For the second year, SHATIL joined other organizations for social change in sponsoring an alternative to the Jerusalem Book Fair, one that encourages a critical view of society through art, literature and music.

The two-day festival held June 5 and 6 in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood featured more than 60 stalls of small and independent presses and social change organizations, creative and ecological activities for children, lectures, concerts, ethnic story-telling, literary encounters, street theater, a fair trade café featuring food by Women Cook Up a Business, music and the sale and exchange of second hand books.

Alternative Book Fair

The event was co-sponsored by the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation and local social organizations such as Bikurim, which promotes critical children’s literature, Barbur, a social art gallery, and Bimat Kedem, which promotes Mizrachi literature. It introduced hundreds of people to initiatives such as these and provided a welcome opportunity for networking and collaborations.