Event details are correct at the time of publishing on this calendar.  As times and venues many sometimes change, please double check event details with its organiser prior to making plans.  The quality and content of events is the responsibility of the organisers.

Tuesday, 1 January 2008

Looking for a New Year’s Resolution?  Resolve to schedule a “Personal Action Day”: You choose how you can make a difference

If you’d like to see Lebanon become even better and more peaceful, if you’d like to extend that dream to all of the Middle East and beyond, choose at least one action to help realize that dream.  Sign a petition or start a petition.  Respond to a newspaper or magazine article.  Write to your MP or other government official.  Invite the person who tells racist jokes to lunch and set them straight.  Speak up.  Together we can make a change.  It all starts with one person, one action. Think about it.

Sunday,  6 January 2008, 10:55—12 noon
Speakers Corner Café, just south of Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park (Tube: Marble Arch)

Walk in Peace: A little bit of peace, starting with yourself

Please join us in a slow, silent walk in peace for peace.  Held the first Sunday of every month.  Most walkers agree that simply being outdoors for an hour with your own thoughts can be quite uplifting, stimulating, relaxing, who knows - everyone is different. And as there is no agenda except peace, each walker brings and takes away with them peace from their own perspective. Contact: peace@walkinpeace.co.uk  for further details or visit www.walkinpeace.co.uk.

 

Monday, 7 January 2008, 9:00

The Brunei Gallery, SOAS

Conference: Disarmament and Globalisation: Old and New Wisdoms

IA Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy conference will feature keynote addresses by Baroness Williams of Crosby and Gert Weisskirchen MDB.  Academic panel discussion topics will study (1) 'Is Disarmament Realistic?' (2) 'Best and Worst Practices in Disarmament' and (3) 'Elements for a Renaissance in Disarmament'

 

Saturday, 19 January 2008, 10:00—17:00

Imperial College London, South Kensington, SW7 2AZ (tube Gloucester Rd)

Fabian New Year Conference 2008: The World After Bush

A year and a day before a new US President enters the White House, in a year that also sees presidential elections in Russia and the Beijing Olympics, the Fabian New Year Conference 2008 is the place to start the debates we need about the future global agenda progressives around the world want to see.  The conference will bring together more than 50 leading thinkers on foreign policy and global issues from the UK, Europe and beyond. In addition to speakers and seminars, there will be informational stalls from many organisations.  The Friends of Lebanon organisation will be hosting a stall on the theme “Lebanon after the Bush regime.”  For more information, please visit

http://fabians.org.uk/events/new-year-conference-08/

Monday, 7 January 2008, 19:30 

Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London, W2 1QJ (tube Paddington)

Film: Inside Hamas, followed by Q&A with director Rodrigo Vasquez

December 2007 marks 20 years since the founding of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas. Inside Hamas seeks to clear away some of the myths and tackle the hard truths about Hamas as it tries to run its own proto-state in Gaza - excluded from the official Palestinian peace process and starved of political contact by the West.
 
Filmed over two years and with unprecedented access to the heart of Hamas, this production looks at the organisation at a crucial time in its history. Inside Hamas interviews many of the leading local players, including the organisation’s exiled leader, Khaled Mish’al; its surviving founder, Abdel Fatah el Doghan; Gaza’s Military Commander, Abu Omar; female Hamas MP, Huda Naim; and former Gaza Israeli Defence Forces commander, Nissim Levy.  Admission Price: £5.00.  More info at   http://www.frontlineclub.com/club_events.php?event=1541
 

Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 19:30 

Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ (tube Paddington)

Insight with David Horowitz, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post

David Horowitz, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, talks about the Middle East and the Israeli media. Born in London in 1962, Horowitz emigrated to Israel in 1983. He became editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post in 2004 after working for the paper between 1983 and 1990 and for the award-winning news magazine The Jerusalem Report.  Moderated by Martin Woollacott - Foreign Affairs commentator for the Guardian.  Admission Price: £7.00. More info at http://www.frontlineclub.com/club_events.php?event=1574

Friday, 11 January 2008, 09:30 assemble; 10:30 start

Grosvenor Square, outside the US Embassy

Demonstration: Close Guantanamo Bay

11 January marks six shameful years of the US prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, being used for detainees in the 'war on terror'.  They are denied basic legal rights and mistreated. None have ever been convicted.  Amnesty International invites everyone around the country to join us for a mass demonstration in central London on 11 January to call for the immediate closure of the base and for all the prisoners to be charged or released and given fair legal treatment. Join us for a mass demo in central London, outside the US Embassy, on 11 January to call for the immediate closure of Guantánamo Bay.  For visual impact, dress up in Guantánamo-style orange boiler suits, kneeling down outside the US Embassy in London. Anyone can attend - please wear warm clothes but avoid bringing a bag with you. If you would like to wear an orange boiler suit, or just want to let us know you are attending, please contact us at guantanamoanniversary6@amnesty.org.uk. As well as guaranteeing your outfit, we will also send you some background information on Guantánamo Bay and details of final plans for the day. Find out more at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10226

Monday, 21 January 2008, 18:30

Café Diplo at The Gallery, 70/77 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EL (tube Farringdon)

Lecture: Understanding Hamas with Zaki Chehab

What is the real nature of Hamas? How 'Islamic' are they? What personalities lie beneath the black and green uniforms? Why did Israel encourage its development? Palestinian-born Zaki Chehab, one of the world's leading journalists, draws on his unique insider sources to offer completely new insights into this radical movement.  Mr. Chehab has reported on the Middle East for local and Western media (The Guardian, Channel 4 News, BBC, The Newstatesman) for 25 years. He is London Bureau Chief for Al-Hayat and Political Editor of the Arabic TV Channel LBC, and the author of Inside Iraq (2006) and Inside Hamas (2007). Entry £3, concessions £2, tickets on door. Info 07984 178 193 or see website www.mondediplofriends.org.uk

Monday, 7 January 2008, 18:30-20:00
Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

(tube: Holborn or Temple)
Lecture: Social Science and the Middle East: myths, pitfalls and opportunities
No area of the globe so challenges the contemporary social scientist or the ordinary citizen as do the twenty-five countries of the Middle East. At the same time, none generates as much public controversy and unease.  From its multiple wars and inter-ethnic conflicts, and the rise of religiously defined ideologies, to the enduring place it occupies in world energy markets this region is of central concern to all who seek to analyse, or formulate policies for, the world of today. In this lecture, Professor Fred Halliday (professor of international relations at LSE) examines the difficulties, analytic and normative, that beset study of the Middle East, and argue that a programme of sustained research and teaching on this area is essential for comprehending the world today.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email events@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6043.  If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE.

Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 18:30-20:00
Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

(tube: Holborn or Temple)
Lecture: The Last Resistance
Professor of English at Queen Mary, University of London, Jacqueline Rose discusses her book The Last Resistance.  Amazon states: “Rose explores the power of writing to create and transform our political lives. In particular, she examines the role of literature in the Zionist imagination; here, literature is presented as a unique form of dissidence, with the power to expose the unconscious of nations, and often proposing radical alternatives to their dominant pathways and beliefs. While Israel-Palestine is the repeated focus, "The Last Resistance" also turns to post-apartheid South Africa, to American national fantasy post-9/11, and to key moments for the understanding of Jewish culture and memory. Rose also underscores the importance of psychoanalysis, both historically in relation to the unfolding of world events, and as a tool of political understanding. Examining topics ranging from David Grossman, through W.G. Sebald, Freud, Nadine Gordimer, the concept of evil, and suicide bombers, "The Last Resistance" offers a unique way of responding to the crises of the times.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email events@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6043.  If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE.

Friday, 25 January 2008, doors open 18:15 for 19:00 start

Logan Hall, London WC1H 0AL (closest tube station Russell Square)

Concert: Marcel Khalife

Organised by Nakba60, featuring the legendary UNESCO Artist for Peace Marcel Khalife.  Need we say more?  Tickets £24, £28, £40. Tickets available at www.nakba60.org.uk.

Saturday 26 January 2008, 12.00 & 15.00 for families, 13.00 & 16.00 for adults only

Room 34, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG

(Tube Russell Square, Holborn)

Middle East storytelling

A day of Middle Eastern storytelling to celebrate National Storytelling Week. Each session lasts for approximately 30 minutes. There is limited seating for this event.  Admission free, just drop in.

Saturday, 12 January 2008, 13:00

Trafalgar Square, London (tube Charing Cross)

Demonstration: Freedom of Assembly

In response to the call out for a day of action on January 12th against the Government's consultation on 'Managing Protest around Parliament', which threatens to further restrict protests, the London Campaign for Freedom of Assembly has scheduled a demonstration to defend the right to assemble.  Tired of the government's relentless determination to silence its people, the demonstration is an effort to stop the further erosion of our freedom to assemble.  It aims to make it clear that the people will defend their right to be consulted.  For more information, see email gettingfedupfast@yahoo.co.uk or visit
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/388394.html.

Saturday, 12 January 2008, 16:00—18:00
Opposite 10 Downing Street, London (tube Westminster)
Protest: End the Siege on Gaza
The international Campaign to end the siege on Gaza has called for a protest outside Downing Street this Saturday, 12 January.  There are 1.5 million people, including women and children, in the Gaza Strip suffering the consequences of an oppressive siege and threatened with further measures of power cuts and cuts in foods and medicines allowed into the strip.
Please show your support to Gaza by attending this protest to call for an
end to the siege which is causing untold misery to the residents of the Gaza
Strip.  For further information, please visit http://www.endgazasiege.net/

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Sunday, 20 January 2008, 19:00

Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6AQ (tube Warren Street or Great Portland)

Public Meeting: New Profile

Hosted by Jews for Justice for Palestinians, the meeting features New Profile members Ronit Marian Kadishay and Talila Kosh Zohar.  New Profile works to de-militarise Israeli society, to end Israel’s occupation of areas conquered in 1967 and to nurture an egalitarian civil society. Members highlight the ways in which Israeli visual culture normalises war and the military. They also give young Israelis the opportunity to discuss the taboo issue of refusing to serve in the army. They offer refusers and their families information, moral support and legal aid. Founded in 1998, New Profile sets out to clarify the responsibility of the Israeli state and its society for the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For more information call 07816 962345 or visit http://www.jfjfp.org/ or http://www.newprofile.org.