HILARY WISE spotlights Palfest23, a festival forging cultural links between Palestine and the rest of the world.
ISRAEL has always understood the central importance of denying the rich historical and cultural context of Palestinian lives.
Razing to the ground over 500 ancient Palestinian villages to prevent the return of refugees was just the first step.
The looting and destruction of thousands of Palestinian books from occupied homes and institutions, documented in the film The Great Book Robbery (viewable on YouTube) was another vital part of the process.
On numerous occasions Unesco has been highly critical of archaeological excavations of Jerusalem in particular, when Israel has simply erased the upper levels of a dig in an effort to find remains that could somehow justify Jewish “ownership” of the city.
From the banning of Palestinian flags to the changing of street and place names to the uprooting of ancient olive groves — deeply symbolic for agricultural communities — Israel has been tireless in its efforts to erase any sense of national Palestinian consciousness.
Everything serving to give people a sense of identity and pride must be stifled, obliterated or appropriated.
Abroad, organisers of events showcasing some aspect of Palestinian culture or history will be familiar with the tactics employed by the militant champions of zionism.
These range from targeting a venue or an individual with accusations of anti-semitism to threatening the withdrawal of funding from vulnerable institutions or universities.
Despite these relentless assaults Palestinian culture continues to flourish, both in Palestine and abroad.
One powerhouse behind the promotion of cultural exchange has been the Palestinian Festival of Literature, or Palfest.
From 2008 Palfest has partnered a range of Palestinian organisations, forging cultural links between Palestine and the rest of the world.
This year Palfest23 has been organising an amazing array of public events to mark the 75th year of the Nakba, the Israeli invasion of Palestine.
In acknowledgement of the major realignments in the global political scene, the theme of Palfest23 is unashamedly political: “The Relationship of Palestine with the global South.”
Writers and thinkers from places as diverse as Kashmir, South Africa, Chile, Nigeria, and the United States, as well as from the Palestinian diaspora, have come together to discuss these shifting dynamics.
Throughout the month of May the cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Jerusalem, Haifa and Bethlehem, virtually isolated from the rest of the world by the Israeli occupation, hosted a whole series of book launches, poetry readings, films, concerts and debates.
Even besieged Gaza was able to stage a Poetry Marathon, in which young people expressed their deepest feelings through their poems.
This month, the scene has shifted to Britain. In Conway Hall on October 12 Ahdaf Soueif, the Egyptian writer and one of the founders of Palfest, will, together with writer Saleh Hijazi, be in conversation with the well-known author and commentator Nathan Thrall about his new book.
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama tells the story of a Palestinian whose five-year-old son is involved in a terrible accident on a school trip to Jerusalem. He has to face a maze of physical, emotional and bureaucratic obstacles to find his child.
Palfest23 culminates in a star-studded evening on October 27, hosted by the prestigious London venue, the Royal Geographical Society.
High-profile long-term supporters of Palestinian rights such as Juliet Stevenson, Harriet Walters, Michael Palin, David Morrissey and Julie Christie share the platform with luminaries like the Palestinian Egyptian poet Tamim Barghouti and Nobel Prize-winner Abdulrazak Gurnah from Tanzania.
The organisers call it “a night of performance, poetry, music and reflection that will journey through a century of struggle, colonisation, and insistence on life.”
It promises to be a truly unforgettable evening.
For more information visit www.palfest.org.