Beyond Haifa and Beirut … Back in Palestine

It was pure power, and desperation, and a glint of hope …

El-Funoun, again on stage with a message to all of us.

All of us who still hope but see how Handalah was right, even 48 years ago;
How our country is wasted by all those who abuse it - from within and outside;
The fight for your freedom has become an act of servitude,
The brooms - cleaning up the mess created by our leaders.

I saw the rehearsal and hope, after this premiere, there is another one - in Ramallah, in Amman, in Amsterdam, in New York.

The black and white of reality - of hope and no hope;
Of all those who still keep Palestine alive, in arts, in development,
In olives and our daily life, in our streets and in dance.

What are we fighting for? For our dignity, for hope,
For our children, for the right to exist, for the chance to dream.

Our only response: we fight, we are resilient, we resist the neglect and the ignorance of the world. The world around us that does not want to know …

The world that killed, through Palestinian hands, Naji Al-Ali, because he was able to tell what happened, what would happen, and what is now happening.

The world that killed so many others because they would simply not accept the lies and made-up stories, because they fought with words or with arms … against an occupation

Against the self-excused terror of an occupier.

Against those who take the broom to serve.

The message is clear, what more do we need to say?

The messengers were breathtaking in their force, to express, in the energy of the gesture, of the articulation of their bodies.

Beyond the folklore in which they excelled.

The rhythm, the dance, the story beyond and within; the collegiality and creativity that is born from mutual support.

The innovation of a new generation, invited into the space of those who have been there since the beginning.

The emergence of a new style that can compete with New York and Amsterdam…

I was touched profoundly - I who have not lived the messages of Naji. Then what about all the others who have read his images and still hope in spite of the despair?

The following words came to life, when seeing the “beyond” in the last rehearsal:
The pain

I cry

The soul

You are the earth

The heart

Give me air

Water

In fire

Palestine.
Peter Laban
Ramallah, July 20, 2007
This Week in Palestine

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