Art, Music & Culture

Theater Review: Jamil Khoury's "Precious Stones"

Maureen Clare Murphy
1 August 2003

When a playwright tackles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, sexual identity issues, class issues, Arab-American community issues, and Jewish-American community issues (among others), in a 90-minute play, not much room is left for anything else — like character development and breathing room. And that’s the main trouble with Jamil Khoury’s Precious Stones. Maureen Clare Murphy reviews the play for EI.

Film review: James Longley's "Gaza Strip" (2002)

Nigel Parry
29 July 2003

gsvideocover.jpg

Cover of the video/DVD.

James Longley’s Gaza Strip is a 74-minute documentary filmed between January and April 2001, a period that stretches from four months after the beginning of the Second Palestinian Intifada — immediately preceding the election of Ariel Sharon as Israel’s prime minister — up to the end of Sharon’s third month in office. “I made this film,” Longley notes in the director’s commentary that accompanies the very highly recommended DVD version, “to satisfy my own curiosity about what was happening in the Gaza Strip since I found that it was very difficult to find information in the mainstream media and get a detailed look at what was going on, what people there were like, what they were thinking about.” EI’s Nigel Parry reviews the film.

Divine Intervention now available on VHS/DVD for universites and organisations

25 July 2003

Avatar Films is continuing its release of Divine Intervention, the first Palestinian-made film ever to be widely distributed in the United States. Divine Intervention is available for screenings at universities, organizations and institutions, and is available on 35mm film, DVD, Digital Betacam, and VHS. Divine Intervention will be not released on home video and DVD until well into 2004.

People like us: a review of "Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For my parents"

Maureen Clare Murphy
21 July 2003

Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that prove the most resonant. Take Seth Tobocman’s Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For My Parents. The book, a collection of drawings and thoughts, is the end product of the author’s month-long tour of Israel and Palestine during June, 2002. Tobocman was accommodated by the International Solidarity Movement and a visited a West Bank hospital, took a night-time bus ride in Israel, and worked as an art teacher during a summer school session in the West Bank village of Dir Ibzia — sketching what he encountered. Maureen Clare Murphy reviews the book for EI.

Ibdaa dance troupe on US Tour

Ibdaa Cultural Center
21 July 2003

Ibdaa is a Palestinian youth dance troupe from Dheisheh refugee camp, near the city of Bethlehem in the Israeli occupied West Bank. MECA is sponsoring the 2nd nationwide performance tour of Ibdaa, the renowned Palestinian youth dance troupe from Dheisheh Refugee Camp, West Bank, this July and August.

Hany Abu-Assad wins 'Spirit of Freedom Award' at Jerusalem Film Festival

Arjan El Fassed
21 July 2003

Hany Abu-Assad’s documentary ‘Ford Transit’, which follows Palestinian taxi-van driver Rajai who tries to live and survive in and around roadblocks separating Ramallah from Jerusalem, won the ‘Spirit of Freedom Award’, dedicated to the memory of Wim van Leer, for best documentary at the 20th annual Jerusalem Film Festival.

From a lost refugee

Shaker Khazal
Borj El Barajneh refugee camp
15 July 2003

I come from a small deprived Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon called Bourj Al Barajneh. Something special about my camp is that it rains day and night, during summer and winter. It rains tears that are a result of future worries, present fears, and past dark memories.

A humorous occupation?

William Cook
7 July 2003

Jackie Mason and Ivor Dembina are both Jewish comics, but the style and substance of their comedy couldn’t be more different, especially when it comes to their views on Israel, writes William Cook in The Guardian.

Weapons of the weak

Salman Natoor
11 January 2002

At the Qalandiyah roadblock, the state of Palestine is being established, according to author and playwright Salman Natoor, who found himself there one hot summer’s day.

Interview with comedienne Maysoon Zayid

Nigel Parry
14 June 2003

Palestinian American comedienne Maysoon Zayid is a rising force who has appeared on MTV, As the World Turns, and 20/20. EI’s Nigel Parry caught up with Zayid at the annual conference of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) conference where she performed to a packed and appreciative crowd at the Friday dinner honoring Arab American achievements. Listen to EI’s first audio interview in MP3 format.

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