The Observer Summer Arts Calendar

Our critics pick the season's highlights: From Lady Gaga to Harry Potter, Copp�lia to Tony Cragg, this summer has something for all

MAY

4 FILM The Tree of Life
The much-delayed fifth feature from director Terrence Malick, snapped up by Icon for UK release ahead of its Cannes showing, is a multi-generational drama featuring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn ? and, reportedly, dinosaurs.

5 CLASSICAL From the House of the Dead
Opera North's production of Jan�ek's final work, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Richard Farnes. Stars Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Alan Oke and Roderick Williams. Leeds and touring

DANCE By Singing Light/Romance Inverse
National Dance Company of Wales bring Stephen Petronio and Itzik Galili's arresting double bill to Dance City in Newcastle, with the former set to the poetry of Dylan Thomas.

6 THEATRE Shrek
Nigel Lindsay plays the lime-coloured, lovelorn ogre, with Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona and Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad, in this Anglo-American production at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

CLASSICAL The Damnation of Faust
Ex-Python Terry Gilliam takes on the devil as director of this ENO staging of Berlioz's masterpiece, conducted by Edward Gardner and starring Peter Hoare, Christine Rice and Christopher Purves.

7 CLASSICAL Steve Reich at 75
UK premiere of Steve Reich's WTC 9/11, part of the two-day Reverberations festival at the Barbican. Then toured by the Kronos Quartet in Glasgow (13 May) and Norwich (17 May).

10 THEATRE The Cherry Orchard
Zoe Wanamaker stars; Howard Davies, who has excelled in the staging of Russian drama, directs in the National's Olivier, with a design by Bunny Christie and a translation by Andrew Upton.

11 FILM Cannes film festival
Robert De Niro heads the jury at Cannes this year, casting his eye over eagerly awaited films by Lars von Trier, Pedro Almod�var, Lynne Ramsay and Woody Allen, whose Midnight in Paris opens the competition.

13 DANCE Royal Ballet
The season's penultimate triple bill at the ROH includes the Royal Ballet premiere of Balanchine's Ballo della regina and a new work, Live Fire Exercise, from Wayne McGregor, set to a score by Sir Michael Tippett.

FILM Attack the Block
The debut feature from Joe Cornish, of Adam and Joe fame. A "hoodie horror" about aliens landing in south London and teenage gangs uniting to fight them.

14 ART Tate St Ives
Treats at the Cornish gallery's Summer Exhibition include late paintings by Agnes Martin, installations by Martin Creed and sculpture by Naum Gabo.

16 POP Kate Bush: Director's Cut
While fans await an album of new material, the fabulously eccentric Bush has chosen to rework a selection of older songs: "The Sensual World" gains a new title and lyrics from Ulysses.

THEATRE Much Ado About Nothing
Hotly anticipated. David Tennant and Catherine Tate play the sparring lovers at Wyndham's in London. They are directed by Josie Rourke, who takes over as artistic director of the Donmar next year.

18 ART Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want
Tracey Emin needs no introduction, and quite possibly no huge solo retrospective, but this show of sculptures, photographs, films and drawings at the South Bank's Hayward Gallery will no doubt thrill her fans and infuriate her detractors alike.

19 THEATRE Lord of the Flies
William Golding's savage fable, adapted by Nigel Williams, plays in the open air until 18 June at Regent's Park theatre, which is enjoying its most imaginative era for decades.

21 ARCHITECTURE The Hepworth Gallery
The second David Chipperfield-designed gallery in two months. The Hepworth promises to be as good as the first, the Turner Contemporary in Margate. No beach in Wakefield, but a fine permanent collection of Barbara Hepworth's sculpture.

23 POP Lady Gaga: Born This Way
Two taster tracks have overtly recalled Madonna, both musically ("Born This Way") and irreligiously ("Judas"). But the proper follow-up to Monster remains this year's most eagerly awaited pop release.

27 POP Take That
Britain's best-loved manband have sold out 27 nights at the UK's vastest stadiums, with the Pet Shop Boys supporting.

JUNE

2 DANCE Un peu de tendresse bordel de merde!
Dave St-Pierre is the enfant terrible of Canadian dance and has provoked comparisons with Pina Bausch. In this production at Sadler's Wells, his 20 performers are literally and figuratively stripped naked.

3 ART The Government Art Collection
Discover which works of art your government owns; which Lowrys, Turners and Bridget Rileys hang in Downing Street. All is revealed at the Whitechapel Gallery.

4 ART Venice Biennale
Quite simply the most important international art event in the world; 82 artists in the official Giardini pavilions, with many more off site at the Arsenale. Until 27 November.

7 ARCHITECTURE Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Usually less stuffy than its art counterpart; curated this year by a stylistic odd couple of the flamboyant postmodernist Piers Gough and the more restrained Alan Stanton.

8 DANCE Copp�lia
Peter Wright's production of Copp�lia with the Birmingham Royal Ballet is a funny, occasionally spooky, family ballet, set to Delibes's irresistible score. At the Lowry, Manchester, and touring.

10 POP Meltdown
Former Kink Ray Davies is this year's curator at the South Bank, recreating 60s TV show Ready Steady Go!, and springing surprises such as the Fugs. But will the Kinks reform?

CLASSICAL Aldeburgh festival
Opens with Simon Rattle and the CBSO. Premieres by Elliott Carter and Harrison Birtwistle , as well as Netia Jones's site-specific Everlasting Light, set in Sizewell. Runs until 26 June.

15 FILM Edinburgh film festival
Instead of an artistic director, EIFF has appointed guest curators, including Isabella Rossellini and Gus van Sant, who should make this year's event particularly interesting.

21 ARCHITECTURE Transport Museum Glasgow
Zaha Hadid now has several UK works to her name, but this will be her biggest public work to date, pending completion of the Olympic aquatic centre.

22 THEATRE Ghost: the musical
Matthew Warchus's production of the 1990 movie moves from Manchester to London's Piccadilly, with music by Dave Stewart. Stars Richard Fleeshman.

POP Glastonbury festival
Barring any mishaps, U2 finally lead the charge at Worthy Farm, with Beyonc�, Coldplay, the Chemical Brothers and Morrissey providing backup. NB: Dengue Fever are a band on the bill, not this year's health scare.

24 CLASSICAL Two Boys
ENO premiere of Nico Muhly's co-production with the New York Metropolitan Opera about a teenage stabbing. With a libretto by Craig Lucas, directed by Bartlett Sher and conducted by Rumon Gamba.

FILM The First Grader
When the Kenyan government introduces free primary schooling, a former Mau Mau fighter, now in his 80s, applies for an education. Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) directs, Naomie Harris co-stars in this British film which won an audience award at Tribeca.

ART Magritte: The Pleasure Principle
Still the best of the surrealists, with this first show in a generation focusing on eroticism, visual revelation and the influence of commercial design. More than 100 paintings at Tate Liverpool.

FILM Bridesmaids
In this female riposte to the stag-party-gone-wrong subgenre, produced by Judd Apatow, Saturday Night Live regular Kristen Wiig (who co-wrote the script) plays a lovelorn maid of honour ill-equipped to organise her best friend's pre-wedding rituals.

29 POP Arcade Fire
First, the Texan/Haitian/Canadian indie wunderkinder took London's O2 Arena. Now, they are taking Hyde Park, with help from Mumford & Sons, Beirut and the Vaccines.

30 ART Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography
Brassa�, Robert Capa, Andr� Kert�sz, L�szl� Moholy-Nagy: more than 200 works showing the astonishing impact of this single country on photojournalism, documentary, fashion and art photography. At the Royal Academy until 2 October.

THEATRE Manchester international festival
The flourishing festival will include Robert Wilson's The Life and Death of Marina Abramovi? and Victoria Wood's The Day We Sang, inspired by Manchester Children's Choir. Runs until 17 July.

JULY

1 ARCHITECTURE Serpentine Gallery Pavilion
Every year the Serpentine asks a famous architect to design the gallery a temporary pavilion. This year it has lured Peter Zumthor out of his Alpine lair.

3 POP Ke$ha
America's second-most outrageous starlet is back on our shores. Ke$ha's Get $leazy world tour is oversexed and over here until 13 July.

5 DANCE Sylvie Guillem
New contemporary works by William Forsythe, Mats Ek and Ji?� Kyli�n performed by the celebrated ballerina. Essential. To 9 July at Sadler's Wells.

6 ART Thomas Struth
One of Germany's most praised photo artists comes to Whitechapel Art Gallery. Includes the celebrated Museum series and recent installations of Cape Canavarel and the Korean shipyards.

7 ART Glamour of the Gods
Hollywood portraiture from the industry's golden age, 1920-60. From Greta Garbo to Audrey Hepburn, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe: portraits that transformed actors into international style icons. At the National Portrait Gallery.

8 THEATRE Double Feature
Four new plays by Sam Holcroft, DC Moore, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Tom Basden - all writers new to the National Theatre - are staged by a new ensemble in the Cottesloe.

FILM Jack Goes Boating
Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his directorial debut and stars in this tale of lost souls and confused love lives in snow-bound New York. It's based on a 2007 play in which he also appeared.

12 THEATRE A Woman Killed With Kindness
In what promises to be a radical production, Katie Mitchell directs Thomas Heywood's celebrated but rarely seen play. The domestic tragedy, written in 1603, will be staged in the National's Lyttelton.

15 FILM The Deathly Hallows: Part Two
After 10 years the Harry Potter franchise reaches its denouement with a film set to keep box-offices busy.

CLASSICAL The Proms
The BBC Proms opening fortnight includes Havergal Brian's mammoth "Gothic" symphony, new conductor Juanjo Mena, soloist Steven Osborne and pianist Lang Lang. To 10 September.

POP POP Latitude
The headliners may be iffy ? the National and Paolo Nutini ? but Latitude in Suffolk is a sublime antidote to the mud and mayhem of other festivals. And Alan Hollinghurst is in the Lit Tent.

POP Snoop Dogg
The lazy drawl of Calvin Broadus has long been eclipsed by the rapper's multiplatform media career. It's worth savouring, as he performs 1993's Doggystyle at Manchester international festival and Lovebox Weekender.

20 DANCE Roland Petit
Triple bill of works by the French choreographer, Margot Fonteyn's lover and husband of Zizi Jeanmaire. Includes the sexy, existentialist Le Jeune Homme et la Mort. ENB at the Coliseum.

FILM Nader and Simin, A Separation
Winner of the Golden Bear award at Berlin in February, Asghar Farhadi's fine film explores class tensions in present-day Iran as a middle-class couple on the verge of separation battle over the care of an elderly relative.

26 CLASSICAL St Endellion festival
An ambitious festival in north Cornwall (stars perform for no fee). Includes Wagner's Die Walkure with Susan Bullock (30 July), which then goes to Truro's Hall for Cornwall (2 Aug).

POP Womad
Womad's organisers are on solid ground with headliners such as Baaba Maal and Rodrigo y Gabriela, but the splendour of Womad is always in the discovering.

29 FILM Horrid Henry
The popular series of children's books about a troublesome pre-teen gets the 3D treatment, with Theo Stevenson as Henry, and Anjelica Huston and Richard E Grant among the adults.

30 ART Tony Cragg
Huge retrospective for Tony Cragg, senior British sculptor, with an emphasis on the cast-art of the last decade. At the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to 6 November.

To see a PDF of the page as it appeared in the print edition click here

• Pop and rock
• Lady Gaga
• Exhibitions
• Classical music
• Theatre
• Dance
• Architecture

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/may/01/summer-arts-calendar

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CST represents all Jews

My fellow trustees and I are proud to have led the Community Security Trust to its current position as one of our community's foremost charities, representing it on issues of antisemitism, extremism, policing and security. Nevertheless, JC columnist, Geoffrey Alderman - in the issue of April 15 - provocatively questions CST's right to call itself representative.

The Board of Deputies is, in many ways, the only democratically elected communal body: but numerous other Jewish charities and organisations specialise in their fields of work, and accordingly represent us on these issues. Indeed, the same dynamic applies outside the Jewish community, with groups from the NSPCC to the RSPCA representing their own areas of expertise to media, government and beyond.

In context, therefore, CST is no different to any other specialist charity or organisation that has risen to prominence through sheer ability and effort.

Even so, Geoffrey Alderman acknowledged that the defence director of the Board is a CST employee; and there is no more fundamental partner for CST's work than the Board.

Of course, actions speak far louder than words and everything that CST has achieved since attaining charitable status in 1994 is down to its hard work, focus, expertise and an unswerving commitment to work in partnership with every element of our community. It could not be any other way; after all, terrorists, antisemites and criminals do not distinguish one Jew from another.

CST works across every geographical, political, social and religious divide; and CST's staff, financial donors and 3,000 security volunteers --- the backbone of our organisation --- join us from throughout the length and breadth of our Jewish community.

Our staff, donors and volunteers are of paramount importance, both for CST to do everything that it does, and to answer the essence of Geoffrey Alderman's criticism, because their range and numbers exemplify the manner in which CST is an integral part of British Jewry. We simply could not do our work were this not the case.

CST's work covers physical security, political research and helping victims of antisemitism, all of which rely upon real working partnerships within and beyond our community.

Jewish organisations, schools, synagogues, old-age homes, welfare centres, community centres and communal events have CST secure their activities because they know that there is a need for security and they know that they can rely upon CST to deliver where and when it counts.

This includes our providing millions of pounds-worth of security upgrades to many hundreds of communal premises in recent years. Similarly, police forces and specialist units draw upon CST's partnership at communal events, shabbatot and chagim.

We receive well over 1,000 reports each year from members of our community, most of whom live in large and vibrant centres of Jewish life, but others are literally the only Jew in their village. Many of them have details of antisemitic incidents, or extremist activities, and all are treated with total respect and confidentiality.

Partnering with Maccabi GB, our Streetwise programme reaches approximately 10,000 Jewish children annually. On campus, we partner the Union of Jewish Students, producing joint booklets on coping with antisemitism, assisting victims of antisemitism and extremism, and helping make representations to campus authorities.

Then there is the range of communal organisations with whom we are in constant communication and regular working partnership on all of our issues. Foremost are the Board of Deputies and regional representative councils but there are many others, working within and beyond the community. Every relationship is based upon CST's expertise and reliability; as demonstrated beyond all doubt by the scrutiny our facts, figures and analyses have been regularly subjected to by independent MPs, Home Office experts, Police criminologists, European Union officials, and journalists.

CST is not a talking shop, but everything that we do, and everything that we have achieved, is the result of meaningful consultation and partnership. The sheer scale of our work shows that we have as great a communal reach as any other communal organisation. It is representation in the real sense of the word; reflecting our community in all of its diversity, hopes and fears.

My colleagues and I are repeatedly asked by Jewish communities around the world how they can replicate CST's example. Here in Britain, other communities, government and police regularly ask us the same question.

I am proud of what we have built; and what we have achieved --- in partnership with our community.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/48281/cst-represents-all-jews

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Spanish school founded by Swansea woman celebrates Welsh links with Eisteddfod

A SPANISH school founded by a Swansea woman has held its fifth annual Eisteddfod.

The English Centre in Cadiz was founded by Linda Randell, who hails from Mumbles, and staged the celebration of Welsh culture under hot Andalucian sun, complete with cawl, rugby and a 25-metre red dragon.

Girls from Aberaeron Primary School also put on a show of Welsh clog dancing.

Steve Dawe, of the English Centre, said: "The day was full of dance, music, poetry, competitions and games, as well as a great deal of Welsh culture, but also some Spanish culture too, with Flamenco dancing, salt pictures and a giant picture made of flowers.

"On a beautifully sunny day in Andalucia the best of Welsh and Spanish culture came together".

The Spanish Eisteddfod has grown in reputation since it was first held five years ago, and this year featured on BBC Radio Wales, with presenter Roy Noble interviewing Mrs Randell, and broadcasting the school choir singing the Welsh national anthem, which had been phonetically translated into Spanish via English.

It was supported by the Welsh Assembly Government and Visit Wales team, who supplied Welsh prizes for competition winners.

Mr Dawe added: "Our students were delighted to hear themselves on the radio and to know that it was being transmitted throughout Wales."

Next year's Eisteddfod will coincide with a special celebration as Cadiz will be the Latin American Capital of Culture.

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Dear Rapist ?

Twenty years after her assault at a college party, Liz Seccuro received a letter of apology from her attacker. The correspondence that followed led her to pursue justice at last

It was late summer 2005 and we were about to set out on an extended vacation with our two-year-old daughter, Ava. "Hey, you got a letter," said my husband Mike, tossing it to me like a Frisbee. It smelled faintly of vanilla, nice paper. I ripped it open and began to read the very precise, almost feminine cursive script.

Dear Elizabeth:

In October 1984 I harmed you. I can scarcely begin to understand the degree to which, in your eyes, my behaviour has affected you in its wake. Still, I stand prepared to hear from you about just how, and in what ways you've been affected; and to begin to set right the wrong I've done, in any way you see fit. Most sincerely yours, Will Beebe

In 1984, I arrived, like any other student, at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. An only child, I was the first in my family to attend college. My parents were thrilled, although the university was far from our home town, a suburb of New York City. I had graduated top of my high school class and was prepared to make something great of myself. But those hopes and dreams were dashed about five weeks later.

A dorm friend, desperately wanting to join a fraternity, begged me to be his date to a party at Phi Kappa Psi, a massive pile of Georgian bricks and white columns at the head of fraternity row. Reluctantly, I climbed out of my sweatpants and donned a denim miniskirt, long-sleeved crew-neck sweater, navy blue flats and a pearl necklace. And then we set off on our five-minute walk with a few other friends from our dorm.

We arrived to the din of a party in full swing ? a band, kegs of beer, jubilant collegians. Nothing out of the ordinary, but for the fact that my date was gay and, back in 1984, being gay was not as openly accepted as it is today. He needed to "pass", so I stuck to his side as we toured the property and listened to the brothers talk about tradition, academia and the honour that was bestowed upon the lucky few who would be chosen as Phi Kappa Psi brothers.

We got separated. My date was invited to smoke pot with some brothers. I had never done so, nor did I want to start. I decided to wait in the second-floor living room, thinking I'd be safer there than walking home alone. I sat on a sofa near a makeshift bar where two brothers, acting as bartenders, assured me that my friend would be back soon. And would I like a drink?

Not wanting to seem square, I said yes.

"It's our house special ? here you go," said one brother, offering a green drink in a plastic tumbler.

"Thank you," I said. And sat back down, sipping my drink, waiting for my date to return. People milled about, greeting one another and dancing.

"When do you think my date is coming back?" I asked no one in particular.

"Oh, he'll be here in a few minutes. Just relax. You're fine here," said another brother.

Suddenly I noticed something was wrong. I could not feel my hands or feet; my arms and legs followed in numbness. What was happening? I started to panic. At that point, a very tall, owlish-looking man with glasses appeared, asking where I was from, what was my major, where did I live? I answered his questions perfunctorily, begging off that I was soon going home as I was tired. I had no idea what time it was or how long I had been there.

He grabbed my arm and said loudly, "I have something to show you!"

"No!" I said. I couldn't really walk. And I had no interest in what this stranger wanted to show me.

He dragged me down the hall like a rag doll, into a room, grabbed me around the waist, sat me on his lap and began reading to me from a volume of poetry. I squirmed, trying to set myself free. He stuck his tongue in my ear and told me to settle down.

Adrenaline kicked in and I freed myself, running into the hall, screaming. At that precise moment, the music was turned up loud and one of the guys from the bar calmly walked over to me, picked me up like a sack of ashes and deposited me back into the waiting arms of the bespectacled stranger.

What happened next was unspeakable. He raped me repeatedly, despite my screams. I awoke sporadically throughout the night; hearing voices, feeling hands. I could not move. At last, light flooded the room. I saw that I was lying on a filthy orange couch, covered in a filthy sheet, across the room from where I was raped. The sheet was covered with large spots of blood. As I tried to get upright, I realised, with horror, that the blood was my own. It had dried in rivulets down my legs.

After cleaning up and finding my clothing, I gingerly walked down the stairs and out into a gorgeous October morning. I started to walk right, towards my dorm, but then realised I needed to get to a hospital. So I turned left, toward the university medical centre.

After hours of waiting and many stares, I was told that what I needed "could not be done here in Charlottesville" and that I should travel to a large city such as Richmond or Washington, DC for testing. Those tests today are called "rape kits".

I went back to my dorm, where I told my dorm mates and resident adviser what had happened to me. Some sympathised, some rolled their eyes and many just walked away. I was bruised from head to toe ? my head, my cheekbone, my foot, my ribs, my legs and of course my private areas. I finally showered, had some soup and slept for a good 12 hours.

On the following Monday, it was arranged that I would meet with the dean of students, Robert Canevari. Still smarting from the pain, I arrived at the appointed time and told him what had happened to me at the Phi Kappa Psi house. He looked at me, nonplussed.

"Are you sure you didn't have sex with this man and you don't want to admit that you aren't a 'good girl'?"

"No, that's not what I am saying. I am saying I was raped."

The dean told me, when I asked, that the Charlottesville police could not be called as the fraternity house fell under "university jurisdiction" and that I should make my report to them. But not before he volunteered to have me transferred to another school because of my "distress". I said no. I had always said no.

Nothing ever came of the investigation by the university police. I was the one calling them, always greeted with a terse, "Someone will call you back." No one ever did. The deans said that they had spoken with the young man in question and told me, "He said it was consensual." He, the rapist, withdrew from the university and was thus "no longer a danger" to me. One night, I took the bag of clothes I had worn that night and saved in the back of my closet, walked to the edge of the local cemetery and set them on fire. I had lost.

But then, in 2005, William Beebe, my rapist, wrote a letter to my home to apologise.

After thinking and stewing and not sleeping, I make a decision: I am going to reply. I need to know that Beebe is in Las Vegas, as it says on the return address, and not creeping outside my door. A day after receiving the letter, after putting Ava to bed, I'm sitting with my legs dangling in the pool of our Hamptons house, puffing surreptitiously on a cigarette (I'd quit years earlier) as I tap out the email on my BlackBerry.

Mr. Beebe: I am in receipt of your letter. My life was terribly altered by the fact that you raped me, and I want to know why you did it and why you are reaching out to me now. Every decision in my life has been coloured by wanting to feel safe. Now I don't feel safe again. How can you live with yourself?

I don't sign it. He'll know who it's from.

As Mike, Ava and I try to enjoy our vacation, I obsessively check the BlackBerry. And then it arrives. I see the new mail icon, see his name and click on it. He describes the selfishness of his youth, a time when he rarely thought about the consequences of his actions, especially when he had been drinking. He'd joined Alcoholics Anonymous. He wanted to right the wrongs in his past. It seems that he regards his crime against me as just one more instance of collateral damage from the alcoholic life he has put behind him. He says he prays for me.

This is torture. I can't let this email be the last word. Shamefully, I haven't discussed with my husband the correspondence ? can't he tell something is wrong? That night, I email Beebe back.

Are you married? Does your wife know what you did? My life was a living hell after the rape.

Almost 24 hours later, my BlackBerry buzzes. Again, he speaks mainly about himself. He rambles on and on about his "spiritual awakening" and various trips to rehab. Not once does he really answer my questions, except to admit that he has never been married because he couldn't find "true union with a woman; especially after what he did". He refers to a much more romantic scenario than the brutal rape it was. He writes, "You were a natural blonde, as I recall." After reading those words, I almost drop the device in the pool. I have no idea what fantasy he is reliving. His emails become erratic.

The end of November brings many emotions to my household. The emails from William Beebe continue, and I intermittently email him back. The correspondence is never friendly, although my questions are sometimes benign.

One night I finally tell Mike about the emails. He stares at me, his expression changing from sympathy to anger to fear in the time it takes for me to sputter out what is happening.

In early December, I pick up the phone, hesitate, then punch in the number of the Charlottesville police department and ask for the chief. I am transferred to the voicemail of Timothy Longo. "Hi, you don't know me, but I was a student at the university, and I was raped by a fellow classmate in 1984 at the Phi Kappa Psi house. I reported it to the deans and the university police. Nothing was done. This person has made contact with me again and knows where I live. Sir, I think I need your help."

I don't expect an answer. Forty-five minutes later, Chief Longo calls me back. I give him a synopsis of what happened in 1984, and what has since transpired. He is polite, strong and businesslike. He tells me that, contrary to what the dean of students had told me two decades earlier, the fraternity house is indeed under the jurisdiction of the Charlottesville police department and always has been. My brain freezes. Had they lied to me? I am stunned. Longo also tells me that there is no statute of limitations on rape in Virginia, that Beebe can still be charged with the crime. Longo and I exchange email addresses, and he tells me that he or one of his detectives will follow up.

The next evening, the phone rings. It is detective Nicholas Rudman asking if I'd be willing to come to Charlottesville to give a statement. I phone Mike and we agree to go that Friday night. At noon on Saturday 10 December 2005, detectives Rudman and Scott Godfrey are in the hotel lobby to meet me. "Liz, could you take us to some of the places you mentioned in your statements to Chief Longo?" asks Godfrey. Sure, I say. As we drive, I point out the salmon-coloured building that housed the university police and tell the detectives of my visits there. I point to the Phi Kappa Psi house, sitting gracefully on Madison Lane. "That's the room I was raped in," I say, gesturing toward the second-floor window on the far right. "There's a window overlooking Madison and the bed was flush against that window."

We double back and drive toward campus, to my freshman dorm. On the second floor, at the end of a long hall, I see the door to my room. I'm overwhelmingly sad as I stand there, feeling so much older, but still so scared.

Finally, we begin our drive to the police department. They ask if I am ready to tell what happened to me that night in October 1984. It has been 20 years since I have spoken about it in such detail, from beginning to end. Telling it now, especially back in Charlottesville, is the oddest sensation. I ask for a piece of paper and draw a layout of Phi Kappa Psi, the room in which I was raped and myself as a stick figure on the bed and on the sofa. I stand up and ask Godfrey to stand in order to describe Beebe's height and weight. I take off my boots to demonstrate my own height. I can hear the clock on the wall ticking softly.

And then we come to the part where I have to describe the rape itself. My whole statement takes more than two hours. The story I had kept buried comes pouring forth, the details fresh. People are listening to me, hearing me, and I will never be silent again. "I think we have enough here," Rudman says, clicking off the tape. Enough for what, I wonder.

"Would you like to press charges against William Nottingham Beebe for your rape in October of 1984?"

I begin to sob. "Yes," I say, "I would like to press charges, please."

William Beebe was arrested on 4 January 2006 for felony rape. I was told that when he was arrested, there was packed luggage and a passport in his foyer, but he went without incident. He was extradited from Nevada to Virginia, where he was released after six days on a $30,000 bond.

In March 2006, I testified at a preliminary hearing, sitting a mere eight feet away from my monster. Beebe had hired a very costly and prestigious team of lawyers to defend him. As it turned out, he had found my home address by merely dialling the University of Virginia alumni office ? they gave it to him without question.

I didn't look at Beebe, except when I had to identify him as my assailant. When I did, he was exactly as I remembered. The years fell away and I was 17 again and vulnerable and frightened, despite being surrounded by friends, family and the legal team.

Beebe was indicted by a grand jury and, as the investigation went on, it was revealed that I had actually been the victim of a gang rape, just as I had suspected. There was, however, not enough hard evidence to indict the other two.

Two weeks before trial in November 2006, William Beebe pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual battery. The plea took two hours and he stared at me the entire time, so that the judge later told his defence team that he was not allowed to look at me. His attorneys had said that he was innocent; that he was guilty only of "a thoughtless college sex encounter during which he acted ungentlemanly".

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, all but two and a half of them suspended. He served less than six months. I was told that he was never even transferred to a maximum security prison, that "human error" had misclassified him as non-violent. He was released early as a result of this mistake and overcrowding at the city jail. Also, he was white and educated, so they figured they should set him free. I think of all the people in prison for far lesser crimes, serving far lengthier sentences, and wonder if justice was served.

Crash Into Me: A Survivor's Search for Justice by Liz Seccuro is published by Bloomsbury.

• Rape

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/30/rape-justice-after-20-years

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On board the 74 bus in Jerusalem, tomorrow

Just over five years ago, I was in Tel Aviv when a suicide bomber struck at the city?s old central bus station.

In the attack, about fifteen people were injured; a few months later, during the festival of Passover, 11 people were killed and some 60 wounded when another terrorist struck a schwarma restaurant crowded with people having lunch.

I was on my gap year then, when the intifada was winding down but bombs and blasts were still happening with a terrifying frequency.

What I remember most clearly is not looking at the gruesome photos of bloodied victims, or shuddering at the thought of those affected, but of almost immediately boarding another, similar, Tel Aviv bus.

You feel apprehensive, of course, but you think ?it won?t happen to me?, and you take your seat.

Bus rides, streetside cafes, beachfront bars like Mike?s Place (hit by a bomber in 2003, three dead, 50 injured); those are all a part of life in Israel, as around the world.

Today the area around the central bus station in Jerusalem will be cordoned off, but tomorrow? The people who managed to escape a dreadful fate on the 74 bus? They?ll have to catch it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

When terror becomes your reality, life has to go on. And it will in Jerusalem and across Israel, as it did throughout the last intifada.

But it shouldn?t have to, and we must hope and pray that this latest attack ? a bomb of a scale not seen in the city since the early days of the security fence ? will not be the start of another period when boarding a bus can mean endangering your life.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jennifer-lipman/on-board-74-bus-jerusalem-tomorrow

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Salita does the business

Dmitriy Salita recorded his third victory in eight months after outpointing Ronnie Warrior Jr at New York's Oceana Ballroom.

The Brooklyn-based welterweight impressed the judges in the eight-round contest in front of a packed house on his self-promoted show.

Salita suffered a cut eye, the result of a clash of heads, but he worked behind an excellent jab to earn his 33rd victory.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/sport/sport-news/48331/salita-does-business

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I didn't leave my house for a decade

'In the early years I tried leaving many times, but my husband would threaten to kill me and I was demoralised enough to believe him'

When my husband John died from double pneumonia at the age of 54, I was relieved. It felt like a paving slab had been lifted from my head. We'd been married for 30 years, and for the last 10 of those, I hadn't been outside our five-bedroom house in Northampton.

I left school at 15, which most people did in those days, and got a job as a waitress, which I loved. The cafe was next door to a cinema where John worked as a projectionist. I knew from the moment we met he was terribly insecure. He had ginger hair, walked with a limp and had been badly bullied as a child. But I hoped my love would change him. We got married when I was 19, and a year later I gave birth to our first baby. By 28, I was a mother of six.

John was always a heavy drinker, but once we were married, he became violent and controlling. Whenever we went out, he would insist on holding my hand. If I so much as glanced at another man, he would beat me when we got home. We were barred from our doctor's surgery when John punched my GP for asking me to reach down and touch my toes.

In the early years I tried leaving many times, but he would threaten to kill me and I was demoralised enough to believe him. Gradually, it just seemed easier to go out less.

Then one day, as I was walking back from dropping the kids at school, a man tried to attack me. I was crying and shaking when I got home, but John refused to call the police. He thought it was my fault for giving the stranger the eye. I started to experience panic attacks. Some days I'd only be able to take the children half way to school, then it was a quarter of the way. Before long, just putting my hand on the front door knob would set me off. I began to rely on the elder kids to do the school run and my oldest daughter took over the weekly shop.

In some ways, my life as "her indoors" was easier. I no longer had to suffer John's temper if a man cast his eye over me. He wasn't bothered about me staying in and would take my eldest son to the pub for company instead. My days were filled with doing the housework and preparing meals for the kids, who didn't question why I no longer left the house ? they were scared of John, too. Television became my way of keeping in touch with the world, running up and down the stairs was all the exercise I needed. My family had long stopped visiting because of John's behaviour towards them, so I spoke to them by phone.

I was very unhappy. There was a bus stop just outside our house and every day I'd sit in the living room and watch people boarding and alighting, wishing I could do the same. Many times I considered suicide, but the thought of the kids stopped me.

Then John died and a lot of the fear I had been harbouring went with him. A few days after his death, I decided to go to the local shop. I drank a couple of glasses of sherry to calm my nerves and stepped out of the door for the first time in a decade. There was an old bike in the shed and I took that with me ? having something to hold on to made me feel reassured. I dashed in and out of there as fast as I could, not speaking or making eye contact with anyone, but when I got home, I felt elated.

Gradually, I was able to go out without the bike or a drink inside me and I relearned the art of making conversation with strangers. But the years of abuse still affected me, so I started group bereavement counselling. On that first session, I sat trembling until a friendly looking man came over to ask my name.

Bernie was on his own after losing his wife a year before John had died. I instinctively knew that I could trust him. He was shocked when I told him about my decade indoors and was determined to help me make up for lost time.

We have now been married for 16 years and had holidays in Austria, Germany and Cyprus, where we renewed our wedding vows. When people meet me, they struggle to believe I spent 10 years indoors. I have only to think of my first husband to remember how that happened. Sometimes I hover at the threshold of our house and recall how I wasn't able to cross it. The one small step I take from there is all I need to appreciate everything I now have.

? As told to Danielle Wrate.

Do you have an experience to share? Email experience@guardian.co.uk

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/30/i-didnt-leave-my-house-for-a-decade

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A fashion statement at the Galliano presentation

Last week, Natalie Portman was my heroine. Not because she won the Oscar (although Mazel Tov Nats, sure the family is schlepping nachas) or because she looked radiant in that dress despite one helluva baby bump, but because she did what every public figure could do and so often doesn't.

She used her - not inconsiderable - star power for good, telling a Galliano-plagued Dior "It's me or him, mate." Or some such.

Within hours, Galliano was a goner. The fashion house might have fired him anyway - that Hitler video was a little unpalatable even for the most dedicated couture-lovers - but it's hard to argue that Natalie helped him along.

It's rare for celebrities to overtly declare themselves Jewish (we do it for them) but even less common for them to bring their religion into a public political debate. All things considered, Natalie did good.

Which brings me to my new heroine ? this model at the Galliano ?presentation? for Paris Fashion Week (note, not a catwalk show ? the press officer was very clear there was a real difference).

No idea who she is or if she has any Jewish connection at all, but kudos to her for her Star of David tattoo as she modelled the creation of a man set to go on trial for his antisemitic slurs.

Whether intentional or not, it?s a small gesture of defiance.

And after a week where the Jewish people were the punching bag for all the assorted crazies out there, it?s nice to see a Jewish symbol out there representing something positive.

Because ultimately, all the Gallianos in the world can?t take that away from us.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jennifer-lipman/a-fashion-statement-galliano-presentation

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Cleveland Browns draft some attitude in first and second rounds (and that's not a bad thing): Bill Livingston

In the NFL Draft, the Browns build a potentially nasty defense, select a potential No. 1 receiver, and downplay the draftees' character issues.

BEREA, Ohio -- Winning the press conference after making their draft picks wasn't a big priority with the Browns' new front office.

They say winning the fights isn't either.

Flashy draft picks were a Browns tradition dating to Art Modell, who knew that skill position players taken high goosed the fan base like nothing else. There is not a lot of sizzle in trading down from No. 6 overall for four draft picks -- Atlanta's second- and fourth-rounders this year and the Falcons' first and fourth next year. Atlanta, clearly, thinks it is a player away from big things, and that that player is game-breaking wide receiver Julio Jones of Alabama.

The Browns know they need far more than that. Then again, admitting you have problems is the start of solving them.

Jones would have been the playmaker the Browns have needed at least since Braylon Edwards threw the punch at LeBron James' pal, Mini-Bron or whoever he was, and was shipped out to the Jets. Actually, long before then Edwards was not exactly bringing home the bacon when it came to securing the old pigskin.

But in the Big Picture, Atlanta made the Browns an offer they couldn't refuse.

In the smaller picture, Braylon, had he stayed, would have found sparring partners a-plenty. For the Browns have begun to construct what they hope will be a rock 'em, sock 'em defense.

Thursday, using their newly acquired picks, they traded up to select defensive tackle Phil Taylor from Baylor at No. 21 in the first round. Taylor brings baggage -- weight issues, a foot problem, early exit from Penn State because of involvement in an on-campus fight.

I saw Taylor play only once. I had to look hard. He was not very noticeable. Illinois, in its last four games the loser of three (Michigan, Fresno State, Minnesota, the last -- deep blush -- at home) beat Baylor in the Bears' first bowl game in 16 years, the Texas Bowl in Houston.

"I'm a good run stopper but I'm a good pass rusher as well. I can get to the quarterback," said Taylor, who added, "A lot of things didn't go our way in the bowl game."

A large measure of what didn't go so well was run defense against the Illini. Mikel Leshoure ran for 184 of Illinois' 229 yards in a 38-14 rout.

There is always the chance they will go more properly in Taylor's path to the quarterback. "I know how much Cleveland fans hate Pittsburgh," Taylor said, when asked about Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "When I am going to play against him, he is going to go down."

The analysts say the second round is when the draft really begins. Teams are expected to get good players in the first round. Well, not in Cleveland, not in the past, but generally. The very good teams get good players the second and third days.

In the second round Friday, the Browns took Pittsburgh defensive end Jabaal Sheard. Taylor and Sheard, along with incumbent Ahtyba Rubin, provide the makings of a potentially nasty defensive line.

"I'm always thinking about getting to the quarterback; I want to make the crowd go 'Oooooh,'" said Sheard, who said he wanted to be like Steeler supercollider James Harrison from Kent State.

Sheard was suspended, then reinstated, before his senior season at Pitt for a fight in an art gallery. Sheard was not incensed by a rude comment about expressionism, but said he was defending a teammate. The scuffle ended in a Saturday night in Dodge City scene, with the combatants falling through a glass window.

News reports said Sheard threw the other guy through the window. Which is what Harrison would have done.

"We've done our due diligence with these guys with their character," said coach Pat Shurmur. "We think they will fit in well."

A huge fuss shouldn't be made of such incidents, as long as they are isolated. These are young guys who are lightning rods for attention and, in the wrong setting, trouble. Everyone deserves a second chance. Still, there will be plenty of chances in the future to see if the aggression is channeled properly or not.

With their other pick in the second round, the Browns took wide receiver Greg Little, one of Butch Davis' players suspended for the season at North Carolina. A No. 1 receiver in the offing, Little, 6-3, 219, took improper benefits from an agent, including diamond earrings and travel accommodations in the Bahamas.

Browns fans, in lieu of the playoffs, think of the draft as a trip to Fantasy Island. For Little, Paradise Island was close enough.

Follow Bill Livingston on Facebook and on Twitter @LivyPD

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2011/04/cleveland_browns_draft_some_at.html

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Drew Pomeranz labors, but Kinston tops Wilmington, 7-3: Minor-league report

Tribe's No. 1 draft pick in 2010 allows his first runs of the season, but Indians pound out 17 hits in victory.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Indians 7, Blue Rocks 3: 2B Justin Toole (.435) went 4-for-5 with four RBI as Kinston won a Carolina League game in Wilmington, N.C. K-Tribe LH Drew Pomeranz (1.80 ERA) allowed his first earned runs of the season, giving up three in four innings. The Blue Rocks got three hits and three walks against him. Pomeranz struck out five.

Notes: 3B Adam Abraham (.314) doubled and singled for two of Kinston's 17 hits. ... Pomeranz has struck out 22 batters in his first 15 innings. He had hurled 11 scoreless innings in his first two starts, giving up just three hits, two walks and one unearned run.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Bats 4, Clippers 2: Columbus managed just one extra-base hit in losing an International League game Tuesday in Louisville, Ky. Clippers LH Scott Barnes (5.40 ERA) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on four hits and five walks in five innings. He struck out three. Columbus 2B Cord Phelps (.311) walked twice and doubled.

AA Akron Aeros

Aeros 3, Baysox 0: RH Brett Brach (1-0, 0.00 ERA) allowed two hits and one walk in six scoreless innings, and he combined with two pitchers on a three-hitter as Akron won an Eastern League game in Bowie, Md. Brach struck out four. Aeros RH Bryan Price gave up one hit in two innings, and RH Matthew Langwell earned his first save after walking one in the ninth. SS Juan Diaz (.200) hit a two-run homer, RF John Drennen (.324) also homered and 3B Matt Lawson (.292) had three hits for the Aeros.

Notes: This was Brach's first appearance for Akron. With Kinston, he went 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA in five innings over two appearances.

A Lake County Captains

Captains vs. Lugnuts, ppd.: Lake County's game against Lansing (Mich.) was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Wednesday, with the first game starting at 5 p.m.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/04/drew_pomeranz_labors_but_kinst.html

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Idly musing

Among the endless predictions of how we function in the 21st century is the all-too frequent potential death of newspapers. Of course, I am partial on the newspaper issue but I wonder if thought is being given to the actual tactile, physical product, as much as the content.

In my family, newspapers were crucial. Not just as vital information portals - though I am absolutely sure we never referred to them as such - but as items with an acute after-life. Newspapers, for the uninitiated, can be used for all manner of things once they've been read. And nowhere were newspapers more important than at Pesach.

We used newspapers to wrap our Pesach pans, utensils, and china, before storing everything away at the end of the festival. And every year, without fail, when we came to unwrap the Pesach houseware, my mother would get distracted and get caught up in reading something from the previous year's Daily Telegraph, while my father would make wild stabs at whether that strangely-wrapped item swathed in several layers of the Guardian was in fact the lid for the flowered teapot, or something else entirely.

There were items, such as the big frying pans, which demanded a grand broadsheet wrapping, while the crystal water jug for Seder night saltwater was usually fine with a swirl of tabloid. There were items which were just plain unwrappable, and there were other things which assumed a heavy disguise through the layers of newsprint. Careful calculations were made as to how many soup plates you could wrap into one spread of the old Sunday Express (oh, the shame), and, oddly, we never wrapped anything in the JC. The Manchester Evening News, as I recall, was particularly good for glasses and cutlery.

Those days of wrapping and unwrapping, with happy cries at discovering one's favourite butter dish, may be long gone. My parents have departed for that great reading room in heaven where I hope they have access to all the newspapers they desire. People celebrate Pesach differently now; either they have the luxurious option of travelling abroad, or - judging by the vast displays outside the kosher shops near where I live - those who observe the festival buy in huge supplies of disposable plates and cooking utensils, as though Pesach were one long eight-day barbecue.

And now that the death knell is increasingly being sounded for newspapers, what will people wrap their Pesach goods in? Ipads?

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jenni-frazer/idly-musing

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Wedding guest's theft spree on morning of big day

A WOMAN invited to a wedding — but with nothing to wear — went on a shoplifting spree in Carmarthen on the morning of the big day.

The 30-year-old stole jewellery, perfume, make-up, hair clips, a pair of tights, picture frames and even a bag of wedding confetti, magistrates were told.

Unfortunately for her, she was stopped by security at Debenhams and then handed over to police before she could reach the ceremony.

Appearing before a court in Llanelli on Wednesday, Charmaine Denise Belina Probert, of Kingmoor Common, Kilgetty, pleaded guilty to five charges of shoplifting.

Prosecutor Peter Lloyd said Probert stole items on March 19 from the Carmarthen shops Accessorize, Card Factory, Claires and Body Shop before finally being caught by security staff leaving Debenhams.

Defence solicitor Mike Reed said Probert acted impulsively and had not set out with intention of committing theft.

He said: "She was going to a wedding and wanted to buy some wrapping paper, which she did legitimately.

"For reasons she doesn't fully understand, she then went to these shops, ending in Debenhams."

Abusive

He said she worked at her mother's cleaning business during the summer but struggled to find work during the winter months.

Mr Reed added that Probert had also come out of an abusive relationship and had been diagnosed with depression.

"She went back to live with her mother in Kilgetty and shortly afterwards lost her licence for drink- driving. She started drinking heavily and became depressed," he said.

The court heard that Probert had now tackled her drinking and was extremely sorry for her actions.

"Obviously this is a one-off and coming to court has had a very dramatic effect on her," he added.

Probert was sentenced to a nine-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay �85 court costs.

graeme.wilkinson@ swwmedia.co.uk

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503366/s/148010ee/l/0L0Sthisissouthwales0O0Cnews0Cguest0Es0Etheft0Espree0Eday0Ewedding0Carticle0E350A23910Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Chemists, Friday, April 29

BANK holiday opening limited to supermarkets and a small number of other pharmacies — please check before you travel.

Baglan: Lloyds Pharmacy, Port Talbot Resource Centre, Moor Road, 11am-1pm.

Bridgend: National Coop Chemist, Pioneer Instore Pharmacy, Pyle, 10am-4pm; Tesco Instore Pharmacy, Cowbridge Road, 10am-4pm; Sainsbury Instore Pharmacy, Y Dderwen, 10.30am-4.30pm; Boots the Chemist, Caroline Street, 10am-4pm

Fforestfach: *Tesco Instore Pharmacy, 10am-4pm.

Neath: Boots UK Ltd, 4 Water Street, Neath 10am-4pm.

Port Talbot: Boots UK Ltd, Aberavon Centre, 10am-4pm.

Porthcawl: Boots the Chemist, John Street, 10am-4pm

Swansea: Boots the Chemist, The Quadrant, 11am-5pm; Boots the Chemist, 133 Mumbles Road, Mumbles, 10am-4pm; Boots the Chemist, Morfa Retail Centre, Swansea, 8am-10.30pm; *Sainsburys Instore Pharmacy, Quay Parade, 10am-4pm; National Co-op Chemist, 55 Uplands Crescent, Uplands, 10am-4pm.

*Oxygen equipment stocked.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503366/s/148010fb/l/0L0Sthisissouthwales0O0Cnews0CChemists0EFriday0EApril0E290Carticle0E350A22420Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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NFL Draft 2011: Picks 22-26 in, before Baltimore Ravens take Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith

After Browns pick of Phil Taylor at No. 21, Anthony Castonzo, Danny Watkins, Cameron Jordan, James Carpenter and Jonathan Baldwin come off the board.

Associated PressCalifornia defensive end Cameron Jordan arrives for the first round of Thursday's NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns drafted  Baylor defensive tackle Phil Taylor with the 21st pick in the first round after making a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, as Plain Dealer Browns beat writer Tony Grossi reports.

The Indianapolis Colts followed by taking Boston College offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo, before the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Baylor guard Danny Watkins at No. 23.

California defensive end Cameron Jordan was taken at No. 24 by the New Orleans Saints. Next were the Seattle Seahawks, who landed Alabama offensive tackle James Carpenter.

The Kansas City Chiefs went with a wide receiver, Pittsburgh's Jonathan Baldwin, at No. 26. The Baltimore Ravens used the 27th pick to take Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith.

 

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2011/04/nfl_draft_2011_1.html

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Cool Rollings

When it comes to films about sports and the triumph of the underdog, Cool Runnings has to be one of the top choices. The unlikely (but not untrue) story of the Jamaican bob sleigh team?s at the 1988 winter Olympics, directed by Jon Turteltaub, made for a comedy classic and a somewhat heartwarming tale.

Israel actually does have a bobsled team, although judging by the website (latest news from 2004) it isn?t heading for Olympic glory any time soon. But, surprisingly for a country with a whole lot of desert, Israel also has an ice hockey team. And their story could well be that of a film too. According to JTA:

?An Israeli ice hockey team of 10- to 13-year-olds?won the gold medal at a tournament in Canada.

"The Bat Yam Club peewee ice skating team, made up of boys from Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion, Nes Ziona, Maalot and Kfar Saba in central Israel, went undefeated in five games.?

Apparently, there were 96 teams from around the world competing, including from countries more traditionally associated with ice sports ? i.e. Canada, the United States, Finland. But the Israelis still finished an impressive 5-0 in the contest.

And the best part?

"The closest ice skating rink to Bat Yam is the Canada Center in Metulla, a two-hour drive north; it is Israel's only ice skating rink. The team practices mostly on roller skates and asphalt."

Jon Turteltaub, I?m sure they are waiting for your call.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jennifer-lipman/cool-rollings

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Winners: Jewish students - all for one and one for all

It's not easy being a Jewish student at a British university.

Nights of celebration and recognition from your peers and elders must seem a long way off when you are forced to spend part of your campus experience being physically or verbally abused for either simply being Jewish, or defending Israel.

But at last night?s UJS Student Awards the very best of the Jewish campus world?s positive, pro-active, work shone through.

While the news pages of the JC are all too often filled with the horror stories from campuses, this was a chance to celebrate the fantastic work undertaken by our students in their societies, on their campuses and throughout the communities in which they live and study. These were the stories that fill the pages of the JC On Campus section, but are all too often missed by the wider Jewish community in place of the less palatable campus experiences.

There were examples of success from every part of the country. From St Andrews JSoc in Scotland taking home the developing JSoc award, to Bath JSoc?s Aurel Diamond picking up the education award, every area was represented and had a tale to lift even the most pessimistic campus reporter's heart.

What struck me most about the students at the dinner was their camaraderie, their backs-to-the-wall spirit. For all the boisterous chants of ?Leeds, Leeds, Leeds? from the Yorkshire JSoc team, or the ?Vote Nottingham? pleas from Midlands students, the overriding impression was of a group united in their desire to not only defend what they believe in, but to have as much fun as they can while doing so.

CST?s Mark Gardner made an apt point, referring to how the political situation on campus sees students develop something of a siege mentality, but how out of that comes ?comradeship? going far beyond traditional student friendships.

Around 50 individuals were short-listed for awards. There are too many to list in total, but look at some of the winners for an idea of the lengths students go to, on top of their everyday studies.

Take Ilana Fenster for example, the winner of the prestigious Hillel Alan Senitt Outstanding Contribution Award.

Ilana is 22 and studies at Nottingham. But on top of her essays and exam revision she has, in the past two years, organised Freshers? Week fairs, Holocaust Memorial Day events, reacted to anti-Israel campaigns, set up pro-active speaker events, represented UJS at NUS Conference, lobbied MPs in Parliament, visited a handful of other campuses to help her peers and combated Israel boycott motions, and much more.

It?s easy to dismiss students as boozed-up tax-dodgers and fire extinguisher tossers, but that stereotype is far from the truth when it comes to the vast majority of those in higher education.

Their social action work, volunteering and charity efforts are too-quickly forgotten about.

JC On Campus has long hammered home the point that Jewish students are on the frontline against antisemitic and anti-Israel attacks to a far greater degree than their parents and grandparents in leafy Hampstead Garden Suburb, St John?s Wood or Alderley Edge.

While there were a number of community representatives at the awards, they came mostly from the charities that either support students all year round ? such as University Jewish Chaplaincy and CST ? or those sponsoring categories ? World Jewish Relief, UJIA.

It would have been nice to see some of the even bigger community bigwigs and perhaps a few MPs or Jewish "celebs" in attendance. It may be that they were invited and couldn?t make it, but they should have been there come what may.

UJS chair Alex Dwek and his committee have almost faultlessly run a tight ship this year despite challenging political and economic times. They have supported, and been supported by, Jewish students at large and small JSocs everywhere in Britain.

Our students need to know that the community really does have their backs when it comes to defending Jewish life on campus.

We are often encouraged, rightly, to stand up for Israel. But we should also do more to stand up for our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who take on the haters through gritted teeth and with a tremendous helping of humour and comradeship.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/marcus-dysch/winners-jewish-students-all-one-and-one-all

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Three anti-capitalist activists arrested

Police arrest three anti-royal wedding protesters who had been planning a mock execution of Prince Andrew

Three anti-capitalist activists who were planning a mock execution of Prince Andrew with a guillotine to mark the royal wedding have been arrested and detained at Lewisham police station.

Officers arrested Professor Chris Knight, a leading member of the G20 Meltdown group, outside his home in Brockley, south east London at around 6.15pm, according to an eyewitness.

Also arrested were Knight's partner Camilla Power and Patrick Macroidan, who was dressed as an executioner, said fellow activist Mike Raddie, of north London, who was with them.

The three activists were preparing to drive their theatrical props, including a home-made guillotine and effigies, into central London when three police cars and two police vans drew up near Knight's home in Brockley, said Raddie.

"Chris was arrested first. He lay down on the pavement opposite his house to make the arrest difficult," said Raddie. "He was pulled up by four police officers and two bundled him into the back of a van.

"Camilla was put in the back of one of the police cars. Patrick was dressed up as an executioner when he was arrested."

Raddie said the police also seized a van containing the group's props, which included a wooden guillotine. "It's a working guillotine but it doesn't have a blade ? just wood painted silver," he added.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "This evening, 28 April, officers arrested three people ? two males aged 68 and 45, and a 60-year-old woman ? in Wickham Road, SE4 on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance and breach of the peace.

"They are currently in custody at Lewisham police station."

The group has advertised the Zombie Wedding on its website and via Facebook. The event was billed as a "right royal orgy" with "rumpy pumpy and guillotines."

It also states: "PS govt of the DEAD disclaimer: this is a totally non-terrorist event and bears absolutely no resemblance to the Jacobin Terror of 1793-94."

The website said the event would start with a Zombie Wedding Breakfast in Soho Square at around 9.30-10am, after which participants would head to Westminster for mock executions.

Knight was sacked by the University of East London in 2009 over claims he incited violence at the G20 protests.

Raddie said the event was peaceful and the organisers did not expect to get near Westminster Abbey, where William and Kate are getting married. The plan was to join Republic's Not the Royal Wedding Street Party in Red Lion Square, Holborn, central London.

Also with the protesters at the time of their arrest was a Channel 4 film crew, filming for the Unofficial Royal Wedding, due to air at 7.10pm on Monday. Some of their equipment, which was in the activists' van, was also confiscated.

• Royal wedding
• Protest
• Monarchy
• Crime
• Weddings
• Police
• Channel 4
• Television industry

David Batty

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/28/royal-wedding-protest-three-arrested

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Mixing cutting hair and acting on stage

Where do you live? I have lived in Evercreech since 1982. My parents moved here from the East End of London and I have been based in Somerset ever since.

What do you like most about living in Evercreech? Because I grew up in a city, I couldn't live anywhere too small. I like the fact that Evercreech is big enough to have proper shops like a chemist and a grocer's. It still has a real community feel about it.

Is there anything you dislike? In the summer, helicopters come over from Yeovilton to do manoeuvres in the field behind my house in the middle of the night. Sometimes Evercreech can be a little too big a place and people don't necessarily engage with village life.

What do for a living? I am an actor and a barber. I have acted all my life and I've owned XY Barbers in Glastonbury for two years. The shop used to be an optician's before I converted it and tried to give it a quirky feel by using interesting fittings, like old cinema seats. Before that I had a hairdressing salon in Castle Cary, which I sold when I decided to go to university to study drama.

What does typical day involve? For the past 18 months I've been in the shop cutting hair all day and trying to learn lines in gaps between customers. In the evenings I'm currently rehearsing a play called Riot at the Egg in Bath.

As an actor, what part would you most like to play? John Proctor in The Crucible because it would be challenging to play a good man for once. Last year I played the part of the baddie Messala in the community theatre production of Ben Hur at the Theatre Royal. We had a BBC camera crew following us around for a year, which was lovely but bizarre.

Who is your favourite actor? The playwright Harold Pinter. When he acted he brought such intensity to his performances. I also love Johnny Depp and would like to see him in the theatre doing something like Hamlet.

What do you most enjoy about barbering? The most enjoyable thing is having someone come in who doesn't know what he wants and transform him. Being in Glastonbury we also do some random cuts like Mohicans, which is fun.

What do you do in your free time? I enjoy listening to music, reading and going to the gym.

Where would you choose to spend an evening out with friends? I drink with my friend in The Bell Inn in Evercreech. It's especially nice in the winter when you can sit by the log fire.

Which three Somerset places or events would you recommend to visitors? Glastonbury Festival – I've been going for the last 20-odd years; the Roman baths and the city of Bath; a walk up Cadbury Camp at South Cadbury.

What are your three favourite places in the world? My favourite places are Tuscany, the Austrian Alps for snowboarding and the Greek Islands.

Is there anywhere else that you would like to visit? I haven't done a lot of travelling, but I'd like to go across Canada in a train.

What achievements are you most proud of? I'm quite proud of setting up my first hairdresser's aged 21, but my biggest achievement is being accepted into university at 35 and completing my acting degree.

What makes you happy? Relaxing with friends and rehearsing. Theatre is my passion.

What period in history would you most like to have lived in? I've always been interested in the Romans and doing research for my part in Ben Hur re-ignited my love of history.

True or False? Martyn Jessop once appeared in a photo shoot with the country music singer Crystal Gale.

See next week's paper to find out whether this is fact or fiction.

In last week's True or False? Rev. Sharon Walker claimed to have cycled from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to Derby with her husband. This was true. The pair completed the journey in just six days on a tandem.

Source: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/glastonburyfestival/Mixing-cutting-hair-acting-stage/article-3439908-detail/article.html

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