Palestine, Israel and Me: a Power Play -- the project that continues teach me new lessons
In June 21st, the Vancouver Sun published an article titled "Let The Hatefest Begin" written by Harvey Enchin. The article is critical of the World peace forum in general describing it as "a platform for the most virulent anti-Israel speakers and organizers the loony socialist left has to offer". The article proceeds to describe Palestine, Israel and Me: a power play by saying "There's even a cultural event called Palestine, Israel and Me: A Power Play, a piece of improvisational theatre in which the audience is invited to publicly vent its hatred against Israel and Jews. ". As some of you already know ihath is one of the performers in this play. Several people have written letters to the editor in respose to the article that were shared with me. I found some of these letter so moving that I decided to share them here with you. Each letter is published here after getting the consent of the writer.
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I wonder if Enchin has in fact done any research into the play Palestine, Israel and Me, or spoken with anyone who attended the first showing, including Israelis or Jews in attendance? I was in the audience at the first run of the play and found nary an "anti-Israel" moment. Indeed, the play's rather reserved goal of attempting to humanize all those involved, and find the personal stories in the midst of the violence, was well met by the community-members-turned-actors who took personal emotional risks to create public dialogue and who deserve our respect. If the Sun editor argues that any and all attempts at hopeful discussion between Jews and Palestinians is inherently "anti-Israeli" than I suggest his writing is propaganda, not journalism. I challenge Enchin to envision a way to genuine peace and justice that does not involve talking with each other.
Sincerely,
Naava Smolash
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So Mr. Harvey Enchin thinks that he knows something that thousands of national and international delegates from the scientific, artistic, academic, political, religious and grassroots communities participating in the World Peace Forum don't.
It is precisely because of people like Harvey Enchin that, more than ever, we need to have World Peace Forums to talk about issues of Peace and justice.With all his rant, Mr. Enchin has not advanced an iota the cause of peace and justice in the world.He could certainly learn from some outstanding delegates he so ignorantly dismisses.
Yom Shamash
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I first thought, what a shame, when I saw Harvey Enchin?s attack on the World Peace Forum, complete with name-calling, wild accusations, and dire predictions. But rather than responding knee-jerk, or giving an analysis of the disinformation, faulty logic and fallacies large enough to march a Peace Walk through, I choose the principles of peace: Peace begins with each of us, right here, right now. Beneath the rhetoric and hysteria of Mr Enchin's article, what I hear is simply fear. His main concern seems to be that the entire Forum--with its 60 page program of events covering issues of concern to North and South, East and West--is an elaborate ruse to hide an anti-Israel agenda. Instead, I invite Mr. Enchin to attend the World Peace Forum, to contribute, to get involved in making positive change. Anyone who has taken 5 minutes to browse the program of the Forum will see hundreds of events, speakers, artists, and musicians from around the world with their various attempts to contribute to genuine world peace. If anyone has only one agenda, it is clearly Harvey Enchin.
Laura Barker
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I myself decided to write a letter directly to Mr. Enchin, adressing the fact that I suspect he didn't view the play.
Dear Harvey,
"I play the naked Palestinian" is what I tell all my curios friends and acquaintances when they ask me, "So who do you play?". They want to know about the play without attending the play. I devised my catchy answer only after I got tired of saying "You have to come see the play for yourself, I won't tell you anything about it ahead of time"I thought you might be interested in knowing the times and locations of theplay "Palestine Israel and Me: a power play"
June 24, 7:30pm
Earth: World Urban Festival - Tent
2555 Great Northen Way
June 27, 7:00pm
World Peace Forum
Unitarian Church of Vancouver
949 West 49th Ave at Oak
I hope you manage to attend one of the showings. While my clothes stay on for the whole duration of the play, I did feel exposed each time I have performed it in the past. The audience brought such surprises onto the stage, there were moments of connection and understanding.
ihath
--------
I’m sorry that Harvey Enchin has said such silly and misinformed things in his June 21 article about the World Peace Forum, “Let the hatefest begin.”
I am particularly saddened by his condemnation of Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a brave Israeli woman who is a member of the Families Forum, a group of Israeli and Palestinian parents who have lost children in the conflict and come together to grieve and dialogue.
I am also puzzled by his derogatory comments on the play, “Palestine, Israel and Me” which was workshopped by 16 Vancouver residents, Palestinians, Jews and others, including myself. If he thinks the contributions of either the performers or the audience were antisemitic or vented hatred of Israel, he clearly wasn’t there.
I would suggest Mr Enchin attend some of the workshops held by the United to End Racism delegation to the World Peace Forum. This international delegation which includes Israelis, is holding workshops on Healing from War, Healing the Damage caused by Racism, and Building Alliances Across National Lines.
Finally I invite him to view all the art for peace, including my project, the Middle East Peace Quilt, which addresses the question “What’s Your Vision of Peace in the Middle East?”
Elizabeth Shefrin
----
I'm writing to thank Harvey Enchin for his attack on our play, "Palestine, Israel and Me: A Power Play" (in his broader attack on the World Peace Forum "Let the hatefest begin", June 21).
Mr. Enchin's article serves as a prime example of the kind of hatred and fear-mongering, fueled by ignorance and prejudice, that makes a play like ours important. Mr. Enchin calls our play "a piece of improvisational theatre in which the audience is invited to publicly vent its hatred against Israel and Jews." As anyone who saw our earlier performances can tell, this is simply false. The play, created by a group of local Jewish, Palestinian and other performers, is about how the conflict in Palestine and Israel affects people living here in Canada. The audience is invited to explore the struggles of the characters in the play and find ways to create safety for those characters.
I invite Mr. Enchin, and his readers, to come and evaluate the play for themselves: June 24th at 7:30 pm at the World Urban Festival, 555 Great Northern Way; June 27th at 7:00 pm at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, 49th & Oak.
Stephen Aberle.
-------
The vituperative article by Harvey Enchin, which slags good people with integrity like Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Nuri Peled (Let the hatefest begin, June 21), is a good example of the depths to which the Vancouver Sun has fallen. Rather than reporting on these fine people who are speaking out on human rights for all in Israel and Palestine, and explaining what is happening in the Middle East to us, the Vancouver Sun prefers to ignore their existence until forced to acknowledge it. At that point rather than interviewing the speakers and telling readers about their views, the Vancouver Sun decides to engage in name-calling, in the time-honoured tradition of what to do when you can’t find a good argument to make your point.
As well, Mr. Enchin can’t seem to resist engaging in disgusting racism, attacking Palestinian mothers who, he says, wish their children dead. Does the Sun have a policy about racism by its writers? Perhaps Mr. Enchin should attend the play he slams, Palestine, Israel and Me, and get a lesson from honest people who are actually trying to engage in a discussion of how the Palestine-Israel conflict affects us all, so we can possibly move towards peace.
Morgan McGuigan
Vancouver (participant in the play)
-------------
---
I wonder if Enchin has in fact done any research into the play Palestine, Israel and Me, or spoken with anyone who attended the first showing, including Israelis or Jews in attendance? I was in the audience at the first run of the play and found nary an "anti-Israel" moment. Indeed, the play's rather reserved goal of attempting to humanize all those involved, and find the personal stories in the midst of the violence, was well met by the community-members-turned-actors who took personal emotional risks to create public dialogue and who deserve our respect. If the Sun editor argues that any and all attempts at hopeful discussion between Jews and Palestinians is inherently "anti-Israeli" than I suggest his writing is propaganda, not journalism. I challenge Enchin to envision a way to genuine peace and justice that does not involve talking with each other.
Sincerely,
Naava Smolash
----
So Mr. Harvey Enchin thinks that he knows something that thousands of national and international delegates from the scientific, artistic, academic, political, religious and grassroots communities participating in the World Peace Forum don't.
It is precisely because of people like Harvey Enchin that, more than ever, we need to have World Peace Forums to talk about issues of Peace and justice.With all his rant, Mr. Enchin has not advanced an iota the cause of peace and justice in the world.He could certainly learn from some outstanding delegates he so ignorantly dismisses.
Yom Shamash
-------
I first thought, what a shame, when I saw Harvey Enchin?s attack on the World Peace Forum, complete with name-calling, wild accusations, and dire predictions. But rather than responding knee-jerk, or giving an analysis of the disinformation, faulty logic and fallacies large enough to march a Peace Walk through, I choose the principles of peace: Peace begins with each of us, right here, right now. Beneath the rhetoric and hysteria of Mr Enchin's article, what I hear is simply fear. His main concern seems to be that the entire Forum--with its 60 page program of events covering issues of concern to North and South, East and West--is an elaborate ruse to hide an anti-Israel agenda. Instead, I invite Mr. Enchin to attend the World Peace Forum, to contribute, to get involved in making positive change. Anyone who has taken 5 minutes to browse the program of the Forum will see hundreds of events, speakers, artists, and musicians from around the world with their various attempts to contribute to genuine world peace. If anyone has only one agenda, it is clearly Harvey Enchin.
Laura Barker
----
I myself decided to write a letter directly to Mr. Enchin, adressing the fact that I suspect he didn't view the play.
Dear Harvey,
"I play the naked Palestinian" is what I tell all my curios friends and acquaintances when they ask me, "So who do you play?". They want to know about the play without attending the play. I devised my catchy answer only after I got tired of saying "You have to come see the play for yourself, I won't tell you anything about it ahead of time"I thought you might be interested in knowing the times and locations of theplay "Palestine Israel and Me: a power play"
June 24, 7:30pm
Earth: World Urban Festival - Tent
2555 Great Northen Way
June 27, 7:00pm
World Peace Forum
Unitarian Church of Vancouver
949 West 49th Ave at Oak
I hope you manage to attend one of the showings. While my clothes stay on for the whole duration of the play, I did feel exposed each time I have performed it in the past. The audience brought such surprises onto the stage, there were moments of connection and understanding.
ihath
--------
I’m sorry that Harvey Enchin has said such silly and misinformed things in his June 21 article about the World Peace Forum, “Let the hatefest begin.”
I am particularly saddened by his condemnation of Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a brave Israeli woman who is a member of the Families Forum, a group of Israeli and Palestinian parents who have lost children in the conflict and come together to grieve and dialogue.
I am also puzzled by his derogatory comments on the play, “Palestine, Israel and Me” which was workshopped by 16 Vancouver residents, Palestinians, Jews and others, including myself. If he thinks the contributions of either the performers or the audience were antisemitic or vented hatred of Israel, he clearly wasn’t there.
I would suggest Mr Enchin attend some of the workshops held by the United to End Racism delegation to the World Peace Forum. This international delegation which includes Israelis, is holding workshops on Healing from War, Healing the Damage caused by Racism, and Building Alliances Across National Lines.
Finally I invite him to view all the art for peace, including my project, the Middle East Peace Quilt, which addresses the question “What’s Your Vision of Peace in the Middle East?”
Elizabeth Shefrin
----
I'm writing to thank Harvey Enchin for his attack on our play, "Palestine, Israel and Me: A Power Play" (in his broader attack on the World Peace Forum "Let the hatefest begin", June 21).
Mr. Enchin's article serves as a prime example of the kind of hatred and fear-mongering, fueled by ignorance and prejudice, that makes a play like ours important. Mr. Enchin calls our play "a piece of improvisational theatre in which the audience is invited to publicly vent its hatred against Israel and Jews." As anyone who saw our earlier performances can tell, this is simply false. The play, created by a group of local Jewish, Palestinian and other performers, is about how the conflict in Palestine and Israel affects people living here in Canada. The audience is invited to explore the struggles of the characters in the play and find ways to create safety for those characters.
I invite Mr. Enchin, and his readers, to come and evaluate the play for themselves: June 24th at 7:30 pm at the World Urban Festival, 555 Great Northern Way; June 27th at 7:00 pm at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, 49th & Oak.
Stephen Aberle.
-------
The vituperative article by Harvey Enchin, which slags good people with integrity like Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Nuri Peled (Let the hatefest begin, June 21), is a good example of the depths to which the Vancouver Sun has fallen. Rather than reporting on these fine people who are speaking out on human rights for all in Israel and Palestine, and explaining what is happening in the Middle East to us, the Vancouver Sun prefers to ignore their existence until forced to acknowledge it. At that point rather than interviewing the speakers and telling readers about their views, the Vancouver Sun decides to engage in name-calling, in the time-honoured tradition of what to do when you can’t find a good argument to make your point.
As well, Mr. Enchin can’t seem to resist engaging in disgusting racism, attacking Palestinian mothers who, he says, wish their children dead. Does the Sun have a policy about racism by its writers? Perhaps Mr. Enchin should attend the play he slams, Palestine, Israel and Me, and get a lesson from honest people who are actually trying to engage in a discussion of how the Palestine-Israel conflict affects us all, so we can possibly move towards peace.
Morgan McGuigan
Vancouver (participant in the play)
-------------
There is a way between voice and presence where information flows.
In disciplined silence it opens.
With wandering talk it closes. .... Rumi
8:51 AMSo, it isn't a hatefest, then?
forced into the conditions worse than Auschwitz and suffered ethnic genocide by their oppressors.
Just wondering, because I saw this little bit on:
http://umkahlil.blogspot.com/
I found it to be pretty appalling, that somebody could dish such blatant misinformation and actually expect anybody outside of the Arab world to believe it. That's pretty hateful, inmy opinion. Is that the kind of stuff that was going on at the "peace" conference?
8:56 AM
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
11:41 AM
PC: The Ihath I have come to know and to respect would not participate in a "hate fest." Well, not for more than a minute or two, but certainly not for an entire play. :)
4:18 AM
PC, i know exactly where you are coming from. It is strange to go to a "peace rally" and hear nothing but hatred for jews. i dont get who care up with the thought that peace = hate for israel. I guess the psychos and hippies are doing plays now too.
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