To the Roots: The story behind the theme
Bet Lahem Live 2017: changing the conversation
The year 2017 is a significant year for Palestinians. It marks multiple anniversaries which represent the momentous losses of an entire people. As a festival happening within the Palestinian community of Bethlehem, we could dwell solely on the realities of suffering and oppression.
However, this year’s festival will change the conversation.
Without denying the grief of an entire people, Bet Lahem Live aims to challenge the narrative. The festival will highlight the roots of resilience from which Palestinians have continued to blossom, instead of emphasizing roots of suffering, pain, and powerlessness.
Palestinians are more than their suffering. They are more than an “oppressed people.” They are of course human beings with pain — but also with dreams, laughter, art, family, and romance.
Bethlehem and its surrounding communities are full of vibrancy, love, and life.
“Seeds grow in dark places.” -C.S. Lewis
Despite every reason to harden their hearts into bitterness and despair, the people of this community have maintained hope and persisted in love.
Despite rejection and elimination from their own homes, the people of this community have persisted in hospitality and love for the stranger and friend alike.
This is a culture of resilience. This is a culture of generosity. This is a culture bursting into bloom.
The festival invites people from all over the world to join the local community, as we go back to the roots of the local community’s resilience and bravery in the face of oppression. Recognizing the determination and resilience of your own people gives courage. From these powerful roots, the community can receive nourishment to blossom into a better future.
“Bet Lahem Live is a place to cultivate the roots of the community’s past achievements, and [from there], to bloom social justice, innovation, acceptance, respect & love.” — Dani Abilas, Festival Communications Manager
Scars on the History of a People
What is the past pain from which we seek healing?
The following years in history indicate incidents of massive collective loss for Palestinians —
It has been exactly 100 years since the signing of the Balfour Declaration (1917) — the first official document stating a national home for the Jewish people would be made in the Holy Land. This short letter proved to be the inception of the road towards Palestinian removal from their native land.
It has been 70 years since the UN Partition of Palestine (1947), when the United Nations divided up Palestine on paper in order to establish the State of Israel.
The Palestinian ‘Catastrophe’, the Nakba occurred the following year in Arabic (1948). 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homeland and turned into refugees. Thousands upon thousands of families were “expelled from their land in a comprehensive ethnic cleansing operation, given the name ‘Plan D’ by Israelis.” Palestinians were forced to settle in crude refugee camps distant from their indigenous villages and cities.
Israel has held Palestinian territories under military control, since Al-Naksa, the Six Days War of 1967. For 50 years, the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights have suffered under military occupation. 2017 marks 30 years since 1st Intifada (1987) — a movement of Palestinian resistance, for peace and justice for their people.
It has been 10 years since the Israel blockade on Gaza which started in 2007. The Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories has included a complete seal of the Gaza border, turning the strip “into a vast ‘Human Cage’ on the eastern Mediterranean where 1.8 million human beings have been trapped,” pushing the economy into near total destitution. For many Palestinians, 2017 represents nothing but loss.
Keep Going, Keep Growing
However, the last thing that the local people need is continuous rumination on the past. While acknowledgement of past pain is crucial to healing, the festival will commemorate the anniversary of these painful years by highlighting the community’s past achievements towards a better future.
Bet Lahem Live 2017 will celebrate the light and color of an enduring community, instead of dwelling in darkness.
Bet Lahem Live 2017, To the Roots, recognizes all of the ways in which courageous, committed Palestinians in the community have taken responsibility to act for justice over these past years. There is much tragedy in our past, but there are also individual and community achievements for peace and justice that deserve celebration.
Join us in this international community of people who share broadly and deeply on faith, culture, non-violent resistance, political transformation, and the sanctity of life.
During Bet Lahem Live 2017, people from all over the world will come together, celebrate the past achievements of those in the local community, the roots — and inspire one another to keep going, and to keep growing.
In order for this festival to happen, we need your support.
Join us in the realization of our vision. Support by sharing your time and talents in the festival by coming to Bethlehem, or supporting from abroad through your financial contribution.
This festival is not possible without contribution from members of the local and international communities. Please donate here to make the festival possible!
