‘Gazans under Hamas, Gazans under Siege’
By Jen Marlowe February 25, 2008
“It was a brief visit, so I didn’t stroll down largely empty supermarket aisles or visit hospitals to check on which supplies were unavailable. Instead, I used the time to talk to Gazans involved in responding to the international siege and the internal crisis that had led to it.
There were even rare moments when the dual crises faded into the background, such as the afternoon when I drank coffee in Rafah with Khaled Nasrallah, his brother Dr. Samir Nasrallah, and their wives and children. Rachel Corrie, a 23 year-old peace-and-justice activist from Olympia, Washington, had been killed on March 16, 2003 while standing in front of their home trying to prevent its demolition by an Israeli military bulldozer. Between October 2000 and October 2004, the IDF destroyed 2,500 homes in the Gaza Strip. Nearly two-thirds of them, like the Nasrallah’s, had been the homes of refugees in Rafah.
Now double refugees, like so many residents of Rafah, they ushered me into the living room of the apartment they have occupied since their home was destroyed in 2004. It was sparsely furnished, but the family’s spirit more than compensated. When, for instance, thin, quiet Dr. Samir saw an opportunity to make his young daughters or nieces smile, his own face lit up. He clowned around as pictures were taken, encouraging the girls to find ever sillier poses.”
After a long and caffeine powered week of setting up the equipment and reconfiguring the Havana space, we were ready for our first Vancity audience. You could physically feel the electric buzz in the air as the audiences filled the house for the preview of the show on Thursday and the performances on Friday and Saturday.
On the morning of the preview, I stopped into the People’s Co-op Bookstore and found this book called ‘How to Re-Imagine the World’ (a pocket guide for practical visionaries) by Anthony Weston. After purchasing the book by Visa (they keep upping my limit- which is really not so good, yet can be helpful in situations where visionary pocket guides must be bought…it was 20% off…ha, i am a sucker for a deal)
So, as I was walking in the sun down Commerical Drive to the Havana, i opened the book to this:
“Deeply resistant in some directions, the system can also be surprisingly responsive in others. The world is a fluid, dynamic, intricately interconnected whole. Certain distinctive tipping points, vectors and dynamics emerge that make unexpected openings for creative change-making.”
I thought that this was great because not only is it echoing some of the exact words and sentiments expressed by Rachel in the play, it conveys that everything is constantly in flux and there are spaces where we can participate in the direction of the flow…
VANCOUVER — Does the “theatre” that seems to surround the Alan Rickman/Katharine Viner play My Name Is Rachel Corrie dwarf the actual drama?
With the play condemned by some protesters as being a one-sided portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in North America the answer is often yes.
While the play, which dramatizes the writings of the 23-year-old American peace activist crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003, was a hit at London’s Royal Court theatre when it made its debut in April, 2005, it was cancelled by the New York Theatre workshop the following spring because of the concerns of Jewish groups.
It was also cancelled last year at Toronto’s CanStage after alleged pressure from some board members. During a run at the Seattle Repertory Theatre last spring, pro-Israeli groups condemned the play as “anti-Semitic” and started a protest website called Rachel Corrie Facts. And at a recent staging in Montreal, protesters dropped leaflets containing photos of the “other Rachels” - images of Israeli women named Rachel who had been killed by suicide bombers.
But in Vancouver, it seems, the show will go on, and on Sunday a forum of Palestinian, Jewish and Canadian speakers discussed the play. Neworld Theatre, which is co-producing My Name Is Rachel Corrie with Montreal’s Teesri Duniya Theatre, actually signed a deal with the Havana Theatre, where the play opens on Friday, stating that it would not cancel the performance. More…
I had the strange experience of waiting for the bus at Broadway and Commercial, next to a giant picture of me and Rachel when she was 10. Things are happening here. And we are getting ready.
Well, it’s been one month since my last entry. Happy New Year to readers.
For the team behind My Name is Rachel Corrie, the holidays provided some much needed rest and relaxation. An opportunity to release focus in our brains - or change focus - giving our subconsciouses time to brew and simmer.
But now we’re back on track, hitting the ground running and preparing for the PuSh Festival!
Folks in Vancouver are getting pretty excited about the show and all the ancillary events that accompany it. Below you’ll find a list of what’s happening when.
And check out this link to the preview about the show in The Georgia Straight, Vancouver’s arts and entertainment weekly.
Ancillary Events
Fri 18 Jan, 8pm | Bite of the Underground | WISE Hall (1882 Adanac) | $15
Sun 20 Jan, 3pm | Here and There Panel Discussion | SFU Harbour Centre (515 W. Broadway)
20 Jan - 2 Feb | FeeXero.com | photographic exhibit in Havana Gallery (1212 Commercial Dr)
Sun 3 Feb, 3pm | I want this to stop: talk back with Craig and Cindy Corrie | SFU Harbour Centre (515 W. Broadway)
It is our closing matinee show today- this past two weeks have flown right by…like vrrrrooooom. It has been an amazing experience so far and i look forward to working on the show in Vancouver.
This morning i read an article called “Politicizing Gaza’s misery” by Ramzy Baroud. Here is an excerpt:
“The Strip is under a harsh and unprecedented siege, with people dying as a result of the lack of medical aid. Israel has cut diesel supplies to 60,000 litres, when 350,000 litres are required daily. How can an already underdeveloped economy run on such a meagre amount of energy, let alone hospitals and schools? Electricity is also being drastically cut, as per the recommendation of Israel’s High Court, and unemployment is at the highest level it has ever been (past the 75 per cent mark). One and a half million inhabitants are literary trapped in a 365-square kilometre prison without any breathing room whatsoever and little food, little energy, and are told, more or less, that they deserve their fate.”
I haven’t read it (don’t want to until later) but for those who are interested…
Like the dead activist, she stands alone, naive but caring
PAT DONNELLY, The Gazette – Published: Saturday, December 15
Was it truly murder with intent or was it a heavy-equipment accident akin to recent deadly snowplow incidents in Montreal? Was Corrie as heroic as the tank man in Tiananmen Square? Or did the International Solidarity Movement, of which she was a member, recklessly endanger her life? More…
I haven’t written in a while- mostly because i haven’t known where to start. Being involved in this project has given me so much…and it’s made me question so much. It could be that because i have just finished 5 years of schooling and am now sitting directly in the existential void of: who am i? and what do i do with my life?
I have been thinking a lot about privilege—what i take for granted and how much my idealism is tied to the glory of youth. Although my political horizons are constantly expanding, i struggle with how much i take in because i am afraid of getting lost in despair. It is hard not to sound like a cliche of a young person struggling to find meaning…but heh, what can you do when you live in a shoe?
Often it can be difficult to imagine the distant war torn realities of others (especially for those of us who have never lived it), but i feel like it is so necessary that we at least try to get a sense. The more i learn, the more i feel that, to an extent, the wars and the destruction of other people’s lives are being fought for the comfort and luxury that we benefit from in the ‘developed’ worlds. I think we are all responsible for what is happening around us and ‘over there.’
I have spent my whole degree thinking about and questioning the role of art and activism- and theatre as a tool for social change. Over the past few weeks, i have listened to the guest speakers and audience members talk at the panel discussions and it has been extremely moving because even though this play may not be necessarily converting people’s minds, it is making people think and feel and generating discussion about the how critical the situation is for Palestinians and asking the question: where are we in all of this?
In some ways the talk backs have felt like a forum for artists and activists to share their stories in relation to Rachel’s and to acknowledge that we are all a part of a similar movement. Friends of mine who have come to see this production have expressed how much it has made them reflect upon what they are doing in their own lives.
I think that is the power of this play- because it is one woman speaking for an hour and a half straight, there is space to filter Rachel’s thoughts and experiences through one’s own, and as a result question where you- as the audience member, sits in the midst of it all.
This being said, maybe just questioning ourselves and feeling the catharsis that this play invokes is not enough…maybe it needs to lead to action. When Cindy and Craig Corrie spoke at the panel discussion after the play, they expressed how many people have contacted them to let them know that Rachel’s words, and her story have inspired them to take action of one kind or another. Perhaps we need to realise what we are capable of, and Rachel is one example of how much change one person can affect.
I have more disjointed thoughts to share but i shall save them for another day…
Last night i watched (on google video) a man named Derrick Jensen discuss the premise of his books ‘Endgame.’
Somewhat related, somewhat not, but worth checking out:
Day off today and tomorrow. Montreal is buried in another snowstorm. 30 cm blew in yesterday and last night, leaving behind cars disguised as snowdrifts and human-width tracks along the sidewalks.
Last night a group of us met at the Teesri office for a delicious dinner cooked by Rahul’s mother. There was enough food for at least three times as many. The conversation ranged from Dipti’s challenge for us to recall encounters (with Hell’s Angels, grieving mothers and drunks on the bus), the Reasonable Accommodation hearings (very frightening government action currently going on in Quebec) and the reaction of audiences to our show.
The past week has been quite intense. Though not as charged as the opening week, the past week has seen the show grow more solid - in my biased opinion. There is nothing like repetition, for me, I love repeating the patterns and finding the subtle nuances and intricacies of action, story-telling and communication.
I do feel like I made an error, though. On one night, three women attended the show. They asked me before we started how long the show was. Then throughout the performance I noticed them talking to each other and smiling, one woman sat with one leg crossed over the other, bouncing her foot up and down. In my performer’s brain a range of narratives presented. Of course the first (because we performers are ego-centric, in case you didn’t know) was that they were bored. So I played to them. And then noticed glances shared between them. And that’s when I made my mistake: I got angry and righteous.
You should know that performers get upset when people don’t pay attention to them. I have had many conversations with actors, angry when they feel ignored.
And so I got angry at these women. Because they were distracting me and the other audience members.
I realize now that these women were doing something brave. I imagine they were coming to investigate a story that challenged their beliefs. They were coming to challenge the claims that most critics of the politics of this play have not actually seen it. So they came. Which is brave. And they reacted. Which is human. And I reacted with anger. Which is also human.
But I hope that in the future, should this situation present again, that I can remember in the moment (and subdue my ego long enough) to congratulate the audience for their bravery and learn from them.
I, too, am just beginning to learn how dialogue really works - which is ironic considering this is a monologue show -Â and continue to find this process inspiring and incredibly rich.
The Opening Weekend has been a real whirlwind. In addition to the simple fact of opening the show – which seems simple, but never is – this weekend was also one of special guests. In addition to my Mom and my Fella’, Craig and Cindy Corrie were also in Montreal.
The Corries watched both matinees on Saturday and Sunday. When they came backstage, it was as if I had been waiting to meet them forever. In fact, I think I said something to that effect!
Performing the show with these two brave, intelligent and kind people felt like a real honour. Their generous spirit immediately set me at ease. “Enjoy the show,” I said, as they were going back into the lobby, leaving me to prepare for the show. “Oh we will, don’t worry, we will.”
And I think they did.
Here are some pictures from the social events that accompanied their visit, as well as the panel on Sunday.
(from left) Sarah Garton Stanley, Marcus Youssef, Craig Corrie and Cindy Corrie after the show on Saturday afternoon.
Dinner on Saturday. I’m not sure who all was there.
