Join writers’ co-op Shoal Collective for the launch of ‘Everything We Thought Was Beautiful’: Interviews With Radical Palestinian Women.

Nearly three years since Israel began its genocide in Gaza, Western media continues to invite Palestinians to comment only on the humanitarian situation and the horrors they endure, while no space is made for their political agency and experience. Within this, women are often portrayed as passive victims of violence.

As Israel escalates and expands its deadly colonial project across Palestine and Lebanon and bombards Iran – with the full participation of the US, UK and others – it’s never been a more important time to hear from radical Palestinian women.

Edited by Shoal Collective, ‘Everything We Thought Was Beautiful’ features 13 interviews with Palestinian women spanning continents and years. Women who are not only active in the struggle for the freedom of their people but in globally connected struggles for liberation.

Interviewees include Ayah Al-Ghazzawi, a BDS activist in Gaza, Shatha Abu Srour, a disability rights advocate in Bethlehem, and Samah Fadil, an Afro-Palestinian writer and poet in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada.

We will be reading excerpts from the book and will hear from some of the women via recordings and video.

You are welcome to BASE cafe before the event between 6-7.30pm. This is a vegan pay-what-you-can community dinner.

Venue has step-free access and a wheelchair accessible toilet.

Free entry but donations appreciated to help us cover costs.

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For more details about the book or to buy, please see PM Press UK: https://pmpress.org.uk/product/everything-we-thought-was-beautiful/

Fifty percent of author royalties that Shoal Collective receives from the publisher will be donated to Palestinian fundraisers and organisations chosen by the women interviewed. The remainder will go towards book-related expenses.

For more on Shoal Collective, see https://shoalcollective.org/

BASE Librarians will be in the library on Saturday 27th June 2pm-5pm.

Come check out the resources with help from the library collective, chill out and read, or help us with some library work!

The library is up a steep flight of stairs. We’ve booked the downstairs space as well, and are happy to set up a downstairs workspace and carry resources down as needed.

(Please note this means we will not be in the library on Friday 26th.)

Are you reconsidering using music streaming platforms like Spotify, but questioning…

🎵 Why does it feel so hard to leave them?
🎵 What are the ethics behind these huge companies?
🎵 What about these platforms suck people in?

Come along to the next Bad Apple Bristol event ‘Music: To Stream or Not to Stream’, where we will take an anticaptalist approach — thinking about how mainstream music platforms cause harm by being extractive / unethical and are linked with imperialist projects. We’ll also be talking about more ethical alternatives!

The event will be interactive & everyone’s perspective is welcome and valued! We want to create a safe space for discussion, connection and learning from each other.

We will be holding this event after BASE’s usual Sunday vegan dinner! Feel free to come along for the some good food before the event, and please message Bad Apple Bristol if you have any questions or needs <3
Pay what you can, no one turned away due to lack of funds!

Full details on venue accessibility can be found here:
https://basebristol.org/safer-space/accountability-conflict-resolution-process/

Anarchy 102 is a 2-hour in person interactive workshop that explores the question ‘how do anarchists actually organise?’

We’ll look at some of the ways that anarchist organise and make decisions together, both within small groups and between groups on a larger scale. The workshop will be interactive with plenty of chance for participation, reflection and questions.

We hope the session will empower people to learn about themselves, how to put anarchist values into application and action and become agents of change.

Our first workshop in the series, Anarchy 101, focused on anarchist values and principles, and invited folks to recognise where these already show up their lives. It also introduced participants to affinity group organising. Attending Anarchy 101 is not a prerequisite for this workshop: we will recap the core elements at the start of this session

This is an entry level session with no dense theory or history and where questions and exploration are welcome.

This event is free (donations welcome) and open to all. Tea, coffee and water will be available, feel free to bring your own vegan snacks.

BASE Accessibility information here.

If you have any questions or additional access needs please email NoMasters@anarchyforall.com and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Next BASE work day: Sunday May 31st 🏠🛠️🎨 11am until 2pm

Drop in and lend a hand to help us make base beautiful (again). Anyone can join, no special skills required (although definitely appreciated!).

If you’ve used and benefited from the space then this a great way to give back. Remember there are no staff or building managers, the space is what WE make it.

We host work days approximately once a month: we can always use a little help from our friends to assist with repairs and handy tasks needed around the building, or helping with things like tidying, painting, and generally keeping our community space looking groovy 😎

Sunday May 31st at BASE: Sharing and reflecting with international anarchist comrades ❤️‍🔥

Join us for a short film and talk with a direct action activist and anarchist comrade from so-called Australia. We will discuss our mutual struggles around the escalation of state repression and the challenges of anarchist organising, and to share stories of resistance on the ground. Our guest from Magan’djin (Brisbane) will share insights from years of first-hand experience in direct action campaigns and organising in social centres around the country. This event aims to stimulate a dialogue about our shared struggles (e.g., policing tactics, repressive bail conditions, draconian legislations, collective care) and reinforce international activist and anarchist solidarity.

🍛 BASE cafe from 6-7pm: Pay-what-you-can home-cooked vegan meal (with gluten free option available)
🎥 Short film and talk beginning around 7:15pm
🫶 Event will end around 8:30pm

If you would like to volunteer, cook, host, or suggest an event or film, get in via email basesocialcentre[at]riseup.net, or ask on the night!

Want to come together in community, organise and learn collectively?

Come to our next meeting on Monday the 18th of May at 6:30pm.

‼️ Learning how our tech consumption is interlinked with genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
‼️Sharing and learning about alternative apps, software & media.
‼️ Moving away from our reliance on complicit tech companies and softwares.

We’ll be doing some research on complicit music apps like Spotify and alternative platforms. Please come along to this research meeting if you’d like to learn more, or have knowledge you’d like to share with us.

You don’t have to have been to our last meeting, any time shared is valuable

Please message us if you have any questions or needs & we look forward to welcoming you < 3

Full details on venue accessibility can be found here:
https://basebristol.org/safer-space/accountability-conflict-resolution-process/