In the midst of the excitement that continues to surround the Occupy movement, it can be unfortunately easy to forget that occupations tend to be anything but empowering. Creativity and imagination often fall by the wayside when the struggle of daily life becomes the main focus of thought. Yet it is those very positive traits that lead to liberation.
Last summer, while traveling in Paris, I met a Palestinian playwright named Abdelfattah Abusrour, who has made it his life’s mission to inspire the imaginations of the young people living in refugee camps in the West Bank. He runs a cultural center in Bethlehem’s Aida Camp called Al Rowwad (which is “pioneer” in Arabic), where children are taught, what he calls, “beautiful acts of resistance.”
Shortly after seeing him perform with his adult troupe–several members of which have been with Al Rowwad since they themselves were children–I sat down with Abusrour to get more of his story, which can now be read in the current issue of The Progressive. Here is just a quick excerpt:
Just moments after performing a dramatic final death scene, Palestinian playwright Abdelfattah Abusrour was back on stage delivering an afterword that was no less intense. Speaking softly, Abusrour told the small Parisian audience about his work back home in Bethlehem’s Aida refugee camp where he grew up and now runs the Al Rowwad Cultural and Theater Training Center.
“We are a beautiful people and we want to show our humanity to others, as well as ourselves,” Abusrour says. “We need to see beautiful acts of resistance. It’s not always linked to blood and martyrs and destruction.”
For Palestinians like Abusrour, who lived the hardships of occupation, resisting isn’t the question. “To exist is to resist,” as Palestinians often say. The question is how to resist.
“I firmly believe that nonviolence as a strategy will win,” he says. “And the way to do it is through building this culture of people who think they can create a world based on nonviolence and the strength of people power.”
To read the rest of the article, visit The Progressive‘s website or, better yet, buy a copy. And if you are interested in hearing more about Abusrour’s work, you may get the chance to see him in person, as he will be visiting U.S. cities in April and May to raise international support for Al Rowwad—more info on that, to come.
Palestine…Palestine…Palestine
It is amazing how with all the terrible religious Muslim violence on peaceful demonstrations across the Middle-East and elsewhere, this site and many other leftist Christian sites always seem to focus their attention on Israel and its Arab citizens.
The fact is, if someone shoots a rocket into Israel from Gaza and there is tepid military (at least in terms of what else is going on in the region) action to catch the perpetrators, Israel is blamed from protecting itself and its internationally recognized borders. Israel doesn’t attempt kill unarmed civilians – but it happens when the cowards who choose to cause terrorist violence hide amongst the civilians for their own protection.
And why doesn’t this site EVER denounce Muslim violence against peace-loving Israeli citizens when they are attacked?
Now move slightly over to Syria and you find the Assad regime killing TENS OF THOUSANDS of its own citizens because they want democracy and your site and all the other leftist sites seem to avoid chastising the military action in the same way as you myopically focus on the Israeli/Palestinian question.
You hide behind your leftist beliefs and are the approving background noise of the cowards who kill in the name of faith.
Where is the great Egyptian democracy that you lefties were counting on? The military did and still does hold that country’s future. It will always dole out democracy on a spoon to the masses to keep control.
My guess is you’re also very happy to see Iran, one of the most backwards and anti-Semitic nations develop nuclear capabilities. My guess also is that you’re against any nation taking action to ensure the world is not destroyed by these fanatics.
What you all seem to forget is that if you tried your peacenik ways in any place where there wasn’t secular democracy – you’d wind up on a slab. Got to Iran and try to write freely? I don’t think so. In fact, Egypt now has many Americans on trial for their interventions.
Israel is a friend to democracy and the United States. There are Arab nations that accept Israel’s right to exist and they too are friends of freedom as well.
But you guys keep backing the terrorists because of your Howard Zinn loving Marxist perspective. Jesus, who never really existed anyway, is laughing at you as is most of the free world who find your beliefs repugnant.