The rarely heard voices of Palestinian playwrights come to New York City on October 16-17 for a unique and important theatrical benefit, Acts for Palestine, to support a visual art exhibition entitled Made in Palestine, an exhibition of the contemporary art of Palestine, featuring 23 Palestinian artists. Tragedy, seeping into daily life, fuels the Palestinian playwright at home and in exile. Cultural poignancy, the beloved ancient soil of literary tradition, and revolutionary hope combine to create literary expressions that grip the viewer as much as the playwright. Read more about Four one-act plays by Palestinian playwrights to support art exhibition 

A Palestinian-American from Brooklyn, Suheir Hammad has appeared on the HBO show “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” hosted by Mos Def. Her poems have been featured in numerous publications, on the BBC World Service, and National Public Radio. Hammad recently wrote two poems about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. The first reprinted here, “A Prayer Band”, was performed at an event organised by Hammad called “Refugees for Refugees” in New York City on September 9th, which raised $5,000 for hurricane relief. Suheir Hammad arrived in Jackson, Mississippi yesterday, to deliver the money personally and help with direct relief efforts. Read more about "A Prayer Band": Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad on Hurricane Katrina 

“How illegal is it to vandalize a wall,” asks Banksy in his website introduction to his Wall project, “if the wall itself has been deemed unlawful by the International Court of Justice? The Israeli government is building a wall surrounding the occupied Palestinian territories. It stands three times the height of the Berlin wall and will eventually run for over 700km - the distance from London to Zurich. The International Court of Justice last year ruled the wall and its associated regime is illegal. It essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open-air prison.” Read more about Well-known UK graffiti artist Banksy hacks the Wall 

Invitations clutched in their hands, last week the audience members of the East West Diwan Orchestra squeezed past uniformed, armed guards and headed into the Ramallah Cultural Palace auditorium. The concert, performed by both Israeli and Palestinian musicians and conducted by world-renowned Israeli musician Daniel Barenboim, was definitely one of the more newsworthy cultural events in Palestine this year. Yet it was unadvertised, and only at the last minute were local photographers allowed to document the event for Palestinian papers. Read more about Freedom for Palestine: Ticket-holders only? 

The first international tour of the Balata Youth Drama and Dance Group travelled to the United Kingdom in August 2005. The Group are a project of the Yafa Cultural Centre (YCC), which is based in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus. This was Balata’s ‘A’edoon tour - “we will return”. The tour got off to a difficult start. One child in the Group, 16-year old Mohamed, was arrested by the Israeli Occupying Force on the 25th of July as the group crossed the border from Palestine into Jordan. One-month later, Mohamed continued to be held in administrative detention, being interrogated without charge and without access to a legal representative or his family. Jeff Handmaker reports. Read more about Video: Balata Youth Drama and Dance Group Tours the UK 

Nablusi architect Naseer Arafat’s current project, “a ten year dream,” as he calls it, is the restoration of an estate that was once owned by an influential sheikh and housed a residence, soap factory and reception hall. The compound, which Arafat describes as having a “unique composition,” is nestled in Nablus’ Old City, home to 20,000 Palestinians and some 2,560 historic buildings, mostly constructed during the Ottoman period, as well as some from the Mameluke, Crusader, Byzantine and Roman eras. Read more about Breathing life into Nablus