5th edition of the Artivist Sailing. Theatre of the Oppressed (II): Building Peace from Conflict

Friday 11 March, 6.00–9.00 pm
(ASTRA Social Factory for Culture)
CreActive Dialogue Circle with representatives of the Israeli-Palestinian binational movement Combatants for Peace (CFP). Members of CFP will show us how they use the Theatre of the Oppressed in Palestine to confront the Israeli army’s occupation: their joint actions of non-violent resistance; the training of new artivists; and the task of deepening reconciliation and conflict resolution, both within CFP and between Israel and Palestine.

Saturday 12 March, 10:00–14:00 and 16:00–20:00
(Elai Alai Hall Stage)
Workshop on the Theatre of the Oppressed, co-facilitated by members of Combatants For Peace. A day of creative work, open to everyone, where we will all learn together how to use the Theatre of the Oppressed as a tool for non-violent resistance.

Combatants for Peace (CFP, Combatientes por la Paz)
A binational movement formed in 2005 by former Palestinian militiamen and former Israeli soldiers who, having played an active role in the cycle of violence, decided to lay down their arms and work together to promote a peaceful solution through dialogue and nonviolent action. CFP carries out joint nonviolent resistance actions on the ground using the Theatre of the Oppressed (TO). Today, CFP has a group of 30 Palestinian and Israeli members trained in TO. Through TO actions, teams of facilitators from both nations engage men and women of all generations and foster a framework of trust and mutual support, helping to humanise the “other”, the “enemy”. As CFP members report, even the security forces, inevitably present during the actions, seem to enjoy watching Israeli and Palestinian civilians engaging together in peaceful cultural action: ‘Theatre of the Oppressed can address issues of the utmost gravity; however, one of its greatest virtues is the use of humour and physical action, which can bring people together across linguistic, cultural and political barriers.’

Ayman Alhelou (Jericó) is a member of the Theatre of the Oppressed in CFP and a businessman from Jericho. He joined CFP because the no to the violence is the only solution to the occupation that departs from a correlation of unequal forces. For Ayman, from just being open to the diversity of opinions we can progress to the end of the oppression. Theatre, in particular, has helped Ayman to understand the conflict going on with occupation and the occupant since he has learned to develop such conflict as en entity. His participation at the Artistic Union of Jericho has favored the evolution of an artistic vision and the expression of a necessity of equality and acceptation of the other no matter the religion or nationality.

Taqwa Attallah (Nablus) is a participant of Theatre of the Oppressed. “Thanks to TO I was able to express my message in a nonviolent way, meaning that because of the occupation it is very difficult for a Palestinian person to express. Theatre is a universal language that can be decoded by everyone and that allows me to share with the world my voice and my message.” Taqwa decided to sign up at CFP after a lot of thinking and came to the conclusion that there is no other way out to the Israeli occupation and to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than the nonviolent and pacific way. Moreover, the interpretation and the stage have become her way to battle and go beyond oppression.

Maayan Rahamim (Tel Aviv) is an Israeli coordinator from Theatre at CFP. He is a combat ex-soldier and ex-commander of an elite unit from an Israeli army. He was destined to the occupied territories of West Bank and he was exposed to the rough and complex reality of such places. After completing his military service, he studied Theatre at the Arts Academy of Tel Aviv and nowadays he is an actor at the Israeli Theatre. When he learned about CFP, he decided to join the movement and contribute his knowledge regarding theatre. Now, under the leadership of Chen Alon, Maayan coordinates with another Palestinian representative the Theatre group CFP.

Colaborators: Astra and the Cultur House of Gernika-Lumo.