Thanking Charlotte Moore and Eileen Caves for their Art Exhibition titled “The Olive Trees are Weeping: Visions of Occupied Palestine through Fiber Art and Photographs” and City Council solidarity with the people of Palestine

City of Cambridge O-6 ORIGINAL ORDER IN CITY COUNCIL February 3, 2020 COUNCILLOR SOBRINHO-WHEELER COUNCILLOR ZONDERVAN MAYOR SIDDIQUI WHEREAS: It has come to the attention of the City Council that as part of their ongoing “On the Wall Gallery” program, the Central Square Branch Library will host an exhibit called “The Olive Trees are Weeping: Visions of Occupied Palestine through Fiber Art and Photographs”; and WHEREAS: The exhibit will feature the work of two Cambridge residents, Charlotte Moore, a fiber artist, and Eileen Caves, a photographer; and WHEREAS: Ms. Caves’ installations will document her time volunteering in the Aida Palestinian Refugee Camp, a 0.071 square mile area just north of Bethlehem in which 5,500 Palestinian refugees have taken up residence; and WHEREAS: Ms. Moore’s artwork explores human barriers and why people can't achieve their own cultural identities and personal preferences and what damage is caused by the barriers in their lives; and WHEREAS: For the last few years she has concentrated on pieces that express the effect of political actions that create humanitarian crises and has focused in particular on conditions in the Palestinian West Bank and the isolation of Gaza; and WHEREAS: The residents of Aida and 57 other UN-recognized Palestine refugee camps, whose 1.5 million residents generally face dire living conditions and human rights violations; and severe economic and political oppression, including structural poverty; dangerous overcrowding; inadequate healthcare; regular violent clashes between armed forces along the nearby West Bank Barrier; deteriorating water, electricity, and sewerage infrastructure; and restricted mobility rights, among other forms of system violence <https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/aida_refugee_camp.pdf>; and WHEREAS: Children of the West Bank and Gaza are uniquely vulnerable and subject to the abuse of unlawful detentions and fatal clashes between armed groups; and

WHEREAS: On numerous prior occasions, this body has resoundingly affirmed its support for human rights across the world, including most recently for the people of Kashmir (POR #329 <http://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=10489&highlightTe rms=kashmir>); now therefore be it RESOLVED: That the Cambridge City Council go on record thanking Charlotte Moore and Eileen Caves for assembling this exhibit, which will not only enrich the artistic life of our community, but will also raise awareness for the struggles of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; and be it further RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record declaring its solidarity with the people of Palestine. RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward suitably engrossed copies of this resolution to Eileen Caves and Charlotte Moore on behalf of the entire City Council.