I have been working on a project at the university for the last several months which entails sending 5 An-Najah students and 2 professors to a theatre festival/summer school in Naples next month for 2 weeks. At this festival they will have a chance to interact with students from Israel and Italy while learning different theatrical techniques and traditions and being directed and trained by some of the top theatre directors in the Mediterranean region. It is a fantastic opportunity for intercultural dialogue and has been my "baby" from the beginning. The project began with choosing a good instructor in the Fine Arts Faculty who could nominate 5 students and 1 assistant for the festival. Afterwards, we formulated a proposal and a course plan for the Palestinian portion of the summer school. The end result includes using visuals of Palestinian symbols, live oud performances, and poetry recitals all to convey the level of importance the Palestinian people put on their rich heritage. At the end of the course the 15 total participants will take part in a short play that sums up what they learned about Palestinian culture during the course.
Ihave met the Palestinian students who range in age from 20-24. They are so happy and enthusiastic about this oppportunity to show the world what it means to them to be Palestinian. They are excited to learn news things and teach others new things. For the students, it is their first time out of the country - ever. They meet on a regular basis, at least a couple of times a week to discuss the festival and practice their dabka - traditional dancing. Although I am only a few years older than them, I feel like I am their mother guiding them along step by step; reassuring them that all will be taken care of and that they will have a fantastic time in Italy.
With a little over 3 weeks until they depart we are just now submitting their visa applications to the Italian Consulate. This is because of a few hold ups regarding health insurance and the usual office politics. Nonetheless, we were able to get everything in order this week and will be delivering the applications tomorrow morning; however yesterday I was informed of some devastating news. It seems that the Italian Consulate already had a list of the names of everyone who would be attending the festival. Upon checking into those names it was found that 2 of the students were affiliated with Hamas. Immediately upon hearing this, the Italians decided that these 2 students would not be attending the festival and contacted the President of the university to inform him that we had to revoke the applications of these 2 particular students. I was gutted when I heard.
Do the Italians realize that these students have been working their asses of for 6 months in order to attend the festival?
Do the Italians realize that these students paid to receive passports just so they could travel to Italy for the festival?
Do the Italians realize that in terms of skills and experience these students far exceed the others?
Do the Italians realize that the whole point of the festival is to enhance opportunities for intercultural dialogue and break down stereotypes and that by discriminating against someone based on their political viewpoint they are defeating the very purpose they set out to accomplish?
I by no means support the actions of Hamas; however I do believe that it is unfair that someone be judged according to their political standpoint. I feel horrible for the students. They have worked so hard and are looking forward so much to going to Italy. When I have to tell them that they can't go - but can't tell them why - they will be hurt terribly. In Palestine, opportunities such as this one do not come around very often. When will ignorant governments wake up to see that and stop jumping to conclusions when they see what they have deemed the dreaded word 'Hamas.'
No comments:
Post a Comment