Palestinian storytelling festival brings old stories to life

Saturday October 18, 2008 17:51 by Alrowwwad Center

Press Release

A four-day festival of Palestinian folktales, which was held in Bethlehem and its surrounding villages and refugee camps, came to a close on Thursday evening at a ceremony attended by the Bethlehem Governorate, the French Consulate in Jerusalem and Palestinian Ministry of Culture (Bethlehem office).

Fatima Diab, one of the story tellers in the camp

The festival was the culmination of a nine-month project, funded by the European Union, which aims to highlight the richness of the Palestinian oral traditions, and to help foster a greater awareness among Palestinians of this cultural heritage through strengthening the role of local libraries. The project was implemented by COBIAC, a French cultural association, in partnership with Alrowwad Cultural & Training Theatre Centre.

Throughout the four-day festival, Palestinian and French storytellers toured schools, public libraries and cultural centres in and around Bethlehem, recounting folklore tales to more than 500 adults and children. The closing ceremony took place at Alawda Theatre in Aida refugee camp, just outside Bethlehem, with the participation of officials from the Ministry of Culture, Bethlehem Governorate, the European Commission, Alrowwad Center, COBIAC, and other local cultural organisations.

"Oral Heritage is both fragile and precious. Fragile because it can be easily forgotten and lost forever but also very precious as a powerful vector for values and cultural identity. The European Union is therefore whole-heartedly supports this project which not only collected tales for the preservation of Palestinian oral heritage but brought them back to life with this festival and organised exchanges with Mediterranean neighbours, in particular France," said Mrs. Fabienne Bessonne, speaking on behalf of the European Commission at the closing festival.

Mrs. Francoise Danset said, we hope that this project is just a first step and would empower local actors, specifically librarians to emphasize and keep the traditional folktales.

Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour, Founder and President of Alrowwad Centre spoke about the “value of our Palestinian cultural heritage as an important reflection of our cultural identity, especially in a time where Israeli occupation is not stealing only our land, but also this folklore, food, and traditional costumes and embroidered dresses. It is our way of resistance against the Israeli occupation to keep as well this cultural and traditional identity and heritage for the humanity and all the generations to come. We remember our mothers and grandmothers bedtime stories, and it is our duty as parents, but also as educators to involve libraries and parents in keeping this heritage alive, because where are a people who is still alive despite all the occupations that came on this Holy Land."

bethlehem | miscellaneous | news report news at imemc dot org