Best wishes
From all at Tipping Point North South
FILMS TO WATCH
We Are Many is now available to buy on iTunes and DVD. The release of the Chilcot Report led to a second wave of interest in Amir’s film with numerous screenings across the UK. This included a special TPFF hosted post-Chilcot Report event at Friends Meeting House in London, home to the first anti-Iraq war movement meeting; and a special Oxford city screening with Larry Sanders, brother of Bernie, who joined Amir for the post film debate. And with the ongoing attention on Jeremy Corbyn, a contributor throughout the film, WeAre Many also remains pertinent to current Labour Party debates as well as wider public debate, on the subject of UK foreign and military policy-making.
Open Bethlehem We are delighted that the English language version can now be streamed here on Vimeo. Leila’s film is now on release in Canada and the Montreal premiere was made possible with support from our Candian funding partners, Development and Peace. This follows on the heels of a successful spring /summer tour of Middle East countries, including several very special screenings in Bethlehem itself. Here’s a review describing Open Bethlehem as one of the five films to help you understand the modern Arab world. Finally, as of this month, we welcome Sara Apps, formerly Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to the Open Bethlehem team.
The Shadow World The Edinburgh Film Festival’s Best Cinema Documentary prize went to this eye-opening documentary about the shocking realities of the global arms trade. Director Johan Grimonprez and writer Andrew Feinstein pose the question ‘will we be allowed to choose peace over the business of war’? The film is based on Feinstein’s extraordinary book of the same name which uncovered the real cost of war, the way the arms trade drives it and how weapons are now being turned against the citizens of liberal democracies. We hope to work with this film in 2017 and in relation to our Five Per Cent campaign on runaway military spending.
And connected to our work this coming October Breast Cancer Awareness month, why not take a look at the brilliant work of French investigative journalist and film-maker Stephane Horel.We are looking forward to working with both her films Endocrination and Le Grande Invasion as part of our From Pink to Prevention campaign activity (more below). Stéphane has investigated the links between business, government and public health policy, with a special focus on a class of chemicals called endocrine (hormone) disruptors.
CAMPAIGNS
Make Apartheid History We marked our first year’s activity on Mandela Day (July 18th) and released a short highlights compilation video, which was screened as part of Palestine related events at the Edinburgh Festival (Café Palestina) and Greenbelt Festival, where TPFF hosted an event showcasing our MAH work. Next year sees some significant anniversaries including 100 years since the Balfour Declaration – we are working with our MAH partners on plans to mark this and other key calendar moments in 2017.
The Five Percent Campaign The UK is now number 2 in the world’s arms sales table, thanks largely to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. The world’s No. 1 arms dealer, the United States alone has sold more than $115 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia under Obama’s presidency. India is on a $150bn military spending spree. Oxfam and CAAT are keeping up public and political pressure on the issue of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia. We are calling for runaway military spending to be placed in the same category of international campaigns as debt cancellation, trade, tax and climate justice. While we continue to share 5% with our NGO colleagues here in the UK, we look forward to attending the forthcoming annual International Peace Bureau gathering in Berlin where we can share our ideas with colleagues across the world.
From Pink to Prevention Next month is October Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We will be hosting a special book launch event at UNISON on Mon 31st October with the publication of So Much To Be Done by the late American activist Barbara Brenner. We’re also producing a public awareness tool which we hope will help spread awareness about an elephant in the room – the role of environmental and occupational exposures in the global breast cancer epidemic. More to come in our next Breast Cancer Month October newsletter.
EVENTS
As part of our economic justice work, we have developed several new projects rooted in recent history but with a profound resonance for today. They include Attlee Nation and Attlee Festival for 2017 and Project 2018 based on Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign and Economic Bill of Rights. Both projects are now moving forward as we secure collaborations with like-minded networks and organisations which can help in the realisation of work that is rooted in the legacy handed to us by those who have come before, in the struggle for social justice.
We hope there is something here for everyone in our autumn round-up, whether film related, campaign related – or both.
It’s been a summer where we have seen no let-up of the horrors inflicted by all sides on the people of Syria; calls to halt the sales of UK arms to Saudi Arabia as it continues its attacks on Yemen’s civilian population; Donald Trump seemingly rising in the polls; confusion after Brexit; and an unhealthy media preoccupation with Jeremy Corbyn resulting in attention to deeper domestic issues inevitably being sidelined.
But we are seeing progress in one hugely significant area. TTIP is now on the ropes. It has been a long battle – and it’s not over yet – but it proves that civil society’s determination to take on huge vested interests can pay off, as hundreds of thousands citizens across the EU who took part in the effort to stop TTIP can testify to. Continue reading →
July 18th is International Mandela Day. It asks ‘what will you do to serve your fellow human beings?’.
One of the things you can do to answer this call, is to support Palestinian civil society’s call for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law and to make apartheid history, once and for all. As South Africans, and over many years, Nelson Mandela and his dear friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu, made their support for the Palestinian struggle clear as they saw the parallels between apartheid South Africa and Israel/Palestine.
Make Apartheid History launched one year ago. We are marking this Mandela Day by sharing a short video loop of the highlights of our first year’s activity. We hope you enjoy this compilation of short films, events and performances.
Make Apartheid History is an international project that brings together creative individuals, organisations and networks from around the world – starting with Palestine and the UK; South Africa and USA – for a programme of popular events connecting civil rights, anti-apartheid and Palestinian solidarity movements which commenced summer 2015.
We thank the many artists and campaigners who have supported our activity to date – from Palestine and the UK, USA and South Africa.
If you’d like to find out more about why the term ‘apartheid’ can be applied to Israel’s policies, here is our ‘rationale.’
Together we can MAKE APARTHEID HISTORY once and for all.
Best wishes from everyone on the Make Apartheid History team.
Make Apartheid History is supported by Trust Greenbelt and Amiel & Melburn Trust.
July 18th is International Mandela Day. It asks ‘what will you do to serve your fellow human beings?’.
One of the things you can do to answer this call, is to support Palestinian civil society’s call for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law and to make apartheid history, once and for all. As South Africans, and over many years, Nelson Mandela and his dear friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu, made their support for the Palestinian struggle clear as they saw the parallels between apartheid South Africa and Israel/Palestine.
Make Apartheid History launched one year ago. We are marking this Mandela Day by sharing a short video loop of the highlights of our first year’s activity. We hope you enjoy this compilation of short films, events and performances.
Tipping Point Film Fund is proud to be supporting this project with funding, fundraising and campaign outreach support.
The Context
This film is being made at a time where ‘people power’ is coming into its own, again. The Arab Spring, Occupy Movements around the world, the Indignados in Spain. From Wall Street to Wisconsin, from Madrid to Athens, and all across the Middle East, people are rising up to make their voices heard. We are going through a unique period of popular protest, seeing the start of a mass, global movement, demanding real democracy and justice. The anti-war marches of 2003 played a huge role in laying the ground for much of this global activism.
THE TRAILER
The Film
‘We Are Many is a film about a single day and its aftermath. It is the story of an untold chapter in the history of people power. By turns uplifting and chilling, it reveals both the power and potential of ordinary people, as well as the dark underbelly of the war machine. It also draws a connecting line from 2003 to the present-day global activist networks as well as the wave of citizen protests seen across the world, beginning with the Arab Spring.
On February 15 2003, in a totally unprecedented event, 15 million people, some say up to 30 million, in over 800 cities around the world across all seven continents, marched against the impending war on Iraq. But how did this come about? The film will chronicle the birth, growth and rise of a new kind of movement, from those that built it, participated in it, and those who opposed it. From the stories of mothers who marched while their soldier sons went to war, to stories of men and women who had never marched before in their lives; from scientists protesting in Antarctica, to September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows protesting in New York; the story of February 15 2003 is a journey into the heart of a movement that became transformed into a phenomenon. The film recounts the twists and turns of these opposing forces, the revelations and leaks, inquiries and high level hearings which have come to light since the invasion.
Spread the word, see the film and
learn more about the issue
WE ARE MANY will be available on iTunes from July 18th and DVD from August 1st. It has been acquired by UNIVERSAL PICTURES for worldwide distribution (excluding North America). Planning is now underway for the theatrical release of the film in the USA.
The We Are Many website will be a resource on many levels – from story sharing to learning more about how to get involved with some of the many issues raised in the film. We at Tipping Point are also working on our in-house developed campaign focussed on runaway military spending, developed alongside our work on the film.
We hope the film can raise debate on many inter-connected issues that the Iraq War has raised, and will continue to raise – from the value of protest to political accountability; from the costs of war to the bringing of charges of war crimes to those who took us into this disastrous conflict.
‘We Are Many premiere screening takes Sheffield Doc/fest by storm. The reception for Amir’s film about the world’s largest protest – the anti-Iraq invasion protests of 2003 – was incredible, getting a standing ovation from the audience, much feedback on twitter and some brilliant reviews.
Press
“A work of beautiful rage. Provokes anger and goosebumps”
Empire
“consistently intelligent and nuanced”
Variety
“incredibly ambitious… gripping. The only film I’ve ever watched where the audience started clapping halfway through…” ★★★★★
Huffington Post
“rousing and moving, it’s a film that should be seen by the many” ★★★★☆
Radio Times
Thursday 14th July
Special Public Screening at Friends House
A special screening of Amir Amirani’s film WE ARE MANY will take place at the venue where the anti-Iraq invasion movement started: Friends House in London. It is timed to mark the release of the Chilcot Inquiry the previous week. The post film discussion will include Amir Amirani & guest speakers.
Doors open 6.30pm. Film starts 7.10pm (running time 1hr 50 mins) Panel / Q&A to follow. Event ends 9.30pm. Tickets £5 (no advance ticket sales – buy on the night only) Venue: Friends House 173-177 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ Continue reading →
Thursday 14th July
Special Public Screening at Friends House
A special screening of Amir Amirani’s film WE ARE MANY will take place at the venue where the anti-Iraq invasion movement started: Friends House in London. It is timed to mark the release of the Chilcot Inquiry the previous week. The post film discussion will include Amir Amirani & guest speakers.
Doors open 6.30pm. Film starts 7.10pm (running time 1hr 50 mins) Panel / Q&A to follow. Event ends 9.30pm. Tickets £5 (no advance ticket sales – buy on the night only) Venue: Friends House 173-177 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ
More post-Chilcot Report cinema screenings in July…
The film is also getting a second wave release in selected cinemas across the UK, especially timed to mark the release of the Chilcot Report on July 6th.
NB We’re delighted that our Oxford screening on Wednesday 13th July will be welcoming Larry Sanders, Bernie Sanders brother. Larry will join Amir for a Q&A after the film.
And finally, the good news! DVD and iTunes release
WE ARE MANY will be available on iTunes from July 18th and DVD from August 1st. It has been acquired by UNIVERSAL PICTURES for worldwide distribution (excluding North America). Planning is now underway for the theatrical release of the film in the USA.
We at Tipping Point, through our work on our From Pink to Prevention campaign, are proud to be marking the birthday of an extraordinary woman –the citizen/scientist Rachel Carson.
Please visit our campaign website, where two new blog posts will take you on the amazing Rachel Carson journey.
In the words of our colleague Diana Ward:
Rachel Carson was an outstanding communicator and translator of science into everyday language. Although her research-based facts and discoveries were familiar to others working in the same research field, it was only when they were published in easily read book form that they first reached the public consciousness.Here for all to read and understand was shocking scientific evidence of harm to every form of life from the widespread use and persistent presence of manmade chemicals in the environment. Her book, published in 1962, ‘Silent Spring’ was, and still is, a stark wake-up call to the irreversible consequences for all living organisms, as well as to the extreme risks from the multiplier effects of such toxic chemicals for humans at the top of the food chain.
In the bigger picture drawn by Carson, her emphasis on risks to human health from the use and release into the environment of manmade chemical compounds has yet to be acknowledged and incorporated in preventive health research programming of cancer research organisations and charities.
As long as this situation is allowed to continue, public awareness of the scientifically proven links between risks to health and muliple everyday exposures to synthetic chemicals, will remain lost to view.
In terms of significance for human health, the existing disconnect between the role of environmentally introduced chemicals in human diseases and conditions is on a par with climate change. Together they constitute the major 21st century challenge that must be confronted and resolved by the application of scientific knowledge for the benefit and not the destruction of life.
Di Ward – Campaigner From Pink to Prevention and
lead author Breast Cancer: an environmental disease. The case for Primary Prevention,
UK Working Group on Breast Cancer 2005
FROM PINK TO PREVENTION
Our work at From Pink to Preventionis to keep asking The Big Questionof all those individuals, organisations and institutions with the power to make or to influence decisions on breast cancer incidence in particular WHY they persist in refusing to acknowledge the role of environmental and occupational toxicants and WHY they persist in ignoring decades of evidence up to the present day – from organisations such as World Health Organisation and the EU and other respected scientific bodies – on which the link between our lifelong (womb to grave) exposures to toxic chemicals and substances and the escalating incidence of breast cancer, among many other diseases, is based.
Rachel Carson would be asking the same questions. She died at the age of 56, from breast cancer, just 2 years after the publication of Silent Spring. We are forever in her debt.
Best Wishes
Deb, Helen and Diana
From Pink to Prevention campaigns team
Suggested tweet:
Join @pink_prevention in following the example set by #RachelCarsonDay to speak up about the harm to human health posed by chemicals + to get key players to take action. #NoMoreSilentSpring
We at Tipping Point, through our work on our From Pink to Prevention campaign, are proud to be marking the birthday of an extraordinary woman –the citizen/scientist Rachel Carson.
This 7th-15th May, an incredible range of activity across the UK organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, will mark the 68th anniversary of the ‘NAKBA’ – Palestinians’ loss of their land when the state of Israel was created in 1948. The programme’s closing evening event (15 May London) includes Maxine Peake reading excerpts from The Shroudmaker, by Ahmed Masoud and first performed by Justin Butcher earlier this year.
On 15 May, people will remember the violent dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948. These events, which took place during the creation of the state of Israel, are known to Palestinians as ‘the catastrophe’ or, in Arabic, the ‘Nakba’. They are the events which have led directly to today’s situation, with Palestinians dispossessed, stateless and living under occupation in the West Bank, under occupation and siege in Gaza, or in exile around the world, including millions in refugee camps to this day. And the Nakba is not over for Palestinians, as the Israeli Government continues to steal their land in the West Bank through illegal settlement building and the construction of the separation wall.
Almost 800,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes in 1948-9 and during the June 1967 war a further 325,000 Palestinians became refugees. Under UN Resolution 194, the Palestinians have the right to return to their homes, but Israel has always refused to implement the Resolution. Today over 6 million Palestinians are refugees, hundreds of thousands of whom still live in overcrowded refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza, and in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
Life under occupation
The past 40 years have seen the establishment of over 200 illegal Israeli settlements, housing nearly 500,000 settlers, within occupied Palestine. The separation wall in the West Bank, construction of which was started in 2002, cuts deep into Palestinian land and, along with the “settler only” roads, cuts off many communities from water supplies, hospitals and their agricultural land. Palestinian residents face severe travel restrictions and for many it is impossible to enter Jerusalem or to travel abroad. The treatment of Palestinians, both within Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territory, is widely recognised as a system akin to the Apartheid regime of South Africa.
Palestinians are continually under attack from Israel’s occupying forces and are increasingly harassed by settlers, who attack farmers and steal their land. Collective punishments, such as prolonged curfews and house demolitions are frequently imposed.
Palestinians living in what is today the state of Israel, also face discrimination and are treated as second class citizens.
For more information on the historical background and the situation today, read this [pdf].
Google Earth can help bring the 1948 ‘Catastrophe’ up to date
What does the ongoing ‘Land grab’ started in 1948 look like?
Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory, Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. They have utilised the power of Google Maps to create interactive presentations that illustrate aspects of the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and present Al-Haq’s written and visual documentation of human rights violations.
This 7th-15th May, an incredible range of activity across the UK organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, will mark the 68th anniversary of the ‘NAKBA’ – Palestinians’ loss of their land when the state of Israel was created in 1948. The programme’s closing evening event (15 May London) includes Maxine Peake reading excerpts from The Shroudmaker, by Ahmed Masoud and first performed by Justin Butcher earlier this year.
Open Bethlehem is now completed; had its UK release in 2015; its Bethlehem Premiere in Spring 2016 and continues its journey across the globe – the Middle East, Europe, North America. For more info click here.
NB Open Bethlehem is the new release title for The Road to Bethlehem.
I am delighted that Tipping Point has become the home of my film in the UK. I couldn’t have a better partner in my journey to bring the story of Bethlehem to the world.
– Leila Sansour – Open Bethlehem
What would you do to save Bethlehem?
In 2004 director Leila Sansour set out to find the answer for herself. Four years later, she found it.
This documentary is a personal story filmed over four critical years in the life of Bethlehem. This most famous little town also happens to be Leila Sansour’s hometown. She left it as a teenager, pledging never to return. But in 2004 she went home for Christmas. The journey changed her life.
The film is shot over four Christmases in the life of Bethlehem as, piece-by-piece, hundreds of slabs of concrete are lowered into place to build a wall that will seal the city from the outside world. The story is told through the eyes of the film’s director. It is her own very personal story.
To hear the latest news from Leila read her blog, or for a small taster of the film watch the clip below.
Raising the completion budget
Tipping Point Film Fund has helped raise funds in excess of £100,000 to support the editing and completion of the film, as well as the international outreach plan for the film.
The film mobilised a fund-raising base that raised more than £70,000 towards this final sum – from individual donations, collective group contributions, dedicated fund-raising events and appeals. Supporting donor organisations include Trocaire (Ireland), Development and Peace (Canada) CBA Dfid (UK), and most recently McCabe Educational Trust.
Leila has a proven track record as a feature documentary director – her first film was the internationally acclaimed Jeremy Hardy versus the Israeli Army.
Campaign outreach
The film is now complete. The campaign accompanying the film on its release will be a 2-3 year long international effort to engage the public and decision-makers on the critical issues affecting Bethlehem and Palestine more widely, and inspire audiences around the world to get involved and really help make a difference.
Open Bethlehem
At the heart of the film and the campaign, founded by the director herself in 2005, is Open Bethlehem, an international campaign set up to address the state of emergency in Bethlehem. It has secured widespread attention and endorsement from world figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter and is a campaign that will enhance the film’s international impact with the intention of creating a positive impact for her home town.
Timescale & Events
July 2014
TPFF hosted NGO screening for organisations working in or on the Israel/Palestine issue. Hosted at Mosaic rooms.
Sept 2014
The film was previewed at the Royal Geographical Society in September 2014 at a sell-out event hosted by Melvyn Bragg.
“One of the most remarkable and moving documentaries I have seen. The tragedy of the Palestinians encapsulated in the life of one town, Bethlehem”
Jon Snow
Open Bethlehem was released across the UK, beginning on December 5th. It has been shown in London, Liverpool, York, Oxford, Bristol, Norwich, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness to full house audiences with enthusiastic feedback. There were great Q&As of Leila with Jeremy Hardy, Irvine Welsh, Paul Laverty, among others. TPFF hosted two sell-out screenings at the Lexi cinema and the Ritzy Picturehouse. Screenings start again in the new year. Don’t miss the chance to see this wonderful film in the cinema.
“Leila Sansour’s documentary Open Bethlehem follows her campaign to stop occupying Israeli forces encircling her hometown with a concrete wall. Sansour’s film, which follows her attempts to unite Christians, Muslims and Jews in their desire for free access to the Holy City, is the kind of art that peace processes are built on.”
Peter Bradshaw
Integral to the release is an international outreach campaign of same name. Open Bethlehem works to promote global engagement with Bethlehem as a real and contemporary city in the Middle East. It does so by supporting the distribution of communication tools about Bethlehem to boost international interest and awareness and by promoting visits to Bethlehem through established and specialized tour operators. The campaign also works to develop a network of passionate ambassadors for the city through the Bethlehem Passport Program.
Leila recently wrote this article for The Elders website, ahead of the Pope’s visit, warning that the city’s tradition of peaceful coexistence is in danger of vanishing completely. http://theelders.org/article/pictures-bethlehem-under-threat
Leila Sansour writes about her and her family’s experience of life growing up under Israeli occupation and considers the impact of Palestine’s UN Bid for recognition.
PALESTINIAN INHIBITION IN THE WALLED CITY OF BETHLEHEM
‘As a child growing up in Bethlehem, I was entrusted with burning all the political books in my father’s library whenever there was an Israeli raid. Now my city is surrounded by walls and ring-fenced by more than forty Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land.’
In September 2011, as Palestine prepared for its bid for UN recognition, Leila writes about this hugely significant step. ‘The Palestinian UN bid – an uncharted territory. Is the risk going to the UN? Or is the greater risk doing it half- heartedly? Read it here.
Survey: Americans back Bethlehem but not sure where it is
Early on, as Leila and her team started making the documentary, they decided to commission a nationwide survey in the United States about American perceptions of Bethlehem. The findings where stunning and in total contrast to another survey we commissioned in Bethlehem at the same time.
The survey, carried out by top US political pollsters Zogby International, showed that only 15 percent of Americans realized that the biblical Bethlehem is a Palestinian city and even fewer still guessed that its inhabitants were a mix of Christians and Muslims or that Bethlehem was located in the West Bank. 15000 Americans were canvassed.
The Zogby survey showed strong support for the town in the US, where 65.5% of the population wanted the UN to list it as a world heritage site. It is worth mentioning that Bethlehem was finally listed as a world heritage site only in 2012.
The film crew also conducted 150 interviews in the streets of London at the same time producing a humorous montage of people’s perceptions. One woman said: “I don’t know where it is but I strongly believe the men there must be very attractive”. The clip did not make it into the film but it will be part of our press kit and promotional film take outs.
Here for all to read and understand was shocking scientific evidence of harm to every form of life from the widespread use and persistent presence of manmade chemicals in the environment. Her book, published in 1962, ‘Silent Spring’ was, and still is, a stark wake-up call to the irreversible consequences for all living organisms, as well as to the extreme risks from the multiplier effects of such toxic chemicals for humans at the top of the food chain.
Our work at From Pink to Preventionis to keep asking The Big Questionof all those individuals, organisations and institutions with the power to make or to influence decisions on breast cancer incidence in particular WHY they persist in refusing to acknowledge the role of environmental and occupational toxicants and WHY they persist in ignoring decades of 
Tipping Point North South 