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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April 2008, pages 58-59 Music & Arts Puppets for Palestine
SEVERAL children from the Washington, DC area were entertained as well as informed by “Puppets for Palestine,” performed at the Potter’s House Books and Coffee Shop on Feb. 10. The puppet show was part of Israeli Apartheid Week, held the first week in February, which included six events designed to educate the general public about the plight of the Palestinians as well as the horrors of the Israeli occupation. The puppets’ story was simple, but effective. Two young pen pals, one from Rafah, Gaza and the other from Washington, DC, learn about each other’s life through their correspondence. The two children share such interests as their love of soccer, but that’s where the similarities end. As the boy from Gaza writes of his day-to-day activities, the American girl learns how hard life truly is under occupation. After the show, which was done in a fun way so that the viewers got the message, but enjoyed the puppetry as well, children in the audience were asked to come up and put on their own show of how they’d like to see life in Gaza. In that performance, the soldiers at the checkpoint were polite and let everyone cross. One boy in the audience whose family is originally from the West Bank raised his hand afterward to tell the other children that the Israeli soldiers would never act in such a manner. Morrigan Phillips and Anna Duncan were asked to create the puppets and the storyline for the show especially for Israeli Apartheid Week. —Jamal Najjab |
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