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BDS and Palestinian Theatre Making: A Call for Debate within the Discipline of Theatre and Performance Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2018

Rayya El Zein ,
Irene Fernández Ramos ,
George Potter  and
Gabriel Varghese
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Extract

On 30 March 2018, protesters in the Gaza Strip engaged in a peaceful demonstration for “Land Day,” a Palestinian commemoration of the expropriation of lands for Israeli settlements in 1976. During the march, Palestinians approached the border with Israel where the Israeli army opened fire with live ammunition and tank shells, killing at least fifteen demonstrators. Dozens of others were wounded. In the weeks and months that followed, Palestinian protesters continued to protest at the Gaza border. As this issue goes to print, the International Committee of the Red Cross reports that at least 116 Palestinians have been killed in protests framed as the “Great March of Return” since 30 March 2018, and as many as thirteen thousand have been injured. This spring's events, coinciding with the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel and the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, offer yet another reminder of the violence and dispossession that for decades have characterized Palestinian life under Israeli occupation.

Type
Articles
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 59 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 409 - 418
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 2018 

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References

Endnotes

1. Mohamed Hashem and Mohammed Haddad, “Infographic: What Is Land Day?” Al Jazeera English, 30 March 2017, accessed 8 April 2018, aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2016/03/infographic-land-day-palestine-israel-30-march-1976-160330090432915.html.

2. Alex Matthews-King, “Outrage Grows as Israel Rules Out Inquiry into Shooting of Palestinian ‘Land Day’ Protesters,” The Independent, 1 April 2018, accessed 3 April 2018, independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-palestine-gaza-violence-protests-deaths-land-day-tanks-bullets-hamas-a8283676.html.

3. Jack Khoury and Yaniv Kubovich, “Gaza Footage Shows Protester Shot in the Back While Running Away from Israeli Border,” Haaretz, 31 March 2018, accessed 3 April 2018, haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-gaza-video-shows-protestor-shot-while-running-away-from-border-1.5962616.

4. Bethan McKernan, “International Red Cross Dispatches War Surgeons to Help Gaza Cope with Protest Casualties,” The Independent, 1 June 2018, accessed 2 June 2018, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-israel-latest-protests-healthcare-casualties-injured-international-committee-red-cross-a8377836.html.

5. International Federation for Theatre Research, “Constitution,” FIRT-IFTR.org, 23 May 2012, accessed 15 March 2018, firt-iftr.org/organisation/constitution.

6. American Society for Theatre Research, “Bylaws & Handbook,” accessed 8 April 2018, astr.site-ym.com/?page=BylawsHandbook.

7. Performance Studies International, “About,” accessed 8 April 2018, psi-web.org/about/.

8. Performance Studies International, “Manifesto Lexicon,” accessed 8 April 2018, psi-web.org/about/psi-manifesto-lexicon/.

9. Omar Barghouti, “The Cultural Boycott: Israel vs. South Africa,” Hyperallergic, 9 June 2015, accessed 12 April 2017, hyperallergic.com/212014/the-cultural-boycott-israel-vs-south-africa%E2%80%A8/.

10. “Palestinian BDS National Committee,” BDSMovement.net, accessed 2 June 2018, bdsmovement.net/bnc.

11. Palestinian civil society, “Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS,” BDSMovement.net, 9 July 2005, accessed 12 April 2017, bdsmovement.net/call.

12. Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), “History,” PACBI.org, 21 December 2008, accessed 2 June 2018, pacbi.org/pacbi140812/?page_id=2551.

13. In lieu of rehashing every association's debate, an updating list of academic associations that have endorsed the BDS call can be found on the website of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel: usacbi.org/academic-associations-endorsing-boycott/. An overview of BDS support in the academy outside of the United States can also be found on the PACBI website: “Impact … Thousands of Academics Sign Up to Academic Boycott Statements,” bdsmovement.net/academic-boycott#impact. Of course, not every association has voted to heed the call. The debates at the MLA have been discussed in many articles (see, e.g., Jennifer Schuessler, “Modern Language Association Moves to Reject Academic Boycott of Israel, New York Times, 7 January 2017, accessed 3 April 2018, nytimes.com/2017/01/07/arts/mla-reject-academic-boycott-of-israel.html, as well as Margaret Ferguson, “Margaret Ferguson's MLA Letter of Resignation,” Critical Inquiry, 9 January 2018, accessed 3 April 2018, critinq.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/margaret-fergusons-mla-letter-of-resignation/).

14. Palestinian Performing Arts Organizations, “Solidarity with Gaza: Statement by Performing Art Organizations,” PACBI.org, 18 July 2014, accessed 12 April 2017, pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=2475&key=qattan.

15. James Elliott records that the number of Gazan students studying at Birzeit University, near Ramallah in the West Bank, fell from 350 to 25 between 2000 and 2005. James Elliott, “Students Suffer as Israel Denies Palestinian Freedom of Movement and Education in the Occupied Territories,” Mondoweiss, 31 January 2013, accessed 16 August 2014, mondoweiss.net/2013/01/palestinian-education-territories.html.

16. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, West Bank Movement and Access Update, September 2012, 4; accessed 25 May 2017, ochaopt.org/sites/default/files/ocha_opt_movement_and_access_report_september_2012_english.pdf.

17. Saed Bannoura, “Soldiers Invade Birzeit University, Near Ramallah,” IMEMCnews, International Middle East Media Center, 19 June 2014, accessed 26 August 2014, imemc.org/article/68148.

18. “Israel Strikes University in Gaza City,” Al Jazeera English, 2 August 2014, accessed 26 August 2014, aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/israel-strikes-university-gaza-city-20148283821707200.html.

19. Amir Hetsroni, “Israeli Universities’ Response to Gaza War May Justify an Academic Boycott,” Haaretz, 27 August 2014, accessed 4 September 2014, haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.612657?v=EEF7C70EBF2B3A98C8CCC99971173CA2.

20. Alex MacDonald, “Two Arabic-Language Theatres Face Funding Cuts from Israeli Government,” Middle East Eye, 15 June 2015, accessed 12 April 2017, middleeasteye.net/news/two-arab-language-theatres-face-funding-cuts-israeli-government-1692145427.

21. Myriam Vanneschi, “Israel Denies Exit for Palestinian Artist in New Museum Show,” Hyperallergic, 14 July 2014, accessed 12 April 2017, hyperallergic.com/137643/israel-denies-exit-for-palestinian-artist-in-new-museum-show/.

22. Amy Goodman, interview with Amer Shomali and Julia Bacha, “The Wanted 18: Israel Blocks Palestinian Filmmaker from Making NYC Film Premiere about Intifada Cows,” Democracy Now, 12 June 2015, accessed 12 April 2017, democracynow.org/2015/6/12/the_wanted_18_us_israel_bar.

23. Amnesty International, “Israel finally frees Palestinian circus performer,” 31 August 2017, accessed 21 June 2018, amnesty.org.uk/palestinian-circus-performer-mohammad-abu-sakha-palestine-clown-israel-administrative-detention.

24. M[arcia]. Lynx Qualey, “The Poem for Which Dareen Tatour's under House Arrest: ‘Resist, My People, Resist Them,’” ArabLit.org, 27 April 2016, accessed 12 April 2017, arablit.org/2016/04/27/the-poem-for-which-dareen-tatours-under-house-arrest-resist-my-people-resist-them/.

25. “Senior Staff Member and Student Prohibited from Travelling Abroad,” The Freedom Theatre (TheFreedomTheatre.org), accessed 12 April 2017, thefreedomtheatre.org/news/senior-staff-member-and-student-prohibited-from-travelling-abroad/.

26. Melanie Goodfellow, “Gaza Cameraman Who Worked with Ai Weiwei Shot Dead by Israeli Military,” Screen Daily, 7 April 2018, accessed 10 April 2018, www.screendaily.com/news/ai-weiweis-human-flow-assistant-cameraman-shot-dead-by-israeli-military/5128077.article.

27. Patricia Davis, “Death and Art in Palestine: Nabil Al-Ra'ee and The Freedom Theatre,” HowlRound, 15 April 2014, accessed 12 April 2017, howlround.com/death-and-art-in-palestine-nabil-al-ra-ee-and-the-freedom-theatre.

28. For more see, “Attacks on Palestinian Cultural Workers’ Rights,” Adalah-NY, 19 July 2016, accessed 12 April 2017, adalahny.org/campaign-main-document/959/attacks-palestinian-cultural-workers-rights.

29. For example, the award-winning documentary film Slingshot Hip Hop has documented how festivals, concerts, and simple face-to-face meetings are dependent on the whims of soldiers at roadblocks. Jackie Reem Salloum, Slingshot Hip Hop, 2008.

30. For suggested guidelines for the Cultural and Academic Boycott, see Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, “PACBI Guidelines for the International Academic Boycott of Israel,” BDSMovement.net, 9 July 2014, accessed 12 April 2017, bdsmovement.net/pacbi/academic-boycott-guidelines, and PACBI, “PACBI Guidelines for the International Cultural Boycott of Israel,” BDSMovement.net, 16 July 2014, accessed 12 April 2017, bdsmovement.net/pacbi/cultural-boycott-guidelines.

31. Ibid.

32. Judith Butler, “Academic Freedom and the ASA's Boycott of Israel: A Response to Michelle Goldberg,” The Nation, 8 December 2013, accessed 12 April 2017, thenation.com/article/academic-freedom-and-asas-boycott-israel-response-michelle-goldberg/. Many have read Judith Butler's pending rise to the MLA presidency as an opportunity (or threat) to revisit the BDS discussion at MLA; see, for example, Scott Jaschik, “Changing How the MLA Takes Stands,” Inside Higher Ed, 8 January 2018, accessed 8 April 2018, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/01/08/mla-panel-proposes-overhaul-how-association-takes-stands-issues.