Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 2000, pages 55-57

Northern California Chronicle

Dheisheh Dancers Perform in San Francisco

By Elaine Pasquini

"My hopes are simple, to live without checkpoints and soldiers, to have a room to myself, to play in a playground, to have water every day, so that I can take a bath and go swimming," declared one of the young Palestinian dancers of IBDA' dance troupe from Dheisheh Refugee Camp during their first U.S. tour. The group's performance at McKenna Theater, San Francisco State University, Oct. 8, 1999, was one of 10 performances in Northern California Oct. 3 through 13.

The group also appeared in New York, Washington, DC, Detroit and Chicago during their 24-day tour. IBDA', Arabic for "creating something out of nothing," was formed five years ago by co-directors Ziad Abbas and Khaled Al Seife as an opportunity for the children to express themselves creatively and to bring world-wide attention to the plight of Palestinian refugees. The 20 dancers, ages 11 to 14, are second-generation residents of Dheisheh, one of three refugee camps in the Bethlehem district, with a population of 11,000 inhabitants, more than half of whom are children.

In San Francisco the dancers performed three pieces of original choreography expressing different aspects of their history and current lives. The first number, "Political Prisoner," expresses the hardships and humiliation Palestinians face on a daily basis in their homeland.

In the second number, "The Well," exuberant dancers in brightly colored costumes are interrupted by black ghost-like figures representing Israeli occupation. This is a dance symbolic of the determination of each Palestinian, particularly farmers, to hold on to his land through centuries of occupation dating back to the Ottoman Empire.

The last piece, "The Tent," illustrates the life of a Palestinian refugee since the time of al Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948, when more than 750,000 Palestinian Arabs were driven from their homes. Dheisheh Refugee Camp was founded at this time, when residents of 35 nearby villages fled the onslaught of the Israeli army.

In conclusion, the audience stood as the performers sang the Palestinian National Anthem and waved the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag. Each child then made a brief statement, moving many in the audience to tears. "My color: black, white, yellow. People have all different colors of skin, but red is the color of blood, which flows through the heart of all people, no matter where they come from," eloquently stated Haytham Shaheen, one of the oldest male dancers.

The group's last performance in San Francisco was on the Island of Alcatraz where they danced with the Aztec Traditional Dancers in celebration of International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Despite their busy schedule, the youngsters were able to enjoy a few tourist activities in the Bay Area, including a trip to Great America, rides on San Francisco's famous cable cars, shopping for souvenirs at Fisherman's Wharf, and swimming and a barbecue at a private home in the Richmond Marina.

They also performed at Los Cerros Middle School, located in Danville, California, a wealthy Bay Area suburban enclave with a large Jewish community. When the group performed at the Jewish organization Berkeley Hillel, many audience members expressed interest in developing similar opportunities for cultural exchange and dialogue in order to work toward a peaceful solution to the problems of Palestinian refugees. Performing for a large Jewish audience was a moving and unusual experience for the young dancers.

The tour was sponsored by many organizations and individuals including The Middle East Children's Alliance, the Berkeley-based human rights organization founded by Barbara Lubin in 1988; San Francisco Arab Cultural Center; Global Exchange; Grassroots International; Jerusalem Fund; International Action Center, and the Jewish Voice for Peace.

5th Annual Arab Cultural Festival in Golden Gate Park

The Arab Cultural Center of San Francisco held its 5th Annual Arab Cultural Festival Oct. 24 at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. An enthusiastic crowd of 3,000 visitors, including Honorary Consul of Jordan and Mrs. Kamel Ayoub, attended the all-day event. The guests enjoyed authentic Middle Eastern cuisine, entertainment, and an extensive bazaar offering jewelry, books, clothing, music tapes and artwork for sale, together with information from various local organizations.

One special activity, provided by the Jordanian American Association, was the opportunity for children and adults alike to pose for souvenir photos in an authentic Bedouin tent wearing traditional Middle Eastern clothing. Many children enjoyed having beautiful designs painted on their hands and arms by henna-painting experts, and the Argileh Cafe was a particularly popular spot on the terrace. Lorna Zilba and her company, LifeDance Theater, performed classical and tribal dances of the Middle East. Sa'id Music & Dance Company of Los Angeles and the Farah Band also performed. Local beauties of the Arab community modeled fashions of authentic Arabian national designs from a museum-quality private collection.

New to the festival this year was a pre-festival haflah on Saturday evening, Oct. 23. More than 200 people enjoyed dancing to the music of Algerian singer Cheba Naima Ababsa and her Rai Band. The group is currently on a concert tour of the United States.

San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. spoke briefly at the festival, proclaiming Oct. 24, 1999 "Official Arab Cultural Center Day." The Arab Cultural Center enjoys the support of the San Francisco Mayor's Office and the Board of Supervisors.

This year the City of San Francisco awarded the ACC a service network grant for the purpose of creating an agency which will provide social services to members of the local Arab community in need of assistance. The agency will conduct a demographic needs assessment survey and census to identify and document the social, economic, health and educational needs of the Arab community. One goal of the agency is to develop partnerships with other organizations in providing necessary services.

For the past 27 years, the Arab Cultural Center of San Francisco has provided educational and cultural services to the Arab community. The Center, located in a modest house at 2 Plaza Avenue, is hoping, with the assistance of the local government, to move to more spacious headquarters in the near future. The members are working to raise $100,000 toward this endeavor. At the present time, the ACC shares its space with the Jordanian-American Association, U.S. OMEN, and the Arab Film Festival. Children's classes in Arabic are held on Saturdays and the center has frequent programs with diverse speakers and artists from around the world.

Edward W. Said Speaks to Enthusiastic Berkeley Audience

Edward W. Said, acclaimed Palestinian-American scholar, author, and professor of comparative literature at Columbia University, appeared at King Middle School in Berkeley, California on Nov 4. Speaking before a standing-room-only audience, Said discussed and read portions from his new book, Out of Place, a Memoir, published in October 1999 by Knopf. As Berkeley is one of the most politically active communities in the country, many audience members were surprised that Said spoke mostly about the "peculiarities" of his childhood, rather than the Israeli-Palestinian problem and final status negotiations.

Said explained he had two reasons for writing the book. The first reason was his battle with a rare form of leukemia in 1993 when chemotherapy treatment prevented him from traveling or pursuing his other interests during that time. The second reason was to memorialize the irrecoverable "lost worlds," as he referred to the three countries where he spent his childhood, all of which have profoundly changed since his early years. At the time of his birth in Jerusalem on Nov. 1, 1935, Palestine was governed by Great Britain under a U.N. mandate. His neighborhood in West Jerusalem, Talbiyeh, was a predominantly Christian Arab enclave, while today it is an exclusively Jewish neighborhood.

Egypt, where he attended the Gezira Preparatory School in Cairo, was ruled by King Farouk until the officers' revolution of July 1952, which ousted King Farouk and the British and which brought Col. Gamal Abd al-Nasser to power after the brief presidency of Gen. Mohammed Naguib. Said's family spent their summers in Dhour al-Shweir, a mountain village in pre-civil war Lebanon, where they lived austerely, without a car, telephone, radio, or many other amenities they enjoyed in Cairo. To the amusement of the audience, he said the summers spent in Lebanon created his "lifelong hatred of nature."

Said began writing this memoir of his early years without the assistance of diaries or journals, as he never kept any. Instead he had a "daily rendezvous" with his memories. He titled his memoir Out of Place because it evoked his feelings as a child growing up as a wealthy Palestinian Christian amongst the Arab Muslims of Cairo.

As his father had taken American citizenship in the early 1900s when he lived in the U.S. and fought in World War I, Said and his four sisters were American citizens, further making them "foreigners" in the Middle East. He was, also, a minority within a minority in the Christian church, as his mother was a Baptist and his father Episcopalian in contrast to the predominately Coptic Christians in Egypt. Said acknowledged, however, that he now prefers "being not quite right and out of place."

In one of his few statements about the Palestinian-Israeli situation, he only complained, without elaborating: "We [Palestinians] have bad leadership." He disagreed with one young audience member who believed Arab voices were not being raised sufficiently in defense of the Palestinians' situation. Recalling a speech he made 20 years ago, at which event a group of Jews demonstrated, stating "There is no Palestine," Said pointed out that "[today] everybody knows there is a Palestine."

At the end of the extraordinary evening, one woman told Said: "You have the kindest mind the human race has produced." Judging by the tumultuous standing ovation Said received, the audience felt the same sentiment. The event was hosted by the Middle East Children's Alliance, KPFA Radio, The Express, and Cody's Books.

Jordanian American Association 15th Anniversary Banquet

The Jordanian American Association celebrated its 15th anniversary with a banquet attended by 200 members and guests at the Marriott Hotel in Burlingame, California on Nov. 7. Among the special guests attending were Honorary Consul of Jordan and Mrs. Kamel Ayoub, together with several members of the Arab Cultural Center and the Lebanese-American Association. JAA President Dr. Nabeel Madanat and master of ceremonies Nashat Raie began the program with the presentation of awards to JAA members Maher Fakhouri, Joseph Hijazeen, Rasmi Zeidan, and Majdi Alamat for their special service to the organization.

The JAA was founded in 1985 as a philanthropic and cultural organization and to serve the 500 families of Jordanian descent living in the Bay Area. The organization has raised money to help feed San Francisco's homeless population and for humanitarian organizations in Jordan. Photographer Phil Pasquini followed the introduction and awards presentation with a showing of slides of Petra, Jerash, Amman, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba taken on his trips to Jordan. Highlights were Pasquini's colorful underwater photos of coral reefs and exotic fish, taken in the Gulf of Aqaba. The waters off the coast of Jordan are pristine, making this area one of the leading scuba diving sites in the world. Musical entertainment was provided by the San Diego-based trio Issam Arab, with special guest artists Syrian violinist Fathi Jarrah and Egyptian drummer Rida Darwish. Many guests enjoyed dancing, especially the traditional debke.

Palestinian-Israeli Issues Discussed at City College of San Francisco

The Muslim Students Association and Latin American Studies and Social Sciences Department sponsored a campus-wide event at City College of San Francisco on Nov. 12. Donald J. Ortez, chairman of the Latin American Studies Department, opened the program by describing the changes which occurred in the Middle East subsequent to World War I. He recounted the British and French roles in drawing borders delineating Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. He also discussed the emergence of Zionism in the 19th century and the Balfour Declaration

Inter-Club Council president Basim Elkarra, a 20-year-old Palestinian American from Gaza, then spoke about his experiences in the Middle East in the summer of 1999. He described the difficulties he experienced, even as an American citizen, traveling in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, where he was searched and interrogated by Israeli security agents upon arrival, departure, and at the various checkpoints throughout the area. He was disturbed by the deterioration in the standard of living in Gaza since his previous visit seven years ago and elaborated on the deplorable conditions which have not improved under Palestinian control.

Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a population of more than 1.2 million people in an area only 28 miles long and 5 miles wide. "The economy is very bad, unemployment is high, and educational opportunities are limited," Elkarra said. Elkarra answered many questions from the students, including questions on the final status negotiations, which he indicated will be difficult to complete with any measure of satisfaction on the part of the average Palestinian.

On a different subject, Elkarra expressed concern about the current situation of Muslims in Chechnya and the lack of assistance they are receiving from the world community. According to the U.N. more than 200,000 residents of Chechnya have fled to the neighboring republics of Ingushetia and Georgia to escape the Russian bombardment which began in September 1999. The refugees are living in tents in sub-freezing weather with insufficient food and medical supplies. Unfortunately few major news agencies in the U.S. even report the horrendous conditions Chechens are experiencing and even fewer countries have provided aid, Elkarra said.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in Ignacio, California.