Octavia Taylor will be giving a talk and a slide show highlighting her time in Palestine on Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30 P.M. at the North Brookfield Public Library. She and her husband Stephen spent the Fall 2014 semester volunteering and living in Ramallah and touring throughout Palestine. While her husband taught computer programming at Birzeit University, she worked with Jeff Halper, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. In her presentation, she will describe the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and look at how daily life for Palestinians has been affected by the Israeli Occupation.
The Taylors have travelled throughout Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. From 1997 to 1998, they lived and taught in the United Arab Emirates. In June 2003, they volunteered for the American Friends Service Committee in Amman, Jordan, writing ex-pat journalistic pieces. Since 2005 Octavia has made three trips to Palestine and the surrounding region, as part of an international women’s bicycle ride for peace, Follow The Women. The Taylors also lived and worked in Damascus Syria for the Academic Year 2009-2010.
Octavia and her husband live on a farm in New Braintree. When not working or traveling, she can be found bicycling the roads of Central Massachusetts.
northbrookfieldlibrary 