Palestinian journalist and peace activist in Dublin

international | anti-war / imperialism | press release Thursday August 07, 2003 19:29 by Claudia - Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign supportpalestine at ireland dot com www.supportpalestine.org (01) 6770253

7.30pm, Mon 11th Aug, Irish Film Centre

Palestinian journalist and grassroots activist, Osama Qashoo will be in Dublin on Monday 11th August as part of his speaking tour of Europe on behalf of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Palestinian non-violent resistance movement.

A spokesperson for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) said, "As a 22 year old front-line activist, Qashoo offers a firsthand account of the growing non–violent resistance movement against the Israeli military occupation. And as a leader of the non-violent resistance movement in the West Bank, his voice is of a kind rarely heard in Europe."

Qashoo is one of numerous young Palestinians whose life has been dramatically transformed by the occupation and Israeli military incursions of the last three years. Unable to finish his university education in Palestine, he became a journalist in order to tell the story of his people.

Qashoo’s footage and interviews have been used in many documentaries. Specifically, his work has featured on BBC, Reuters, Wartime Magazine, Nagam Magazine, Qalqilya TV, Radio Nagam, Nablus TV and Nablus Radio.

Through his work as journalist and co-ordinator of the ISM, Qashoo has worked to protest and expose the daily realities and hardships of the Palestinian people living along the newly built separation wall.

In April 2002 the Israeli government began building a wall separating the western side of the West Bank from the State of Israel . This wall is commonly referred to in Israeli communities as the security wall and Palestinians commonly refer to it as the Apartheid wall, in reference to the Afrikaans word for separation.

In Israel and much of the western world this wall has been reported as being built on the 1967 armistice or “green line” when in fact it is actually being built inside the West Bank.

Since last Spring Qashoo has documented how the construction of this wall has destroyed thousands of acres of Palestinian agricultural lands and annexed more land to the Israeli side of the wall. Qashoo’s reporting has also focused on how this wall has devastated many Palestinian communities.

Qashoo’s multimedia presentation reveals the growth of the wall, its effects on Palestinian communities, land confiscation and the prospects of peace negotiations.

For more information contact:

Claudia Bradshaw, IPSC Co-ordinator:
- office: 01 - 677 0253
- mobile: 087 624 2286