7:18PM
Palestinian lit festival targeted again
By 
Ursula Lindsey | Poetry
Ursula Lindsey | Poetry
The Literary Saloon reports on the SECOND time the Israelis have shut down events at the beleaguered Palestinian Literature Festival (you can read about the first one here), and makes the obvious point:
From here -- admittedly very, very far away -- PalFest looks like an admirable attempt to promote culture and dialogue -- activity that is, in a way, of course political, but surely not in the (negative) way implied in the crack-down excuse --, and from here the actions by the Israeli government look pretty outrageous. Maybe they have good reasons for the police interference; what astonishes me is that they don't even seem to have to worry about explaining themselves, or any bad PR. Other than what are probably considered outlets that are on the fringe or to be in the other camp anyway no one seems to much care what they've done, or why.
Reader Comments (3)
I witnessed the event. The British consul general was very brave. He hosted the reading and the short concert in the British Council's small garden, 200 m far from the Palestinian National Theatre, in East Jerusalem. The consul general said that "this is the line of my government". Ahdaf Soueif: this event shows that we are on the right path, the power of culture against the culture of power.
A bit sad, of course, but the Palfest became, after its second edition, a Palestinian-Jerusalemite event. We are waiting for the third edition...
Thank you Paola for sharing your first-hand experience.
u.
[...] towards the cultural initiatives of its Arab citizens or occupied Palestinian subjects (see the harassment of the Palestine Literature Festival for example). Plenty of Israeli officials have made sweeping, [...]