Category: projects

Susan Abulhawa on Writing and Activism – Witness Palestine Rochester

On Sept 10th this year, Rajesh Barnabas and I had the chance to interview Palestinian-American writer and activist Susan Abulhawa. She was here to deliver the keynote address that kicked off the Witness Palestine Film Festival. We talked about her literary writing, political commentary, as well as her activism. She even gave us a sneak peek into her upcoming novel. Pls watch and share 🙂

speaking engagements

last week i spoke at two separate events – i was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the pioneer library system (with about 140 librarians and administrators in attendance) and i addressed congregants at the first presbyterian church of pittsford. i spoke about physical and metaphorical walls/borders and how libraries could help dismantle them and about islam and the process of othering. on both occasions, as far as i could tell, i was the only POC, the only muslim, the only immigrant present. some of the first questions i was asked: “where are u from?” and “are u from saudi arabia?” but then i got to show a clip from a conversation between edward said and bill moyers, i got to explain the meaning of orientalism, i was able to quote audre lorde and adrienne rich, describe an academic paper about the status of mary in islam, explain the taliban in purely political terms, break down racism as institutional/systemic, and provide people with a list of alternative media. sometimes one’s very presence is an act of disruption.

“Dasht-e-Tanhai” by Faiz Ahmed Faiz – English Translation

it’s quite lovely that the most frequent comments i get from viewers of my blog, after inquiries about film screenings, are warm acknowledgements and thank yous for my translation of faiz ahmed faiz’s dasht-e-tanhai. it’s even more rewarding that most of these wonderful messages come from indians in the diaspora.

Nazareth’s Bethlehem exhibit depicts every day (occupied) life

thank u for this brilliant review of a unique exhibit, rebecca rafferty! u are a treasure for our community.

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When Bshara Nassar moved from Bethlehem to the US in 2011, he didn’t expect to end up starting a museum. He was working on a graduate degree in Conflict Transformation at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and by the end of 2014, he had plans in motion to create the Museum of the Palestinian People, which through October is co-presenting the traveling exhibit “Bethlehem Beyond the Wall” at Nazareth College. Through photographs, paintings, and artifacts, the exhibit aims to shed light on the history and enduring culture of Palestine from the perspective of Palestinians. More here.

awesome weekend

what a weekend! my son surprised us with a visit on my husband’s birthday and made us all incredibly happy! late night conversations on friday night followed by celebrations and a delicious family dinner on saturday. on sunday, my film “A Thin Wall” was screened in vancouver and i got to skype with an extremely well-informed, lovely audience that totally got the message of the film – makes me love the work i do 🙂

a thin wall screening in vancouver

my thoughts on the las vegas shooting

yes, the easy availability of guns facilitates violent expressions of rage but we must also recognize that american culture is, at its core, incredibly violent. as basic as this might sound, this is a country built on the genocide of native peoples and the transatlantic slave trade yet there is no proper acknowledgement of that reality. we are comfortable talking about the holocaust in germany but not about american holocausts. unless we confront those traumas and their ongoing violence, how are we supposed to heal and move on?

the systemic ramifications of this brutal history are still with us in the form of police brutality, mass incarceration, unemployment, poverty, housing segregation, discrimination in healthcare, a broken justice system, etc.

there is also the question of empire. the word is not even part of our linguistic repertoire. it’s astounding. american imperialism is global in scale and barbaric in its violence – from puerto rico and the philippines to central and south america to africa, asia and the middle east. there’s hardly a part of the world that remains untouched by american military or political assaults.

yet the myth of american exceptionalism and innocence continues – the glossy corporate media are quick to turn the tables and cast americans as hapless do-gooders and victims, constantly threatened by some abstract, invisible “terror.”

the connection between what america does abroad and how it deploys the same type of racist violence to control and subjugate its own poor, marginalized, colonized is completely lost, even in activist circles. the disconnect has always been shocking for me.

finally, most mass shootings are committed by straight white men. this underlines a particular kind of white supremacy and sense of entitlement. rather than commit violence at home, white men exhibit a sense of ownership of public spaces. therefore, when they are invisibilized or thwarted, they express their rage and frustration publicly, in spaces they see as belonging to them.

STOP MOTION – start action at the Fringe

wonderful show – “STOP MOTION – start action” – at the fringe festival today. our multimedia piece “other echoes” was strong and beautiful. when some of frantz fanon’s words appeared on screen along with larissa pham’s description of microaggressions as low grade radiation, i heard a definite reaction from the audience. thank u to Mariko Yamada for being such a perfect collaborator, thank u to all the dancers for understanding the spirit of the piece and embodying it so passionately, thank u to Rajesh Barnabas for his gorgeous cinematography, thank u to Artists Coalition for Change Together for giving us this opportunity and thank u to all my fam and friends for being there. just as this piece was informed by my film on racism, the film will be informed by this piece and how it came together. we need to go deeper, we need to talk more. so much work to be done.



other echoes – coming up this sunday!

i am working with dance choreographer mariko yamada to combine dance and film in a piece called “other echoes – an introduction.” it’s a short piece that will be presented as part of “STOP MOTION – start action” at the fringe festival this coming sunday sept 17 at 5pm, at muccc. it includes footage from an interview as well as dance (on screen and on stage), words and music. the entire show is very thought-provoking, political, and multimedia. here is more info and hope to see u there!

stop motion start action

Becca reviews “There is a Field”

Rebecca Rafferty: My evening wrapped at MuCCC with a staged reading of Jen Marlowe’s based-on-reality play, “There is a Field.” The premise of the story is that a young man is murdered by police at a protest. His sister, a medical student, seeks answers as her family and community grieve their loss. But the answers aren’t forthcoming, and each of the characters struggle in different ways with the concept of the futile pursuit of retribution, and if and how to engage in forgiveness.

Scraps of narration punctuate and pull together bits of live acting and flashbacks, as slowly the audience learns the story of a Palestinian Arab family living in what is now Israel. It’s important to phrase it that way, because the family did not move to Israel; they never left what was once Palestine. Through anecdotes of discrimination and conflict, the play conveys a strong picture of second-class citizenship.

Both the script and the way it is presented are important in a number of ways. The story presents the brother-sister relationship in a realistic rivalry-meets-undying-love kind of way, which feels very relatable across cultures and borders.
But crucially, the show is acted entirely by a black cast. Solidarity between black Americans and Palestinians makes a world of sense. The themes of massively imbalanced power structures, police and military brutality, and authorities investigating themselves to zero effect are all too familiar. More here.

there is a field photographed by annette dragon