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Palestine Monologues: Wellington Supports Gaza Journalism
Multimedia: Palestine Monologues Raise Funds For Independent Gaza Journalism
By Alastair Reith
Video by Alastair Thompson
On Sunday night about 50 people braved chilly Wellington weather to attend a fundraising event for Gaza Scoop.
The presentation was called Hungry for Freedom: The Palestine Monologues, and featured six people reading out original pieces of writing from residents of Gaza and the West Bank.
Juliet Thomborson read The Nakba Never Ceased, by Gazan student Rana Baker. A testament to the power of memory, it tells the story of an old man who survived his family's expulsion from their homes in 1948, and ends with a message of defiant hope.
Fredd Marshall read The First Day Is The Hardest, by former prisoner Loai Odeh. A harrowing account of life inside Israel's jails, it describes his experience of the 2011 mass hunger strike that culminated in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas.
Vera Williams read An
Israeli Soldier Cares For My Safety, by university
graduate Linah Alsaafin. It describes the author confronting
IDF soldiers as they march onto Palestinian land, and traces
her emotional journey from anger to pity.
Kevin Hodder read Our Day Will Come by Yousef Aljamal, a Gaza-based translator. His words focus on the story of his mother, deported backwards and forwards between the West Bank and Gaza yet still holding firmly to her sense of humour.
Katrina Bayliss read The Young Will Never Forget by Merna Alazzeh, a human rights activist living in London. An impassioned refutation of David Ben Gurion's predictions to the contrary, Ms Bayliss's account carried particular poignance as her own family are Palestinian refugees.
Dougal McNeill provided the final reading, My Beloved Lamar by 77-day hunger striker Thaer Halahleh. A heart breaking letter to his two year old daughter, he begs forgiveness and understanding as his strike takes him near to death. An agreement has since been struck for his release.
Following the readings people mingled and shared food, and by the end of the night $600 was raised.
Video Of The Palestinian Monologues
Juliet Thomborson read The Nakba Never Ceased, by Gazan student Rana Bake
Fredd Marshall read The First Day Is The Hardest, by former prisoner Loai Ode
Vera Williams read An Israeli Soldier Cares For My Safety, by university graduate Linah Alsaafi
Katrina Bayliss read The Young Will Never Forget by Merna Alazzeh
Kevin Hodder read Our Day Will Come by Yousef Aljamal, a Gaza-based translator
Dougal McNeill provided the final reading, My Beloved Lamar by 77-day hunger striker Thaer Halahleh
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