OPEN FORUM
"PALESTINE: WAR AND CHILDREN"
On Wednesday, March 5 there will be an open forum on the subject of "Palestine: War and Children" at the Thessaloniki Museum of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Instruments.

The discussion, is part of a special section of the program of the 5th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century, entitled: "Current Issues: Palestine". This section explores the human experience of war, occupation and pain in this area of the Middle East through nine documentaries.

As last year, in the section "Children of a Harsh Reality" and the accompanying seminar on the subject of the human rights of children in the developing world, the Festival aims to create an arena for social awareness and mobilization on current issues. Participating in the panel are the following:

 Teresa Shalufi (Israel): head of Build a Better World, a non-governmental organization located in Bethlehem, which organizes educational and entertainment programs for Palestinian children.

 Nidal A.S. Alayasa (Palestine): a fifteen year old Palestinian who is a participant in the Build a Better World organization’s programs.

 Subhi Hadidi (France): Palestinian political analyst on Middle East issues, film critic and author, translator into Arabic of the works of Levi-Strauss, Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, etc.

 Ram Levoy (Israel): director of the film Gaza, Closed Closure, which will be screened in the "Current Issues: Palestine" section.

 Costas Papaioannou (Greece): head of the Doctors Without Borders organization of Greece, which is currently carrying out a medical mission in Palestine.

 Dina Vagena (Greece): journalist from the newspaper Eleftherotypia, who specializes in reporting on the Middle East.

 Ηany Abu-Assad (Palestine): Director of the film Ford Transit

The discussion will be moderated by Stelios Kouloglou.