THE INTERFAITH COMMUNITY FOR PALESTINIAN RIGHTS
The Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights-Austin and Students of St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas Present Rachel’s Words
On
March 30, the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights (ICPR) in Austin, Texas, approached St. Edward’s University Drama Department
to ask if their students would be interested in performing Rachel’s Words as part of a Palestinian film festival. The Artistic
Director of the Mary Moody Northen Theatre and member of the drama faculty, made inquiries, and senior Dana Dixon was selected to
direct four other students as readers. The practices were challenging for the students, who had little previous knowledge of
the embattled Palestine or of Rachel Corrie.
Their performance followed a clip from the film “The Killing Zone” ending
with Rachel Corrie’s death. The director did an excellent job of staging the performance. The readers, dressed in black shirts
and jeans and wearing a green Rachel Corrie bracelet, moved toward and away from one another as they alternately read, creating a
shared identity among them as Rachel. For the email from the IDF refuser, they stood soldier-like at attention. At the end of Rachel’s last email to her father, they came together, clasped hands as they quietly said in unison, “Rachel.” An audience
of about 50 were quite touched, many with tears in their eyes.
After the performance there was a Q&A session and members
distributed Rachel Corrie bracelets provided by Rachel’s Words.org, and a beautiful "Rachel, we won't forget you" card published byIf Americans Knew.
The performers were, from left to right: Erin Marie Opperman, junior, from LeGrange, Texas; Lena Assaf, sophomore
Mineola, Texas; Dana Dixon, director, a senior from Burkburnett, Texas, who previously trained at the American Musical and Dramatic
Academy in New York; Maria Maella, junior from Bolivia; Tamekia Jackson, a junior from Houston.
By Karen Hartwell
FILM FESTIVAL
THE IRON WALL
A recently-produced documentary with stunning photography on the Security Wall or Barrier
being built in the West Bank and Jerusalem and its effect on lives of the Palestinians. The International Court of Justice has declared
the wall built on Palestinian lands as illegal under international law.
"The best description of the barrier, its routing and impact"
- President Jimmy Carter in his new book, Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, pg. 195
( Producer- Mohammed Alatar )
SUCH
A NORMAL THING
A provocative documentary which captures the uncertainty of a”normal” day for farmers, children, doctors, and other
Palestinians living in, and six visitors traveling through, the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
( Producer – Rebecca Glotfelty )
BEYOND THE MIRAGE – THE FACE OF THE OCCUPATION
David Neunuebel grew up in the average American home where the Middle East
and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict
were never a part of his world. Yet, after his first visit to the area, he knew something was
terribly wrong. What he saw, after many more trips, went counter to every American instinct he’d been taught growing up.
This documentary is an attempt to get “ beyond the mirage”.
( Producer – David Neuneubel )
Excerpts from “THE KILLING ZONE” on
RACHEL CORRIE
A segment from a documentary on recent deaths of foreigners in the Gaza Strip at the hands of Israeli forces. The death
of one young American volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement, Rachel Corrie, is pictured. While eyewitnesses say that
the killing was deliberate, Israeli spokespersons say it was an accident to be blamed on Rachel’s irresponsibility.
( Producer – Rodrigo
Vasquez )
READINGS FROM RACHEL’S LETTERS .
“PRIVATE”
An Italian film based on a true story. An Israeli
Defense Force (IDF) unit takes over a Palestinian house in an attempt to
control disputed border country. The house is the home of a Palestinian middle class school teacher, his wife, and five children who
refuse to leave. The family is then forced to live on the first floor while the Israeli soldiers take over the second story. The resulting
stress on both parties grows steadily and the human reactions of both young Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian family members lead
to unpredictable consequences.
( Directed by Saverio Costanzo )
Photo courtesy of Karen Hartwell