Mohammad Abu Sakha: in prison for making children happy
One year after he was arrested by Israeli forces, Palestinian circus teacher Mohammad Abu Sakha (pictured,on left) is still behind bars, and without charges.
Arts Palestine
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One Hundred Years and Counting: Britain, Balfour, and the Cultural Repression of Palestinians
This report looks at the repression of Palestinian cultural expression by Israel and collusion and censorship here in the UK by British government ministers. It traces this relationship back to the wording of the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The briefing offers an essential perspective for understanding Israel’s attempts to erase the Palestinian past and future, and proposes practical steps groups such as ours can take here in the UK to end the silencing of Palestinian voices and perspectives.
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ARTSWATCH November 2016
The dangers of satire A blog by ‘John Brown’ in +972 magazine (27thNovember) reports on recent experiences of the Bedouin blogger Anas Abudaabes. The wild fires that swept through Northern Israel in mid-November provoked some Facebook posters in neighbouring countries into words of celebration. Abudaabes responded satirically, writing that the way to earn the respect of posters like these…
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ARTSWATCH October 2016
‘The National Puppet Theatre of Israel’ Habima, Israel’s National Theatre, has announced that in mid-November it will put on a show in Kiryat Arba. Kiryat Arba is a settlement in territory illegally occupied by Israel, and a place which, in the words of an editorial in Ha’aretz (26th October), ‘has become a symbol of the injustices of the…
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‘Beautiful resistance’ meets cynical culture-washing on Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Fringe’s renowned open platform for all forms of artistic expression produced a curious juxtaposition this year, as Palestinians deployed creativity to shatter the bonds of political repression while Israeli state apologists cloaked a discredited political message in threadbare cultural clothing. The gulf between the two was demonstrated in the pages of Scotland’s press,…
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ARTSWATCH August 2016
Gaza’s celebrated Dawaween refused exit permits [photo Shadi Alqarra] Borders closed to musicians from Gaza Israel opens the door to Western performers, but as far as Palestinian artists are concerned, the borders are closed. Middle East Eye (23rd August) reports on two cases where singers and musicians from Gaza have been denied access to other parts of occupied…
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Artists for Palestine UK protests Brand Israel on the Fringe
Artists for Palestine UK has written to the organisers of the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe enclosing a letter of protest from the founder of Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society in Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem, over the inclusion on the Fringe programme of an event billed as “probably the most significant pro-Israel advocacy event of the year…
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Threat of 800 lashes hangs over Palestinian poet in Saudi jail
Palestinian artist, curator and poet Ashraf Fayadh is serving an eight year term in a Saudi jail, sentenced to receive 800 lashes for alleged apostasy. Here a member of the Artists for Palestine UK collective reviews the significance of this alarming case.
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Israel’s war on Palestinian media – Why no protest from the UK government?
In March 2016, Israel continued its assault on Palestinian media organisations by closing down the TV station, Palestine Today, and arresting some of its staff. The British government, so vocal at other times in its defence of ‘democratic values’, responded only with silence. The APUK collective sent this letter to the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond,…
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Freedom Theatre defies all odds to tell their “absolutely compelling” story
Discussion with The Freedom Theatre from Jenin As the Freedom Theatre’s first ever UK tour draws to a close, we are proud to be able to post a short film (27 minutes) offering insights into the experience of members of the company, and also the audiences who have flocked to see The Siege at 10 venues from…
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Palestinian artists speak: boycott directed against apartheid system of occupation & discrimination
My name is Abdelfattah Abusrour. I am director of Alrowwad cultural and theatre training society, which I founded with a group of friends in 1998 in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine, where I was born, to create a safe space of beautiful expression, a philosophy that I call beautiful resistance against the ugliness…
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Theatre director Jonathan Chadwick: BDS crucially important element in resistance
Jonathan Chadwick – artistic director of Az Theatre, and a Pledge signatory – has written a blog post about his recent trip to the West Bank, which we think is worth sharing: I went to Palestine on Saturday 7th February and came back on Sunday 15th February. I failed to get into Gaza to pursue the work…
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UK theatre director blogs his trip to Palestine
Jonathan Chadwick is artistic director of Az Theatre: The aim was to visit my colleagues in Gaza in order to pursue our project to create an original new Arabic stage adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace in Gaza. Now it looks quite unlikely that I will get permission from the Israelis. But I will still…
