- 3 days ago
Music Room live stream event broadcasted on 17th October 2026.
PALESTINIANS ARE YOUR EYES
Six short stories, four voices from Gaza.
Palestinians are Your Eyes is a project by the Italian-Palestinian company Anqa, bringing to life a collective narrative that knows no borders.
On October 15, 2026 these stories will resonate in unison during a global premiere across the world. Previews, premieres, and post-premiere readings will take place around this date. Anqa wants these stories to reach every corner of the globe and "The Debut Crew" are honoured to participate and support this. October 15th is not just a date in the calendar; it is an open wound in Anqa's company history. On that day in 2023, Abraham Saidam, a young performer with Anqa, was killed by Israeli bombardment. The global reading of Palestinians are Your Eyes from October 15th is to honour his memory.
The Debut Crew, a small group of London based actors, will be reading and performing these six short stories live on stage on Saturday October 17th at Sands Film Studios. Hoping to bring these works of fiction interwoven with autobiographical elements to life, through narrated scenes and music, they look forward to sharing the voices of these writers from Gaza. The global reading will be a live event for audience members to attend in person, however, the event will also be recorded and streamed online.
Event Details:
Location: Sands Film Studios Theatre, Rotherhithe London
www.sandsfilms.co.uk
PALESTINIANS ARE YOUR EYES
Six short stories, four voices from Gaza.
Palestinians are Your Eyes is a project by the Italian-Palestinian company Anqa, bringing to life a collective narrative that knows no borders.
On October 15, 2026 these stories will resonate in unison during a global premiere across the world. Previews, premieres, and post-premiere readings will take place around this date. Anqa wants these stories to reach every corner of the globe and "The Debut Crew" are honoured to participate and support this. October 15th is not just a date in the calendar; it is an open wound in Anqa's company history. On that day in 2023, Abraham Saidam, a young performer with Anqa, was killed by Israeli bombardment. The global reading of Palestinians are Your Eyes from October 15th is to honour his memory.
The Debut Crew, a small group of London based actors, will be reading and performing these six short stories live on stage on Saturday October 17th at Sands Film Studios. Hoping to bring these works of fiction interwoven with autobiographical elements to life, through narrated scenes and music, they look forward to sharing the voices of these writers from Gaza. The global reading will be a live event for audience members to attend in person, however, the event will also be recorded and streamed online.
Event Details:
Location: Sands Film Studios Theatre, Rotherhithe London
www.sandsfilms.co.uk
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:00:27Under an olive green sky,
00:00:29by Dalal El-Swerki.
00:00:32Three sons and a single daughter, the eldest.
00:00:37Amal watched Marion playing on the floor with her little brothers.
00:00:41Tall, with a pale, freckled complexion.
00:00:44Long black hair and very dark eyes.
00:00:47She was beautiful, yes.
00:00:49Everyone said so.
00:00:51It wasn't just her mother who thought it.
00:00:54And she was already 17.
00:00:57The time had come.
00:00:59Marion, come here.
00:01:01With a nod, Amal invited her to sit on the kitchen stool.
00:01:07It is no longer time to play.
00:01:09Many proposals have already arrived.
00:01:12Really?
00:01:13What about school?
00:01:15Amal placed her hands on her shoulders,
00:01:18applying a light but firm pressure.
00:01:21School can wait.
00:01:22You will continue at your husband's house.
00:01:25I have chosen the man for whom you will reserve your naseeb.
00:01:29Marion hugged her, filled with emotion.
00:01:33In the following days, Amal accompanied Marion to buy linens, clothes, cutlery sets, everything she needed.
00:01:41Between one shop and another, she would repeat the fundamental teachings to her.
00:01:46A home is a mirror of the family.
00:01:49A neglected home is an unhappy family.
00:01:53If the wardrobe smell musty, put bay leaves and clothes at the bottom.
00:01:58Always have tea ready.
00:02:00Guests are as sudden as misfortunes.
00:02:04She had raised her well.
00:02:05She had taught her how to keep a home and how to keep a husband.
00:02:10Marion would be a good wife.
00:02:12She would manage just fine.
00:02:15With her duties as a mother fulfilled, her duties as a daughter remained.
00:02:21Marion, have I already explained how to start your shirts?
00:02:24Yes, Mama.
00:02:26Make sure of it.
00:02:27A husband's unhappiness is a wife's sorrow.
00:02:30And you won't be able to come running to me in tears with wrinkled or stained shirts.
00:02:35But do you really have to leave?
00:02:38Yes.
00:02:39Grandma is old and wants to go home.
00:02:43Isn't Beirut home?
00:02:45No, Habitti.
00:02:47Home has always remained there.
00:02:50On the day of the Qatbah Al-Kithar, Amal looked at the bridal couple with satisfaction.
00:02:57Marion was radiant.
00:02:59She smiled happily on her husband's arm.
00:03:03Tall, dark hair, brown skin.
00:03:06He had eyes only for her.
00:03:09At one point he coughed to draw attention.
00:03:12Marion, I promise to be your faithful companion.
00:03:15To protect and honour you every day of our life together.
00:03:20She had chosen well.
00:03:22She turned to look at the rest of her family.
00:03:25The children chasing each other in the courtyard.
00:03:28Her husband pouring himself a drink.
00:03:30Her grandmother chatting with an aunt.
00:03:33It would be their last celebration altogether.
00:03:35There was little time left before departure.
00:03:39No more than three or four months.
00:03:41They would set off on their journey toward that garden by the sea.
00:03:46Centred with cedar, which her grandmother had spoken of for 40 years with regret and now with joy.
00:03:53Happy to be able to close her eyes in the country where she was born.
00:03:57She was in a hurry to leave and Amal also partly shared that inpatient anticipation.
00:04:04She had insisted they manage to move before January for the start of the new millennium.
00:04:10She wanted to open a new chapter in that land that had always been theirs.
00:04:16The following weeks were spent preparing boxes and suitcases.
00:04:21Amal emptied the wardrobes, washed, ironed and packed.
00:04:25Her husband watched her, smoking from his armchair, with the newspaper open,
00:04:31while the news on the radio crackled with talk of Clinton, Oslo and Arafat.
00:04:37We won't need all this stuff, he scolded her.
00:04:41Maybe we will.
00:04:43What harm can one more box do?
00:04:46Women, women.
00:04:48Always convinced they know everything, even if they don't understand a damn thing.
00:04:53She let it slide.
00:04:55At her age, she knew how men needed to be handled.
00:04:59At the bottom of a wardrobe, she found Mariam's baby clothes.
00:05:03She folded them with care.
00:05:06Maybe one day, if she had a girl, if she ever saw her again.
00:05:12Since the wedding, she hadn't come by anymore.
00:05:15She had called her only once, about two weeks after the marriage.
00:05:19It was nothing but complaints.
00:05:23She mumbled.
00:05:25She said her husband was never satisfied.
00:05:28He wasn't satisfied with the house, the cooking.
00:05:32He wasn't satisfied with her.
00:05:34Well, of course, if she was a slacker.
00:05:37Did she think a superficial wipe with a rag was enough for him to praise her?
00:05:42Besides, she had warned her.
00:05:45Dirty laundry is washed at home.
00:05:47She needed to roll up her sleeves.
00:05:50A respectable woman cries only in the kitchen, while cutting onions for the musakan.
00:05:56And if she wets the knife first, she won't shed a tear, even for those.
00:06:01Her words had hit the mark, without a shadow of a doubt.
00:06:05After an initial period of adjustment, she was happy with her man.
00:06:08That's why she didn't get in touch anymore.
00:06:11Children only call to complain.
00:06:13When they are happy, they forget about their parents.
00:06:17However, she was beginning to harbour a bit of disappointment.
00:06:21She had been the one to choose that husband for her.
00:06:24However, she could at least drop by to say hello once in a while.
00:06:28Hours, days, weeks passed.
00:06:31By now, the departure was imminent.
00:06:34Suitcases and boxes were piled up in the hallway, ready to be loaded into the car.
00:06:41Amal had resigned herself to sorting through her things, so as not to irritate her husband,
00:06:46undecided whether to bring the jalabilla with golden embroidery, or the one in linen and silk.
00:06:52Whether to bring the copper tray, or the wooden inlaid one.
00:06:56Knocks at the door startled her.
00:06:59She went down the stairs, turned the key, and pushed the handle.
00:07:05On the other side stood a woman with a gaunt face, covered in heavy make-up.
00:07:14Mariam?
00:07:15Her daughter.
00:07:17Hi, Mama.
00:07:18May I?
00:07:20Amal stepped aside.
00:07:23She let her into the living room.
00:07:25The girl walked with a strange caution, as if the floor were made of thin glass.
00:07:31Only then did she notice her body, also transformed, thinned out.
00:07:37It highlighted a hint of a belly, stretching her dress.
00:07:42How are you?
00:07:44Everything's fine.
00:07:46You?
00:07:49Fine.
00:07:50I'll get you some tea.
00:07:54Mariam replied automatically.
00:07:57Guests are a southerness.
00:07:58Careful, it's hot.
00:08:00On the arm extended to tape the small glass, she noticed a constellation of purplish spots.
00:08:07Mariam realised it.
00:08:09With a sharp gesture, she pulled her cuff down.
00:08:12Her voice came out weak, almost weary.
00:08:15I wanted to say goodbye, Mama, before your departure.
00:08:19In the light of the lampshade, Amal searched for her daughter's eyes beneath the layers of face powder and ochre.
00:08:27The foundation was spread like putty, forming small clumps around her cheekbones.
00:08:44At that thought, a smile escaped Mariam too.
00:08:48It was just a moment, Amal saw the broken white of an incisor, a sharp, clean edge.
00:08:56And you, at home?
00:08:59Always tidy.
00:09:00I do the cleaning every morning, after preparing his breakfast.
00:09:05Don't worry.
00:09:06You are a good teacher.
00:09:09How is Dad?
00:09:10How is Grandma?
00:09:11Long silences and words swallowed with sips of tea followed.
00:09:15Then, Amal loaded the empty glasses onto the tray, cast another glance at her daughter, and before standing up, decided
00:09:23to speak.
00:09:25Mariam, you must come home.
00:09:27Yes, you're right. It's getting late. I still have to prepare dinner.
00:09:32The young woman gave a nod to take her leave.
00:09:36Um, thank you for the tea.
00:09:38Then she headed toward the exit. Amal held her back by the arm.
00:09:43Where are you going?
00:09:45What do you mean?
00:09:48Where are you going?
00:09:50Home, Mama. I'm going home.
00:09:53No, Habibti. Home has always remained there.
00:09:59Tears began to stream down her daughter's cheeks, those cheeks that had lost the roundness of childhood.
00:10:06Amal took a half-step toward her, her arms at her sides bewildered.
00:10:11Then, however, she leaned in, holding her tight.
00:10:15Little by little, she felt her stiffness melt away.
00:10:19Mariam was shaken by sobs.
00:10:20She rocked her just like when she was little, singing old lullabies,
00:10:24the ones her grandmother had brought with her from down there.
00:10:28That night would be dense, starless.
00:10:31But at dawn, they would load up the car, bringing everything they could.
00:10:36And they would set off toward another sky, an olive green sky,
00:10:42toward their land, toward home, Gaza.
00:11:00Thank you so much for being with us.
00:11:03Thank you so much.
00:11:03Thank you so much.
00:11:03Thank you so much.
00:11:25The poem, by Ibrahim Al-Helu.
00:11:29The poem turned.
00:11:31The chessboard was silent.
00:11:33A moment of stillness.
00:11:35Not because the battle was over, but because, especially in war, one needs to think.
00:11:42Pieces had been taken, positions lost, sacrifices made,
00:11:47until the novelty of death became all too easy to understand.
00:11:52The king trembled on E8.
00:11:56He was so restless, scanning in every direction,
00:12:01that even while remaining on the same square, he seemed to pace back and forth across the board.
00:12:07The queen watched him, visibly irritated.
00:12:10She did not speak, but her silence cut through the air.
00:12:14It weighed on the others like a command waiting to be fulfilled.
00:12:19The rook has slumped onto a square, his breath short and labored on the verge of breaking at any moment.
00:12:29And at the edge of the board stood a pawn on a B7.
00:12:34Eyes closed.
00:12:36Protected by the silence of forgotten squares.
00:12:39A piece that never entirely belonged to a single world.
00:12:45He heard the rock scream.
00:12:47What is happening?
00:12:49Out there I'm under constant attack, acting as a shield.
00:12:53And where are you?
00:12:54The other rook, the other rook has been captured.
00:12:57The queen did not blink.
00:13:01The pawn knew that look.
00:13:03The kind of silence that isn't hesitation.
00:13:07It is judgment.
00:13:10Finally, she spoke.
00:13:13She was traded for position.
00:13:16The rook laughed.
00:13:17A bitter, sarcastic laugh.
00:13:20Traded?
00:13:21Is that what you call it?
00:13:23She was struck down.
00:13:26And for what?
00:13:27An attempt to buy time.
00:13:33To sacrifice.
00:13:35To survive.
00:13:36The queen shot back.
00:13:38Sharp.
00:13:39Without averting her gaze.
00:13:41A silent order.
00:13:43Harder than any word.
00:13:46The king resumed his trembling.
00:13:49The queen did not move.
00:13:52The rook, too, fell silent.
00:13:56Then, suddenly, the pawn, who believed himself invisible, received a perpetuary order.
00:14:06Advanced to B6 to shield the knight, who was threatened by enemy bishop.
00:14:13He hesitated.
00:14:15Now it was his turn to be traded?
00:14:17Me?
00:14:19Really?
00:14:21Really?
00:14:21Yes, you.
00:14:22Who else?
00:14:23Of course.
00:14:23It's only right, the pawn told.
00:14:26Of course me.
00:14:27Who else?
00:14:28Stupid to ask.
00:14:30He couldn't deny it.
00:14:32The knight is more important.
00:14:34Not everyone on the board had the same value.
00:14:37It is well known.
00:14:38What is the life of a knight worth?
00:14:42What is the life of a pawn worth?
00:14:45What is my life worth?
00:14:47It was the first time that question had buzzed in his head.
00:14:52Indeed.
00:14:53What is it worth?
00:14:55Do you understand?
00:14:57Advance to B6.
00:14:59The queen barked.
00:15:00Protect the knight.
00:15:01But something in the pawn was changing.
00:15:05Now he kept his eyes open.
00:15:07He looked at them, the other pieces.
00:15:10Scattered across the board.
00:15:12Not like an army, but like survivors.
00:15:15No formation.
00:15:17No plan.
00:15:19Besieged.
00:15:21Clinking to a few squares that could still be counted.
00:15:25One.
00:15:26Two.
00:15:28Three.
00:15:29Plants collapsing.
00:15:32Pieces vanishing.
00:15:34Hope slipping away from the edge of the board.
00:15:37He was seized by suspicion that it was all wrong.
00:15:42The doubt that he could be free.
00:15:45That carnage now appeared useless to him.
00:15:48Yes.
00:15:49Useless.
00:15:50What am I even doing here?
00:15:52He told.
00:15:53A part of him wanted to disobey the queen.
00:15:56A part of him, of which he felt a little ashamed.
00:15:59Believed he could make it there.
00:16:02To the place where everyone like him dreams of arriving.
00:16:07The last rank.
00:16:09Yes.
00:16:11That luminous square where pawns become more than pawns.
00:16:14Where they are worth as much as knights.
00:16:17Perhaps even more.
00:16:19Because it is the law accepted by all.
00:16:23White and black.
00:16:25That pieces reaching the end of the board can assume any rank.
00:16:30It wasn't cowardice.
00:16:32No.
00:16:33Suddenly he understood.
00:16:36He rejected the logic of a chessboard.
00:16:39He wanted to find a reason to silence that restlessness that exhausted him.
00:16:44To leave and never return.
00:16:48Better yet, to forget.
00:16:51Are you deaf?
00:16:53Advance.
00:16:54I told you.
00:16:55The pawn felt it.
00:16:56The jolt.
00:16:58The push of movement.
00:17:00He closed his eyes.
00:17:02And he proceeded forward.
00:17:05But not by one square as he had been commanded.
00:17:08But by two.
00:17:10To be five.
00:17:12The queen was stunned.
00:17:16But with the game raging on.
00:17:18She didn't even have a time to curse him.
00:17:21She surged forward in attack.
00:17:24The rook repositioned himself.
00:17:28The king slipped over one square.
00:17:33Already shaken by the fear of the next move.
00:17:36The knight was captured by bishop.
00:17:40The pawn, meanwhile, had pushed even further to B4.
00:17:45Now he was closer to the end.
00:17:48Closer than he had ever been.
00:17:52To realizing a dream.
00:17:54To changing.
00:17:56To muttering.
00:17:59It was then that he saw him coming.
00:18:02A white pawn.
00:18:03Right in front of him.
00:18:06Same file.
00:18:07Different color.
00:18:09Identical.
00:18:10And yet.
00:18:11He knew they were not the same.
00:18:13No space between them.
00:18:16No way out.
00:18:18A foreign body.
00:18:19Blocking his path.
00:18:22He felt no anger.
00:18:24He felt no frustration.
00:18:27Everything became clear to him.
00:18:30All at once.
00:18:31He thought back to what the queen had said.
00:18:34He thought back to what queen had said.
00:18:35And he understood what she meant.
00:18:37They were living in the same nightmare.
00:18:40Because no matter how far you go.
00:18:44No matter what rank you reach.
00:18:47The chessboard never lets you forget who you belong to.
00:18:51And in that instant.
00:18:53All he desired was to go back.
00:18:57To stand beside the rook.
00:18:59To obey the queen.
00:19:01To protect the knight.
00:19:04To sacrifice himself.
00:19:07Not because he believed in them.
00:19:10But because they were his own.
00:19:12And he could not bear the thought of watching them fall alone.
00:19:16Without him.
00:19:18He tried to take a step back.
00:19:20But pawns.
00:19:22Do not move backwards.
00:19:24He looked at the board.
00:19:26The rook.
00:19:27Was struck on f4.
00:19:30The queen.
00:19:32Barely avoided a pin.
00:19:35The king.
00:19:36Was almost.
00:19:38Surrounded.
00:19:39And he could do nothing.
00:19:42Trapped between a dead dream.
00:19:44And a block road.
00:19:46He remained motionless.
00:19:49While everything ended.
00:19:52Without him.
00:20:36Anka.
00:20:38By Alah Sber.
00:20:42Yaffa sat on the crumbling steps of her house.
00:20:45She looked at what remained of the guava tree planted by her father.
00:20:50A shell had destroyed it.
00:20:52She had never loved her city.
00:20:55She dreamed of leaving.
00:20:56Yes.
00:20:57Of going far away.
00:20:59She had tried everything.
00:21:02She had even applied to the political science faculty at Cambridge.
00:21:06She believed in it.
00:21:08She believed in it.
00:21:09She thought she deserved it.
00:21:11Poor fool.
00:21:13She felt that most of her life had been spent in cyclical wars that ended only to begin again.
00:21:20Over and over.
00:21:22And she had remained trapped in it.
00:21:25In the background.
00:21:26Her brothers argued over who would go to the front line first.
00:21:31Do you want to end up like your father?
00:21:33Their mother silenced them.
00:21:36That night, Yaffa dreamed of Ibrahim.
00:21:39A childhood friend.
00:21:42One of those dreams that feel like omens.
00:21:45He showed up at the front door.
00:21:48Asking to come in.
00:21:49She had woken up in a cold sweat.
00:21:52With a decision still to be made.
00:21:54What would have happened if she had opened?
00:21:58In the following days, she thought of him.
00:22:02Theirs had never been a close friendship.
00:22:05From time to time, he would send her a message.
00:22:08A casual question.
00:22:10Just to know how she was doing.
00:22:13Yaffa had the feeling of something left unsaid.
00:22:17She hesitated with her phone in her hand.
00:22:20Then, all in one breath, she wrote.
00:22:23Still alive?
00:22:25He wasn't online.
00:22:27A long week of waiting.
00:22:29With a weight of anxiety.
00:22:31Finally, a response.
00:22:32Of course.
00:22:33Who do you take me for?
00:22:35And you?
00:22:37These few words were enough to mend the rift.
00:22:40She showed herself, worried for him.
00:22:44And what about food?
00:22:45How do you manage?
00:22:49Silence.
00:22:49Silence.
00:22:50She imagined him blinking at the brightness of the screen.
00:22:55Without realizing it, they arranged their routine to talk and chat.
00:22:59As the weeks went by, the understanding between the two grew.
00:23:04Ibrahim talked about his life as a militiaman.
00:23:07With death so close, Yaffa sensed his fear.
00:23:11Another fear inside her answered his.
00:23:15Thanks to you, I got over my mother's death.
00:23:19The young man wrote to her one evening.
00:23:22In my thoughts, I call you Anka Muharrib.
00:23:27Yaffa had never been in love.
00:23:29She noted the symptoms manifesting in him with a certain detachment.
00:23:34And she looked for them in herself, in case she had been infected.
00:23:38So this is how it feels.
00:23:43Gaza was split in two.
00:23:44And it was practically impossible for them to see each other.
00:23:47A rift that repeated itself in every collapsed building, every broken family.
00:23:54The separation only served to deepen the fear and the desire.
00:23:58I want to marry you just in case.
00:24:00I mean, I am afraid of dying.
00:24:07Red and green lines, cutting through the black sky, trace the bullets.
00:24:12The electric bus of quadcopter drones hovering 50 meters from the ground.
00:24:18An incessant noise that encroaches, even upon dreams.
00:24:26The ceasefire, after a little more than a monk, seemed like a good sign.
00:24:31They met.
00:24:32What excitement and what embarrassment.
00:24:35She remembered him differently.
00:24:37Taller.
00:24:38Ibrahim made his official proposal.
00:24:40And she said yes.
00:24:43They had just married when the siege resumed.
00:24:46Of marriage, they had only known the initial greed that lay entirely in the tightening of their bodies.
00:24:53And then again, the war.
00:24:56At first, it was possible to measure the devastation.
00:25:00But then, the bombs had raised the settlement to the ground and had continued to fall.
00:25:05One explosion, another, another.
00:25:09And even when there was nothing left to destroy.
00:25:12One night, one of the rare moments together,
00:25:16Yafa walked by Ibrahim's side, like any ordinary wife.
00:25:21Making him speak was difficult.
00:25:23But in those days, his presence was enough for her.
00:25:28They spotted a mutual friend.
00:25:30Yafa lit up.
00:25:31She ran toward her, laughing.
00:25:34She exchanged words with her that came from very far away.
00:25:38A previous life.
00:25:40In her joy, she didn't notice that Ibrahim had remained at a distance to study her, a step back.
00:25:49When the friend left, she turned toward him.
00:25:53He had barely returned the greeting.
00:25:56He was hiding, somewhere beneath his armor.
00:26:01Jafa, for the first time, felt regret.
00:26:05It happened that in a sudden awakening, she would catch him grinding his teeth in his sleep.
00:26:12Something was consuming him from the inside.
00:26:18A blinding flash.
00:26:20It reveals silhouettes of soldiers huddled in ditches.
00:26:24The smell of phosphorus burning clothes and skin.
00:26:28The mangled body of a young man.
00:26:32His barred mouth turned toward a full moon.
00:26:37I think I'm pregnant.
00:26:40What month was it?
00:26:42Any month of the war.
00:26:44Spring.
00:26:45Almost summer.
00:26:46The life growing inside her would put time back on tracks.
00:26:53Yafa had waited for an opportunity to tell him in person and he...
00:26:57Nothing.
00:26:58Not a muscle twitched on his face.
00:27:01He nodded and hugged her.
00:27:03As if he had nothing else to offer.
00:27:06How silly to think she would make him happy.
00:27:10At least for a moment.
00:27:13Wasn't this their pact, after all?
00:27:15To set aside a little bit of life.
00:27:18To leave a trace of their love.
00:27:20With the threat of death always on the horizon.
00:27:25Fault of the war.
00:27:27You never stepped out of the trench if you fought on the front like Ibrahim.
00:27:32It is, Lenin, it is an infection that contagions hearts.
00:27:36It is a poison that kills even those who do not kill.
00:27:41She still thought she could save him.
00:27:45I will be the one to take care of him, she said to herself, a hand on her own belly,
00:27:51as if she was swearing on the Koran.
00:27:55Poor fool.
00:28:00A child with strained ribs, dry skin cracking on elbows and knees.
00:28:05He drinks warm water from a chipped plastic tank with the aftertaste of chlorine and rust.
00:28:11Around him, gunshots and explosions.
00:28:16Hunger and thirst take away even fear.
00:28:23The months began to pass again, between one displacement and another.
00:28:28One meeting and another.
00:28:30It was their love that seemed clandestine, rather than their resistance.
00:28:35And Ibrahim did nothing to make her change her mind.
00:28:39Was there something wrong with their union?
00:28:42Because of the long separation, they had gone back to talking in chat.
00:28:47By message, Ibrahim unearthed words that vanished who knows where when they met in the flesh.
00:28:55I am thinking of you.
00:28:58I will always be there for you.
00:29:01I miss you.
00:29:04He called her Anka, his phoenix.
00:29:09Even though she felt more and more like a flickering candle.
00:29:16A grey cloud, dense as liquid concrete, rising after the collapse of a six-storey building.
00:29:23Eye sockets of guided windows.
00:29:26Dust filtering under eyelids.
00:29:29Between teeth, thick with saliva, and covering the faces of the living and the dead.
00:29:35Making them identical.
00:29:41A mouse's first cry was drowned out by the sound of things shattering into a thousand pieces.
00:29:47The woman who helped her give birth made sure she was breathing.
00:29:51Alive.
00:29:53For a moment, Jaffa had imagined her dead, like everything surrounding her.
00:29:59They hadn't seen each other for a month.
00:30:01The siege had lasted for more than a year.
00:30:04The daughter they had brought into the world, a shattered world, was one day old.
00:30:10And then two, three, four.
00:30:14After a week, Ibrahim returned to meet her.
00:30:18He took her from her mother's arms, but he couldn't hold her for more than ten seconds.
00:30:24Jaffa snatched her away, as if she were afraid that the father's vacant gaze would open a void in the
00:30:30daughter as well.
00:30:32Then one night it happened again.
00:30:34She dreamed of Ibrahim.
00:30:37It was the first time since that first dream, which she had even forgotten.
00:30:42Through the peephole she saw him, ashen, bewildered.
00:30:47She decided not to open.
00:30:50In fact, she found herself resisting.
00:30:54With a diffused awareness of dreams, she saw, beside her husband, her father, helping him break down the door.
00:31:03She was no longer able to fall back asleep.
00:31:07Later, she went into the city.
00:31:10It was the first time since Amal was born.
00:31:13In front of a stall, she lost herself in the contemplation of the few fruits still available.
00:31:19They gleamed like stolen jewels.
00:31:22Not even the war had managed to mar the promise of their juiciness.
00:31:29They must come from very far away.
00:31:32From a land still capable of giving life.
00:31:35A message on the screen.
00:31:38How is the little one?
00:31:40Instead of feeling relief at knowing he was alive, she felt again the suffocating sense of the dream.
00:31:47She tried.
00:31:48She behaved as always, as if nothing were wrong.
00:31:51But something had happened.
00:31:55A building, collapsing in on itself.
00:31:58Slowly.
00:31:59Like an old man sitting down.
00:32:02Inside, there was a family.
00:32:05Perhaps.
00:32:07A child's shoe caught between rusted iron rebars.
00:32:11A stray dog digging through the rubble.
00:32:14The unnatural silence of a bedroom collapsed in half.
00:32:20Toys intact on top of the debris.
00:32:52Ibrahim returned, on leave, for a few days.
00:32:54And again that sound.
00:32:56And again that sound.
00:32:57Bone against bone.
00:32:59The grinding of teeth that consumed the last remnants of what he had been.
00:33:05She brushed away.
00:33:07She brushed away an intrusive thought of driving a stake through his heart.
00:33:11Still alive?
00:33:13She whispered softly into his ear.
00:33:17She closed her eyes and hoped she wouldn't sleep into the same dream.
00:33:21She was going to pass.
00:33:22She was going to shunt me.
00:33:29She was coming into a room of the sep so he may take.
00:33:29She came to me.
00:33:39She was going to put in a room of faith.
00:33:45She was going to have a room of faith.
00:35:01Thank you very much for being here.
00:35:56Hello, everyone.
00:35:58My name is Dalai Sperky and I am part of our Kali group.
00:36:02The journey as a writer began when I participated in the play, All That Left Me.
00:36:07Today, I am taking another step on what I hope to be a long and beautiful journey through my two
00:36:14stories under an olive green sky and a pillar in the summit.
00:36:18Thank you all for being here, thank you all for being here, thank you for being here for being here
00:36:21for giving our stories a space to be heard and thank you for listening and caring and allowing our stories
00:36:28to travel beyond borders.
00:36:30And finally, I would love to dedicate this moment to my dear friend Abraham Sadam, a beautiful soul and a
00:36:38dreamer who hoped he would be here one day sharing this moment with us.
00:36:43I wish I wish he could have been here to see this day. This is for you, Abraham. You are
00:36:49remembered and your dream lives on. And again, thank you so much for being here and for being part of
00:36:56this project. Goodbye.
00:36:59Hello, everyone. Hello, everyone. My name is Ibrahim and I am part of the Anqaq group.
00:37:04Hello, everyone. So my name is Alaa Sperky. I am one of the writers behind the Anqaq group.
00:37:11My story is Anqaq al-Mughrib.
00:37:15And this story reflects loss in a different way. It's not like the other story.
00:37:21Or let me say it's not like the other love story we used to hear in our time.
00:37:29It's not a love story that born out of destruction. It's a story that is slowly fading away because of
00:37:38destruction.
00:37:39And I believe that every story carries something that another person might need to hear.
00:37:46And I hope you find something of yourselves in ours.
00:37:51And I would like to thank you very much for being here and listening to our stories and giving them
00:37:58a space to live beyond the page.
00:38:01Thank you so much.
00:38:04Hello, everyone. I'm Fatma Yusuf, a Palestinian writer and performer from Gaza and a member of Anqaq Theatre Company.
00:38:12I live now in Paris where I continue my studies.
00:38:16And I'm also the writer of the story, The First Lesson.
00:38:20Through it, we will figure out if the North winds finally led Khalid to his destination or he remained stuck
00:38:29between his loss and his wooden hope.
00:38:33And before we start, I deeply appreciate all of you for being here, and I hope my story touches you
00:38:41as it was written from my heart and with a complete truth.
00:38:47Hello, everyone. My name is Dalal Swerki, and I am part of Al-Anqaq group.
00:38:53My journey as a writer began when I participated in the play All That Left to Me.
00:38:58Today, I'm taking another step on what I hope to be a long and beautiful journey through my two stories
00:39:06under an olive green sky and a pillar in the cement.
00:39:10Thank you all for being here, for giving our stories a space to be heard, and thank you for listening
00:39:17and caring and allowing our stories to travel beyond borders.
00:39:21And finally, I would love to dedicate this moment to my dear friend, Abraham Seydam, a beautiful soul and a
00:39:29dreamer who hoped he would be here one day sharing this moment with us.
00:39:34I wish he could have been here to see this day.
00:39:37This is for you, Abraham. You are remembered, and your dream lives on.
00:39:42And again, thank you so much for being here and for being part of this project. Goodbye.
00:39:50Hello, everyone. My name is Ibrahim, and I am part of the Al-Anqaq group.
00:40:14My name is Ibrahim, and I am part of the Al-Anqaq group.
00:40:28Hello.
00:40:29A Pillar in the Concrete by Dalal Al-Swerky.
00:40:34Hello. Miss Lina Al-Masri.
00:40:38The voice speaks in English.
00:40:41Phone calls in English in Gaza, take your breath away.
00:40:44Usually, they continue with words like, evacuate, 30 minutes, target.
00:40:54Don't panic, Lina repeats to herself.
00:40:59This is the University of Cambridge.
00:41:02Her heart leaps into her throat.
00:41:05Political science.
00:41:07The application.
00:41:08The voice continues.
00:41:10The application.
00:41:12Lina repeats.
00:41:15She knows that word well.
00:41:17She has typed it on dozens of digital forms.
00:41:20But spoken out loud, it seems to belong to another planet.
00:41:26Lina makes an effort to drag her thoughts from Arabic to English.
00:41:31She is usually fast.
00:41:33She has to be to survive.
00:41:36But right now, she stumbles.
00:41:39She has sent applications everywhere.
00:41:43All over Europe, her application rests alongside those of thousands of other students, trying
00:41:48to escape a strip of land that shrinks every day.
00:41:55The voice tells her that she's been admitted and asks her if she intends to proceed with enrolling
00:42:01in university.
00:42:04How do you answer yes or no right on the spot?
00:42:07She needs to think.
00:42:10She didn't believe it would actually happen.
00:42:13Miss Lina Al-Masri, are you still there?
00:42:16Yes, yes, I'm still here.
00:42:18The voice announces that if she wishes to withdraw, the spot will be reserved for other candidates.
00:42:23The deadline for submitting documents is in three days.
00:42:28By midnight.
00:42:29Is everything clear?
00:42:32The voice hangs up.
00:42:37She takes a few steps towards the stove and turns on the gas.
00:42:41Two eggs.
00:42:43She puts the water on to boil.
00:42:46She cooks them.
00:42:47The eggs.
00:42:49She cuts them in half and arranges them on a chipped plate.
00:42:53From the crate on the floor, she takes a tomato.
00:42:56Washes it with the care reserved for precious things.
00:42:59And slices it.
00:43:01The slices are uneven.
00:43:03She takes another one.
00:43:05Tries to be more precise.
00:43:07Her hand is trembling.
00:43:10Nothing.
00:43:13She sets the plate on the tray.
00:43:17Breathe.
00:43:24Sometimes she forgets to.
00:43:27To breathe.
00:43:32She prepares tea for everyone. No sugar, just fresh mint like mum's. She places the tray
00:43:40on the ground in the middle of the tent they have called home for a year. Breakfast is ready.
00:43:46Bubba arrives in his wheelchair. Nor, her younger sister, mutters while lying on the mattress.
00:43:52Hurry up, or we'll eat your share too. Nor gets up with a theatrical yawn.
00:44:00Your tea is delicious, just like mum's. Bubba comments,
00:44:04Mime is always bitter. Because you put in too much tea and not enough mint.
00:44:09She smiles at him, pouring him a second glass. He strokes her back. Lena pulls away.
00:44:18Three days, she thinks.
00:44:22Grandma today, she tells her sister, when I get back I want to see your exercises.
00:44:28If I do though, will you play with me? If you do them well. Only if you do them well.
00:44:35Lena can't meet Nor's gaze. The little gap between her teeth in that trusting smile.
00:44:41When mum was here, she was the one who helped her.
00:44:46Nor, you're cooking tonight. Her father looks up. She doesn't even know how to light the fire.
00:44:53She'll learn. You'll help her with the stove and she'll cut the vegetables.
00:44:58Can I skip grandma if I cook? The little girl asks, lighting up.
00:45:03You'll do both. That way we can eat early and we can play.
00:45:08Lena stands up, takes the empty plate.
00:45:12Air. She goes out, then changes her mind and comes back in.
00:45:17She grabs the bag of couscous, the cutting board, the oil.
00:45:20She arranges everything neatly next to the stove, ready to use.
00:45:27Breathe.
00:45:28Breathe. See you tonight.
00:45:37Minus one.
00:45:41Only two left.
00:45:43Another morning.
00:45:45Another breakfast.
00:45:47She's always rushing.
00:45:50She could use some calm. A little time just for herself.
00:45:53To think. To talk to her father.
00:45:57Lena overturns the baskets.
00:46:00Where are her shoes?
00:46:01She's tired. On edge.
00:46:03The night before, she found the couscous everywhere and the vegetables burned.
00:46:08She had to explain the three parts of speech as calm al calm for two hours.
00:46:13Faking a patience she didn't have.
00:46:16She wanted to scream.
00:46:19But she didn't.
00:46:21She played.
00:46:22Because what does gnaw have to do with this?
00:46:27There's the shoe.
00:46:29It had ended up under the first aid kit.
00:46:31Used somehow to play shadow puppets the night before.
00:46:36She takes the syringe.
00:46:38She has to give Baba his shot before running off to work.
00:46:42Noor is still asleep on her father's lap.
00:46:45Lena draws up the anticoagulant.
00:46:48I'm sorry, sweetheart.
00:46:50Baba whispers.
00:46:51For what?
00:46:52I should be the one taking care of you.
00:46:55Lena doesn't answer.
00:46:57She rubs his rough skin with rubbing alcohol.
00:47:00I don't know what I would do without you.
00:47:03She sinks in the needle.
00:47:04Eyes closed to hold back tears.
00:47:08You can take the syringe out now.
00:47:09You're hurting me.
00:47:11Lena looks at the needle.
00:47:13Pulls it out.
00:47:14She puts everything away in the box.
00:47:19Breathes.
00:47:25Leaves.
00:47:30Last day.
00:47:32It's almost midnight.
00:47:34The tablet illuminates the darkness of the tent.
00:47:37The email is ready.
00:47:39The documents uploaded.
00:47:41She checks the attachments.
00:47:44Checks them again.
00:47:46Two.
00:47:47Three.
00:47:48Four times.
00:47:50Enough.
00:47:52She deletes the email.
00:47:53Writes it again.
00:47:56Writes it again.
00:47:57Uploads the attachments.
00:47:58Again.
00:48:00Deletes.
00:48:01Writes it again.
00:48:03From scratch.
00:48:07Baba has his eyes closed.
00:48:08The book on his lap.
00:48:10Lena wishes she could speak.
00:48:12But the words die in her throat.
00:48:14She can't breathe.
00:48:17Outside is the night.
00:48:19She goes out.
00:48:21A maze of white tarps blend into one another.
00:48:25She walks.
00:48:27On her fourth lap around the tent.
00:48:28She counted them.
00:48:30She finds him there.
00:48:32Baba has come outside.
00:48:34He's smoking a cigarette.
00:48:36Even though he shouldn't.
00:48:37That's why he looks at her and laughs.
00:48:39Who are you running from, Habibti?
00:48:42Lena stops.
00:48:44Frozen in her standstill run.
00:48:46She wishes she could speak.
00:48:48There with the darkness to protect her.
00:48:51But all she manages to say is...
00:48:53Look how beautiful the sky is.
00:48:56Seeking refuge in the sky.
00:48:59They both look up.
00:49:01The nights of war bring calm.
00:49:04As long as an aeroplane or a drone
00:49:06isn't hiding among those pulsing lights.
00:49:08Baba's laugh breaks the silence.
00:49:10There's no better evening to run away.
00:49:15Lena stares at him in disbelief.
00:49:17A sense of complicity sparks between them.
00:49:20A connection is made.
00:49:23A spark that gets lost in the night.
00:49:27It's as if they are in two different worlds.
00:49:30Convinced they are looking at the same horizon.
00:49:33The same vanishing point.
00:49:37Why don't we run away together to England, Baba?
00:49:41Old people feel the rain in their bones.
00:49:44And mine hurt a lot, Habibti.
00:49:48Well, where would you like to go then?
00:49:51Baba doesn't answer.
00:49:52He makes a half wince of pain while Lena watches him.
00:49:56By the starlight she can see how much he's aged.
00:50:00His thinning hair, his wrinkled hands, his face steeped in sorrow.
00:50:06Tomorrow, explain carefully to Noor how to take the needle out of the syringe.
00:50:12I wouldn't want her to hurt herself.
00:50:15But why? I always take care of the injections.
00:50:18Baba flicks his ash.
00:50:19Of course.
00:50:20But it's better if she knows how.
00:50:23You never know.
00:50:25Baba, I...
00:50:26Lena stops herself.
00:50:28If she says it, it becomes real.
00:50:31If she says it, she has to stay.
00:50:36He manoeuvres his wheelchair toward the entrance of the tent.
00:50:39He pauses for a moment beside her.
00:50:42Reaches out to squeeze her hand.
00:50:44Then changes his mind.
00:50:47I'm going to sleep. I'm okay.
00:50:49It's getting late.
00:50:52Lena follows her father inside the tent.
00:50:55Noor tosses in her sleep.
00:50:56A restless dream, making her hands twitch.
00:51:00She turns on the tablet.
00:51:0411.57pm.
00:51:07She looks at Baba.
00:51:08She looks at Noor.
00:51:10She looks at the stove where everything is ready for tomorrow's breakfast.
00:51:15Her finger hovers in mid-air between the send button and the trash can icon.
00:51:21Lena closes her eyes.
00:51:24Then her finger comes down like a guillotine,
00:51:27severing the thread that keeps her tied to the ground.
00:51:34Breathe.
00:51:59And I'll follow you, please.
00:52:03Liyla Liaha wo Liyla Addyir Shami Liyla Liya Arway Liyla
00:52:14Waani Liyla pebatmea lilylil,iro Riyahi Liyla
00:52:25Yaasih Liyla Ruy Dawr Liylai
00:52:38First lesson by Fatma Youssef
00:52:43Sitting on the beach of Deir al-Bala, the most beautiful in Gaza, Khalid watched the sea rippled by the
00:52:53wind.
00:52:53It blew fiercely from the north, from Gaza City, where columns of smoke smudged the horizon.
00:53:03An ancient song came to his mind, one that entrusted words of love and resistance to that very north wind.
00:53:15Mahmoud, his best friend, had taught it to him, and Mahmoud had learnt it from his mother, who used to
00:53:24sing it while watching the children play in the courtyard.
00:53:29She would say that in those songs, Palestinian women had hidden coded messages for the prisoners of the British.
00:53:39Messages that said, the time has come, let us take back the land we love.
00:53:47But they had not taken back their land. On the contrary, every day they felt it crumbling more and more
00:53:56beneath their feet.
00:53:57It soaked up their blood like blotting paper. The stain widened as it swallowed every word of protest.
00:54:07The entire people had been reduced to silence. Silence for Mahmoud's mother, killed by hunger and grief.
00:54:17Silence for Mahmoud himself, disappeared who knows where.
00:54:23A hiss pierced the sky, the siren, the rush, the roar, the white suspended light that precedes the darkness.
00:54:35Then silence. That silence that slithers like a snake among the tents after every bombing.
00:54:47Khalid tried to get up, but his body did not move.
00:54:52People rushed over. Some helped his wife. Others took the little girls away, covering their eyes.
00:55:02Khalid saw torn flesh, the blood dripping from his leg. He felt weaker and weaker, suspended between life and death.
00:55:12Please Baba, please don't die. No.
00:55:16The faint plea of his daughter reached him. He didn't die, but they had to amputate his leg.
00:55:25Within a few months his wounds scarred over, but his spirit continued to bleed.
00:55:31Anger and anguish dried out beneath the salt of his tears.
00:55:38Around him words like truce, sometimes even peace, began to be spoken.
00:55:47Voices eager to reclaim their lives.
00:55:51Let's go back too, his wife proposed to him one day.
00:55:56How can we, if I can't even stand?
00:56:00Motionless all day long, he thought of the past, of peace, assuming there had even been one.
00:56:07He remembered his long conversations with Mahmoud.
00:56:11Where had his courage gone?
00:56:13As a young man, he was ready to fight for Palestine.
00:56:18Mahmoud's voice echoed in his mind.
00:56:20It's our turn. We must do our part for our people.
00:56:24He wanted to agree with him, to stand up, to do something.
00:56:30But then he would remember he had lost a leg, and the full weight of his betrayed hopes would fall
00:56:36back upon him.
00:56:38Mahmoud, who was perhaps dead, and now existed only in his head, insisted.
00:56:44There is something at stake here that is bigger than you, than me, than us.
00:56:49We are talking about the future of Gaza, of Palestine.
00:56:53If we give up now, what will be left?
00:56:57He tried to chase that voice away.
00:57:00The fighting, Khaled, didn't survive the bomb.
00:57:04Is what he would have liked to answer his friend.
00:57:07But there was nothing to say, and no one to say it to.
00:57:12One afternoon, his daughter came to him with a frown.
00:57:16She showed him the drawing she was colouring.
00:57:20It was a flag.
00:57:22Baba, I don't know if the black or the green goes on top.
00:57:27Khaled felt a pang.
00:57:29A pain different from that of his stump, which tore him from his torpor.
00:57:34His daughter didn't know her land.
00:57:37She didn't know her roots.
00:57:40She didn't know that Palestine wasn't just blood, pain and rubble.
00:57:44That colourless flag was a prophecy of a people forced to forget.
00:57:50Let's go back.
00:57:52He told his wife a few days later.
00:57:55Let's go fight for our children.
00:57:59They set out toward the north.
00:58:02Alongside thousands of women, men and children.
00:58:06Hearts beating to the rhythm of their steps.
00:58:10Hurried steps.
00:58:12Hearts heavy with longing.
00:58:14Eyes, once lifeless, now alight with hope.
00:58:20Everyone carried memory on their shoulders.
00:58:23And a key clutched tightly in their hands.
00:58:27Every now and then, Khaled had the impression of glimpsing his long lost friend in the crowd.
00:58:35Every step was torture.
00:58:38Yet strangely, instead of pain, he felt life slowly reawakening within him.
00:58:46For the first time in months, they walked together.
00:58:51Truly together.
00:58:52He leaning on his wife's shoulder.
00:58:56The little girls running ahead and then darting back laughing.
00:59:00As if the world could still be a carefree place.
00:59:04The sun was warm.
00:59:07The wind carried the scent of the sea.
00:59:11Khaled began to hum that northern darida.
00:59:16From the north blows the wind of my land.
00:59:19It calls me northwards.
00:59:22Tonight, it will throw wide the gates.
00:59:26I entrust you with the message, North Wind.
00:59:30Go to my people.
00:59:32Whisper it to them.
00:59:34Our exile has lasted too long.
00:59:37We yearn to return.
00:59:41Swallow, fly to my loved ones and sing it to them.
00:59:45Sing it to them and sing it for everyone.
00:59:49And on your wings, carry my love to them.
00:59:54They reach their destination.
00:59:56Some men seem to be waiting for them on the spot and welcome them as one welcomes an unexpected reinforcement.
01:00:06Mahmoud's voice spoke again within himself.
01:00:10I knew you wouldn't back down.
01:00:12He told them about his project and they found a place near the sea to get to work.
01:00:18Khaled took command with a confidence he didn't remember having.
01:00:22He had a detailed plan, schedules, a list of materials, necessary resources in a word.
01:00:31The project in all its implementation phases and with its respective objectives.
01:00:38They found pipes, nails, bolts and old sheets of fabric.
01:00:44They measured the resistance.
01:00:47They tightened the knots one by one, indifferent to their fingers cut by the cables or their throats irritated by
01:00:57the dust.
01:00:57Only the final touch was missing.
01:01:02Khaled took a flap of white cloth and began to write on it, carefully tracing one letter after another.
01:01:12For a free Palestine.
01:01:18In three weeks, everything was ready.
01:01:22Khaled could begin his mission.
01:01:25The children arrived.
01:01:27They took their seats.
01:01:29Khaled smiled.
01:01:32Let's begin with our first lesson.
01:01:34Who can tell me the colors of the flag of Palestine?
01:01:51The two of them to attend.
01:01:54The three of them.
01:01:56The three of them.
01:01:57I'll move on to a very first dozen.
01:01:57The three of them.
01:01:58The seven of them.
01:01:58The three of them.
01:02:05Well, you'll be the third of them.
01:02:17The mother poem by Ibrahim Aleloh.
01:02:22In a written future there was a city with no name left.
01:02:27Its inhabitants called it simply the grey city, after the old worn wood from which all
01:02:35the houses were made.
01:02:37Its unstable foundations rested upon dunes of debris and rubble.
01:02:43The city bore the marks of an ancient devastation, and the survivors who had not fled, or had
01:02:50been unable to, lived, immersed in a dark, colourless, silent landscape.
01:02:58Yes, above all, silent.
01:03:03Because in the grey city, even the word no longer held value.
01:03:08The locals believed it to be useless, even harmful.
01:03:14Perhaps they simply wanted to forget the past, which words tend to evoke.
01:03:21Perhaps they wanted to ignore the threat that still loomed over them.
01:03:26Because what had happened could happen again, and it was better not to think of it.
01:03:34Perhaps it was words themselves that had led them to ruin.
01:03:41Silence had become a custom, a way to live in peace.
01:03:48Words were used with extreme parsimony, whispered in the intimacy of one's home.
01:03:55Basic needs, inescapable requests.
01:03:59I'm hungry.
01:04:01I'm thirsty.
01:04:03I'm cold.
01:04:05Help.
01:04:07A little more.
01:04:10The others, now nameless like everything else, had built countless settlements all around the
01:04:15grey city, and had managed to impose a rule over the inhabitants bartering a truce for justice.
01:04:22They imposed no rules, duties, or tributes, only oblivion.
01:04:31In the name of peace, it was necessary to forget ancient grudges, wrongs, and reasons.
01:04:38Therefore the word had become a taboo for everyone.
01:04:41Because giving everything its name, like surrender, oppression, diaspora, hurt even more.
01:04:53Everyone remained silent, except for Abraham, the self-proclaimed poet who continued to use
01:04:59every word, even rage, struggle, love, hope, hate.
01:05:10Every day, Abraham went to the central square with a sheet of paper clutching his hands.
01:05:17Around him, indifference.
01:05:22No one paid him any attention.
01:05:25Ten, a hundred, a thousand times the same scene repeated itself, identical.
01:05:33He breathed in, breathed out, and spoke.
01:05:38He declaimed a poem.
01:05:42Besides his words, the only sound to be heard was the quick footsteps of people passing by
01:05:48without stopping.
01:05:50He felt their gazes fly over him like a ghost.
01:05:54The only person who listened to him was his sister, Misk.
01:06:01Every day, Abraham returned to the shack where he lived with her.
01:06:05Every day, he felt more defeated.
01:06:09I don't know what else to come up with, he told Misk one evening, as she sat, hugging
01:06:15her knees.
01:06:16There must be a poem capable of striking them.
01:06:19A combination of words so powerful it cannot be ignored, so sharp it tears through their silence.
01:06:27Misk spoke to him with a voice of a healing sister.
01:06:32They are already wounded, Abraham.
01:06:35They are full of blows.
01:06:38Why won't you respect their choice?
01:06:41They barely tolerate you as it is.
01:06:45Don't you understand?
01:06:47I only want to protect you.
01:06:49Protect me from what?
01:06:50I could scream until I tear my throat and nothing would happen.
01:06:57Every night, I pray that they continue to ignore you, Misk said with a tremor in her voice.
01:07:05But whose side are you on?
01:07:10She approached and took him by the shoulders, her voice breaking.
01:07:17Yours.
01:07:18I have always been on your side.
01:07:21I only want to be heard, Abraham protested.
01:07:27But you refused to listen to their pain.
01:07:30Tears flowed down Misk's gaunt face.
01:07:33Abraham's eyes shone with something akin to fury.
01:07:37He broke away from his sister's grip and sat at a crooked table he used as desk, thus
01:07:42decreeing the end of the discussion.
01:07:45This time, he thought, this time they will listen to me.
01:07:50He stared at a blank page while Misk's words worked inside him, slowly.
01:07:55Was it true?
01:07:57Perhaps he wasn't listening to their pain.
01:08:00That is what he should do.
01:08:03Speak to the pain, from the pain.
01:08:07He didn't know if he was capable or he would try.
01:08:12Thus, the poem spent an entire week in search of the mother poem.
01:08:17The one that would ignite the spark in the dull eyes of the people.
01:08:22Something raw.
01:08:24Something born from the deepest, most intimate, most secret suffering.
01:08:29The desk was in semi-darkness.
01:08:32The hours slept by without him realizing.
01:08:36A mother poem.
01:08:39Like the mother of vinegar.
01:08:41Like sourdough.
01:08:44Occasionally, noises disturbed his tireless work.
01:08:47It was Misk in the background.
01:08:50Her quiet weeping.
01:08:51Her sighs.
01:08:53He paid no mind.
01:08:56Then suddenly, he realized he had finally found the words.
01:09:01He rushed to the central square of the great city.
01:09:04His voice came out louder than usual.
01:09:07For the first time, the citizens were listening to him.
01:09:13Misk stayed far away, watching the scene full of fear.
01:09:17When the reading was finished, he looked around.
01:09:22Not indifference, but gazes turned toward him.
01:09:26A flash of triumph.
01:09:29Here was the mother poem that woke consciousness.
01:09:34Yes, it was true.
01:09:37There was still silence.
01:09:39But this time, it was different.
01:09:42It was a silence that had never been heard before.
01:09:47Upon returning to the shack, Abraham was euphoric.
01:09:51I did it, Misk.
01:09:53They listened to me.
01:09:54I spoke to their pain.
01:09:56You cannot stay here.
01:09:59His sister replied, coldly.
01:10:01What?
01:10:03What are you saying?
01:10:05You are joking.
01:10:07They will never forgive you for speaking.
01:10:11Abraham was incredulous.
01:10:14I tried to protect you.
01:10:17Now I must protect myself.
01:10:19You must leave.
01:10:21Get out.
01:10:22I told you.
01:10:24Those words hit him harder than a kick to the face.
01:10:29For the first time, the shack seemed as grey as the rest of the city.
01:10:36In the heart of the night, he left.
01:10:39With the mother poem in his pocket, he climbed a mound of ruins,
01:10:44a massive tomeless of the city of old.
01:10:47From up there, with a heavy heart, he could see the large central square,
01:10:52the rotten wooden houses, and further in the distance, the settlements of the others.
01:10:59Then, he noticed a thin trail of smoke rising to the sky.
01:11:06The shack was on fire.
01:11:10He ran breathlessly past the crowd that had gathered up front towards the heat.
01:11:15His fellow citizens were surprised to see him alive, but they rejoiced to see him run into the fire.
01:11:21Then, only the crackling of wood falling apart.
01:11:31This is the price of words.
01:11:34The price of believing that a few rhyming syllables can make a difference.
01:11:40The price of the mother poem.
01:11:45It wasn't ink on paper.
01:11:47It was wooden beams giving way.
01:11:51Fire devouring, consumed flesh.
01:11:57The gray city had restored the silence.
01:12:02It had reduced Abraham's words to ash.
01:12:21What if my home was small enough to fit as in my pocket?
01:12:26If bombs couldn't hit our houses, were I not to hear their sound again, while buildings, people come all down?
01:12:36What if it were a dream, and we woke up and found where all went wrong, as on a map?
01:12:44What if our loved ones were still with us, and nothing ever changed, and none the less?
01:12:50What if we knew the value of what we had, but we still had it, here, or so we're said?
01:12:58What if their tales no more metastasize?
01:13:02What if my words could make them too realize?
01:13:06What if the stars were splattered with their lies?
01:13:09What if the river drowned their hollow cries?
01:13:13What if the dead could peel their old disguise?
01:13:17What if my solace were the truth they'd find?
01:13:22What if their God had left them deaf and blind?
01:13:25What if the end were always certain, mine?
01:13:30The words I utter, no one dares to say.
01:13:33This town of ours, shan't be ever, be so gray.
01:13:38I tell you now, a fact for all to see.
01:13:43Tomorrow, Palestine will be whole free.
01:13:49Thank you so much, William.