Join us for a Palestinian film night in the Blue Mountains, raising funds for displaced Palestinian families arriving from Gaza in the western Sydney region.

We are screening Palestine Under Siege, a Dare to Struggle film. This new documentary film takes you into the heart of the struggle for Palestinian self-determination. Survivors of Al Nakba along with Palestinian and Jewish activists, share their experiences and insights of living under Israeli apartheid. Three Australians, Dr Peter Slezak, Rand Darwish and Lee Rhiannon, travelled to Palestine to conduct interviews and investigate Israel’s accelerating colonisation of Palestinian land. This documentary was produced by Australian filmmakers, John Reynolds and Jill Hickson.

Before the screening, we are hosting a Palestinian food market in collaboration with Stripped Gaza Street Food, a food truck full of authentic and delicious Palestinian street food, Afandi Cafe, a Palestinian cafe in Sydney who will provide trays of traditional knafeh dessert, and Palestinian Fair Trade Australia selling a variety of products from Palestine. We also have live traditional Middle Eastern music from Oud Vibrations, a two-piece internationally performed folk band who play the beautiful oud, baglama and tambura.

Following the film, we are joined by the filmmakers John Reynolds, Jill Hickson and Lee Rhiannon (former Greens senator) for a Q&A panel. They will be joined by prominent Palestinian Australians Randa Abdel-Fattah, Arwa Abousamra, Assala Sayara and Suzan Wahhab. Our host for the evening is Palestinian Australian activist Jay Karanouh.

All funds raised are being donated to Palestinian Christians in Australia, who are directly supporting displaced Palestinian families arriving from Gaza in the Western Sydney region.

Organised by Mountains for Palestine, the Blue Mountains action group for a Free Palestine, and Community Care Kitchen, a grassroots non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing and eradicating food insecurity.

Your ticket price includes film screening and Q&A attendance only. It does not include food and products, which are to be purchased separately. The venue is an alcohol, smoking and drug free zone.

We acknowledge the Dharug and Gundungurra People, the Traditional Owners of this land. Sovereignty was never ceded. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land. The ongoing settler violence and colonialism across the world is interconnected and must be resisted.