Long Time Quiet

A big Thank You to the Amhurstanians who made it for an enjoyable night of songs, readings, films, performance dance and good spirit.

The line up

Mohamad Mesrati, readings in Arabic from his recent writings                                       Tania El Khoury, “Stories of Refuge”10 min film recently shot with Syrian refugees in Munich exploring life in exile                                                                                               Nisrine Mansour, 20 min. film Hawa Tabi’i (Hues of Love) 2013 20 min. Lebanese law allows police to physically test men suspected of being gay. Hues of Love sheds some light on this hidden form of social intimidation                                                                                       Rasvan Siti – (Raz )- “I am Sorry” an improvised performance                                     Laura Whitticase, guitar and songs

In memory and tribute to our late Roula El Mir El Ayoubi, an active supporter and active citizen,  Amhurst Republic has adopted an ALTO BOWL in Eb. and gave it the name Roula. The Longplayer is a one thousand year long musical composition. It began playing at midnight on the 31st of December 1999, and will continue to play without repetition until the last moment of 2999, at which point it will complete its cycle and begin again. Find out more http://longplayer.org and http://longplayer.org/live/index.php#bowls  Long may Roula sing.                                                                           

Sport Struggle Resist

Amhurst Republic welcomed new citizens last night, footballers for a change. On Saturday 23 June, we hosted a fund raising event for an incredible film project Over The Wall.

We met new people, danced on the magical tunes of Bayir Ensemble who played live Anatolian music and we ate tasty food prepared mostly by our hairy chef Abou Hurst.

Over The Wall is a brilliant and touching film about the journey of Soas University Football team transformed by the events they witness in Egypt and Palestine. Check their  website and facebook page and follow them on twitter @walksoflifefilm to know about upcoming preview screenings.

The surprise live performances were this time by our resident actor Raz and a talented poet whom you should look out for James Massiah.

The occupation has not ended

It was a great OccuParty on Friday with many of you joining in. We need to be getting together like this more often. As promised, here are links to the spaces of artists and groups who contributed to the event.

Films screened from Syria were The End , Prayer, Vanguards, and Soldiers all by the Abou Naddara Film collective, who made the committment of producing one film every Friday about Syria and in support of the revolution there.  With demonstrations filling the streets of Syrian cities and towns every Friday, we are happy that the republic was able to join on the same day with the film screening. From Egypt we had Pulse by Director Bassem Yousri, and The Maspero Massacre – 9/10/11 What Really Happened film which was only completed on the day by Mosireen, a non-profit media center in Egypt. The film was produced (and screened in our event) in support of the International Day In Defence of the Egyptian Revolution and Against Military Trials of Civilians, called on by the The Campaign to End the Military Trials of Civilians in Egypt. Unfortunately, blogger, activist and friend Alaa Abd El Fattah is still in prison, after his detention was renewed for a further 15 days on Saturday.

Make sure to check out Deaborah Pearon‘s and VacuumCleaner‘s digital spaces, and for the citizens who chose to “voice” their views, here are some photos captured by Hydar Dewachi of your statements. If you have missed it, below is a video of his photo projection in the OccuParty accompanied by Roskar Nasan’s beautiful oud.

The CruciBle, our annexed enclave is still waiting for your occupation – so please email, call or come over and make use of it.

Come OccuParty with us on Friday 11/11

Poster design by Dia Batal

Thank You

Amhurst Republic would like to thank all the Amhurstians who joined us in our last event. We had great time and managed to raise £356 that went to support the families of the kidnapped and missing persons in Lebanon. We were all sent a thank you letter from Lebanon that we would like to share with you. Special thanks is also due to the artists and volunteers who contributed to the event. Links their digital spaces are available under the list of Amhurst friends to your right.

Thank you letter, a photo by AmhurstRepublic on Flickr.

On Absence, event photos

More on the Disappeared in Lebanon

The Republic’s Party event is tonight, and money raised will go to the “Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and the Missing in Lebanon“, which has advocated for the truth about the fate of 17,000 people missing since the Lebanese civil war in Lebanon. Two decades after the end of the war, the Lebanese authorities have done little to uncover the truth about what happened to those still missing or to bring those responsible for their disappearance to justice, using the 1991 Amnesty law as a justification for impunity.  Check out “Never Forgotten” a recent report by Amnesty international and these “Voices from the civil war” for more info.

Members of the commitee, along with the organization “Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile” (SOLIDE) have set up a campaign tent in 2005 to pressure the government to act on behalf of those disappeared in both the civil war and in Syrian prisons. A tent that the families of the disappeared have continuously been present in.. and continuously ignored by the authority. Money we are raising will be used to support a digital database of the disappeared.