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The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is an annual literary festival, founded in 2008, that takes place in cities across West Bank, Palestine.
The festival was founded in 2008 with the stated mission of affirming "the power of culture over the culture of power" and breaking what it considers a cultural siege against the West Bank . The festival's founding chair is the novelist and political commentator Ahdaf Soueif. Mahmoud Darwish sent a message to the inaugural festival in which he wrote: “Thank you dear friends for your noble solidarity, thank you for your courageous gesture to break the moral siege inflicted upon us and thank you because you are resisting the invitation to dance on our graves. We are here. We are still alive.” [1]
In an effort to overcome restrictions on Palestinians' freedom of movement, the festival travels to its audiences putting on free events in Arabic and English in the cities it travels to. The festival traditionally performs in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Haifa and Nablus. Because travel to Gaza is so restricted, far fewer events take place there. In 2012 the festival happened exclusively in Gaza, as it was able to discriminately pressure access through Rafah, Egypt. Visiting author China Miéville said the festival is "not only the most powerful and important literary festival it's ever been my privilege to attend, it's one of the most powerful and important things I've experienced, full stop". [2]
Dozens of authors who attended the festival have gone on to write about their experiences in Palestine. In 2017, Bloomsbury Books published This Is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature [3] – a collection of works from 47 authors who had participated in the festival.
After ten editions, the organizers announced took a break in 2018 to assess the role of the festival in a rapidly changing world. [4] In 2019, the festival was re-launched with "a sharpened focus on how to foster new writing that clarifies and frames the connections between the recreation of Israel and the accelerating systems of control and dispossession around the world." [5] In 2020 and 2021, the festival was canceled again, this time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[ citation needed ]
In January 2024, in support of South Africa’s historic case at the International Court of Justice, the festival assembled a group of 31 international artists to read key passages from the dossier. The full cast includes Khalid Abdalla, Tunde Adebimpe, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Adam Bakri, Kathleen Chalfant, Steve Coogan, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Natalie Diaz, Stephen Dillane, Inua Ellams, Paapa Essiedu, Lena Headey, Aida El-Kashef, Simon McBurney, Maaza Mengiste, Tobias Menzies, Sepideh Moafi, Indya Moore, Peter Mullan, Cynthia Nixon, Maxine Peake, Kendrick Sampson, Dario Ladani Sanchez, Susan Sarandon, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Alia Shawkat, Wallace Shawn, Morgan Spector, Carice van Houten, Harriet Walter, and Zukiswa Wanner. [6] [7] [8]
Sir Philip Pullman said of the festival: "Every literary act, whether it is a great epic poem or an honest piece of journalism or a simple nonsense tale for children is a blow against the forces of stupidity and ignorance and darkness … The Palestine Festival of Literature exists to do just that – and I salute it for its work. Not only this year but for as long as it is necessary."[ citation needed ]
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia recognized by 146 out of 193 UN member states. It encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as the occupied Palestinian territories, within the broader geographic and historical Palestine region. Palestine shares most of its borders with Israel, and it borders Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a total land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, while Ramallah serves as its administrative center. Gaza City was its largest city prior to evacuations in 2023.
The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are smuggling tunnels that had been dug under the Philadelphi Route along the Egypt–Gaza border. They were dug to subvert the blockade of the Gaza Strip to smuggle in fuel, food, weapons and other goods into the Gaza Strip. After the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979, the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was split by this buffer zone. One part is located in the southern part of Gaza, and the smaller part of the town is in Egypt. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the Philadelphi Corridor was placed under the control of the Palestine Authority until 2007, when Hamas seized power in 2007, and Egypt and Israel closed borders with the Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as Palestine's national poet.
Ahdaf Soueif is an Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator.
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the State of Palestine:
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The Port of Gaza is a small port near the Rimal district of Gaza City, Gaza. It is the home port of Palestinian fishing-boats and the base of the Palestinian Naval Police, a branch of the Palestinian National Security Forces. Under the Oslo II Accord, the activities of the Palestinian Naval Police are restricted to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Since 2007, the Port of Gaza has been under an Israeli-imposed naval blockade as part of a blockade of the Gaza Strip, and activities at the port have been restricted to small-scale fishing.
Al-Quds Arab Capital of Culture was the name given to Arab Capital of Culture programme in 2009. The programme, organised by UNESCO and the Arab League, is designed to promote Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab world. The 2009 event was the 14th programme since its establishment in 1996.
2008 in the Palestinian territories was marked by significant events and conflicts that shaped the region's political and social landscape. The year saw continued violence, political upheaval, and humanitarian challenges.
Palestine–South Africa relations refer to the interstate relations between the Republic of South Africa and the State of Palestine.
Ali Hasan Abunimah is a Palestinian-American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict". A resident of Chicago who contributes regularly to publications such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, he has served as the vice-president on the board of directors of the Arab American Action Network, is a fellow at the Palestine Center, and is the executive director and a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada website. He has appeared on many television discussion programs on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and other networks, and in a number of documentaries about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948 (1999). In 2014, he published The Battle for Justice in Palestine, which won the Palestine Book Award General Prize.
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Events in the year 2020 in Palestine.
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