Peretz Kidron will be in London to launch his book REFUSENIK!. He'll be accompanied by Eilat Maoz from the Shministim.

You can also catch them at Ilford 11/3, Leicester 13/3, London SOAS 15/3, York Univ. 16/3, Durham Univ. 16/3, Dundee 17/3, Glasgow 17/3, St. Andrew 18/3, Manchester 20/3, Brighton 21/3, Cardiff 22/3, Bercon 23/3, Birmingham 24/3.

Contact Ilana Bakal: ilanbakal@yahoo.com

Bruce Sterling, greenhouse effect, dead media. MirrorShades looks like a nice place to spenda lazy Sunday afternoon.

Itamar concert is featured in the Camden New Journal.

Urban voices are raised in an epic song of love… and hates

SINGERS, songwriters and musicians wowed an audience with their musical impression of life in Gospel Oak at a concert.
Hundreds of parents and friends packed Talacre Sports Centre in Kentish Town last Wednesday evening to hear the 300-voice choir of primary school pupils – some as young as five – and residents perform an epic song written as part of a community project dubbed Urban Voices.

He's the cool dude in the striped shirt.

Arik Diamant, the chairman of Refusing for Israel (aka Ometz leSarev) has a piece in today's Ha'aretz, titled Immoral ethical codes

Giorgio asked me to speak at an evening titled Refusing to kill. At first I hesitated. But then I decided its a chance to mention the five, so I said yes.

The time out blurb says

Friday 12 March 7pm, Godwin & Crowndale Community Hall,
Crowndale Road, NW1, tube Mornington Crescent: Refusing to Kill - An
evening with refuseniks from Eritrea, World War 2, Gulf War 1 & 2, Israel.
Organized by Payday, a network of men working with the Global Women's
Strike. Tel 020 7209 4751 www.refusingtokill.net

If you come, say hi.

Now, about this civilian prison thing. I understand the boys were accused of corrupting the youth. Well, < href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates">Socrates had to drink hemlock for that.

But seriously. Military prison is not my favorite holiday destination, but you survive it. The discipline is strict, which is precisely why you don't get stabbed in your bed or raped in the showers. Civilian prison is quite a different ball game. Military prison inmates are mostly guys who had their hat on the wrong way and happened to meet their commander just after he'd had a row with his girlfriend. Civilian prison inmates are mostly criminals.

When I was there, some of the prison staff weren't too happy about us refusniks. We were somewhat more educated, more opinionated, and didn't really take the prison game too seriously. Others found us very convenient. We had these odd habits, like cleaning up our cells voluntarily and reading books. At some point we organized a prison university. Once a day someone would give a lecture on some topic he was informed in. I gave one on game theory, another guy talked about the history of black Jazz. Yet another told us about the Reserve police battalion 101. Like I said, corrupting the youth.

I don't really know what the 5 were doing, but transfer to a civilian prison seems a bit too vindictive.

Dutchmarbel (sorry - no idea where your site is) says he wishes he (she?) could do more for the refusniks than " hang up a poster, write letters, have a banner on my website and tell others..."

Well, the quickest, easiest and one of the most important things to do is tell the boys your heart is with them. Just mail them prisoners@refuz.org.il.

Of course they don't have email access in prison, but it will be delivered.

One of the things that helped me most when I did my time was the support I received from all over the world. Its not easy to keep your conviction and strength in these conditions. Its much harder doing a whole year in a civilian prison. Just let them know there sacrifice is not in vain.