Dear family,
As promised, I'm dedicating this post for the sensitive subject of the Palestinian exile. Our play, intentionally or not, highlights this subject quit often, and therefore I'd like to explain it and bring some other artistic material about this topic.
Understanding the complex situation of Palestinians in and out of their land, is crucial for the actors who're playing Um-Hisham and Mourid. Both characters speaks out about the land they've been deprived of, their lost of their home lands, and their right to be back:
Shlomo: ... So, my good women, what do you see?
(Um Hisham looks across the land-scape)
Um Hisham: Palestinians.
Shlomo: Exactly! And we are?
Um Hisham: Lunatics.
Shlomo: Protection. Homa Umigdal (i.e. the Wall and Tower model that was built at the beginning of the jewish settlements in Israel R.G)
Um Hisham: The model was a machine of invasion... Nest and egg. Ha. Your Homa Umigdal houses had many little feet and they kept on coming. Another. Another (She counts the little houses she imagines). Another. Another. Another
(First Vision: A Shade of Innocence, p. 11-12)
In the play, Um Hisham is described as a women from Rafah- a city in the Gaza strip. But her family might arrived there after they've been escaped from Palestine after the Israeli invasion in 1948 or 1967. The passage above is a small statement she makes, a tease, that rise the painful topic of the Israeli occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories.
Following Wallace's recommended readings for the play, I've started reading the incredible book by the German scholar Christoph Reute, My Life Is a Weapon. This book, regardless of its deep insight of suicide bombers around the globe, brings out the stories of families from Palestine that try to cope with the reality of the occupation. Once the production will start, I'll provide "our" Um-Hisham" the files, for now you can have a look at the introduction of the book:
In case of Mourid- the situation is far more complex. Mourid is from East Jerusalem- an area that until the 67 war was under a Jordanian governance, and from 67 till this day under the Israeli governance. There are 66,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, 44,000 of them were born and raised there before the israeli occupation, and 22,000 of them are Palestinian refugees who had to move there after the war at 67.
Although both East and West Jerusalem are under Israeli governance, Palestinians from the East side suffer from serious limitations on their freedom of movement (among all other limitations). That's why Tanya and Sami are surprised to see Mourid in a clinic in West Jerusalem- because he's basically not allowed there...
You're welcome to study the following timeline of the Nakba, provided by the website of Palestine Note:
There many organizations who work to revive and keep the memory of all the Palestinian villages who had been occupied during the war at 48, and their Palestinian residents needed to flee once the Israeli forces arrived. This organization is one of them:
Until my next post, you can follow the news and keep enriching your curiosity...
All the best,
Renana
