Israel ballet interrupted in Burlington, Vt. - No tutu is big enough to cover Israel's War Crimes



On Friday, February 19, 2010, American and Israeli human rights activists interrupted a performance by the Israel Ballet at the Flynn Theater in Burlington, Vermont, unfurling banners which read "Sponsored by Apartheid Israel" and "No tutu is big enough to cover War Crimes".

The Israel Ballet is currently touring the U.S. as part of an official state campaign, dubbed "Brand Israel" to use the Arts to revive its sagging image abroad in the wake of unanimous condemnation from the major human rights organizations and, most recently, the U.N. "Goldstone Report".

No More War! No More Troops to Afghanistan!

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In Burlington, Vermont over 100 people gathered on Saturday December, 12 to say "No more war in Af
ghanistan" and to denounce Barack Obama's 30,000 person troop surge to Afghanistan.

The rally took place one day after 350 members of the Vermont National Guard departed for training before deployment to Afghanistan early next year. Vermont is sending more than 1,500 National Guards people to Afghanistan, this is the largest deployment of Vermont's National Guard since World War II. As of July 2009, the Vermont National Guard had a total of 2,660 people enlisted, this leaves Vermont with just over 1,000 guards to protect the state in the event of an emergency.

Dozens of similar demonstrations took place across the country on Saturday. Thousands of people spoke out against the troop surge and the escalating war in Afghanistan.

Local author and activist, Ben Dangl, attended the rally. "This December 12th protest in Burlington, VT coincided with protests around the nation denouncing Obama's troop escalation in Afghanistan, and should signal the re-emergence of a much-needed anti-war movement. From Afghanistan to Honduras and beyond, Obama's foreign policy is a devastating continuation of US imperialism and needs to be stopped.

Despite the freezing cold temperature and frigid winds the crowd stayed warm singing chants, "Same lies, same plan, troops out of Afghanistan".

The event was organized by local activist Jonathan Leavitt. "Our political leaders have failed us, allowing more Vermont National Guard to be shipped into the meatgrinder that is Afghanistan than remain here in Vermont, leaving us dangerously vulnerable to disasters. Until Vermonters organize and rise up in mass civil disobedience, we are allowing ourselves to be implicated in an illegal and immoral occupation, which in turn leaves us vulnerable to the common blizzard"

Speaking to the crowd Leavitt encourages that "Hopefully starting today...a righteous flame of indignation can rise in the anti-war movement to say no more, not another dollar, not another dayfor this illegal and immoral war!"

Territorial Domination in the West Bank

In July 2009 I visited Israel and Palestine, interviewing Palestinians and Israelis in an attempt to better understand the conflict.
I toured Illegal settlements and outposts in the West Bank with Dror Etkes. He heads the Land Advocacy Project for Yesh Din, a group opposing the continuing violation of Palestinian human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Dror is an Israeli citizen who has, for the past 7.5 years, made it his mission to be a local expert on settlement expansion and Palestinian land grabbing. He seems to know every road in the West Bank. He is exact about how many homes are in each settlement and knows which are slated for evacuation.
In Tel Aviv I interviewed Human Rights Attorney Michael Sfard. He represents Israeli Human Rights organizations, Peace groups, Palestinian communities and individuals. Many of his legal cases deal with Palestinian land grabbing by settlers.

Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied territories of Palestine is about more than constructing houses for Jewish settlers. Palestinian farmland is being turned into industrial space and illegal outposts on Palestinian land are protected by Israeli military. Roads, if Palestinians are allowed to drive on them, are often
blocked without warning.



Thank you to Anouar Brahem and Meiron Egger for their musical contributions!

Bethlehem is a prison for its citizens
A message from Bethlehem Mayor, Victor Bartarseh.
On a recent visit to Bethlehem, Palestine I interviewed Mayor Victor Bartarseh to get a perspective on what life is like for the citizens of this West Bank city


Bethlehem has the highest rate of unemployment in the West Bank. The city is entirely surrounded by the separation wall. The city receives less than 5% profit from tourism due to Israel's control over tours thus keeping money generated from hotels, restaurants, souvenirs and the like in Israel.

Since the mid 1990's. Burlington, Vermont and Bethlehem, Palestine have shared a sister relationship.

The Mayor speaks candidly about the physical and psychological affects of living with the wall. He is hopeful that we can break down psychological barriers with cultural exchanges between the two cities.

Today we visited Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, Palestine. I'm filming Munjed, he grew up in the refugee camp. He is telling me what the wall is doing to Palestinians, you can see the separation wall behind us.
Edited videos will come later after we get home.
The wall is a monster.

History of the Eelam Tamil struggle

A brief history of Sri Lanka and the Ealam struggle according to Thozhar Thiagu, activist and General Secretary of the Tamil National Liberation Movement in Tamil Nadu, India.

I met with Thiagu at his office and at his home in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in February 2009.

The struggle for Tamils in Sri Lanka continues despite the alleged end of the war in May 2009. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final weeks of war. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced without food, shelter or medical supplies. Seeking refuge from government bombardment of their homeland in the north and eastern provinces, thousands of Tamils have fled from Sri Lanka since the mid 1980's.

Here is a brief history of the struggle.

Message in chalk in front of Urban Outfitters at their new location on top of Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. The message is pointing to a tee-shirt that has the writing "People before profit" on it

Displaced Dalits in Tamil Nadu, India


In the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, India there are 350,000 Dalit people who are under threat of being displaced by a government approved iron ore company. The people of the area have spoken out against the presence of this facility but at present the government is not backing down. The iron ore facility will not only displace people but also their livestock, temples, homes, educational and health facilities as well as break apart communities that have been existing here for years.

Impunity in Sri Lanka

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Suresh Premachandran, Parliament member from Sri Lanka talks about impunity and violation of inalienable rights of Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
I met with Suresh at his home in Tamil Nadu, India.

Journalists are being killed, arrested and banned from entering and reporting from combat zone areas. Civilians are being held in refugee camps within their own country while the government bombards its own citizens.
Suresh is from the northern district of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, currently this area is the most adversely affected by the war.
Facing threats to his life for speaking out against government aggression he has moved his family several times in recent years from Sri Lanka, to India, Canada and finally back to India.

Suresh talks about the welfare camps, ceasefire agreement, the Sri Lankan government's want for continuing the war in the name of creating a single ethno country and the need for the global community to speak up.
Suresh can be reached at kandiah57@hotmail.com

Where do your spices come from?
A snapshot of the work involved to give our food flavor. Cochin, Kerala, India.

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