PUTNEY — “Witness to Genocide: Israel/Palestine: A Journey to Peace” will be performed in Putney at the Friends Meeting House on Route 5 on Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m.
This is a multimedia performance on the narrative of the Jewish Diaspora, the Palestinian people, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza.)
The performance combines stories, music, poetry, photography, and art based on Namaya's story of living and working in Yemen and Morocco, and his travels through Palestine, Israel, and the Islamic world.
Namaya also speaks of his Jewish family's journey out of Eastern Europe through such stories as “L'Chaim” and of Jewish life during the Diaspora.
Namaya says he tells this story out of necessity.
“In witnessing the destruction of our Jewish communities through pogroms and the Holocaust, having touched the walls of Prague and Budapest with the names of my extended family who perished, and also seeing the present inhumane occupation of Palestine. […] I hope to create an opportunity for peace.”
Ayman Nijim, a Gazan and a well-known speaker on human rights and Palestine, will also perform and help to facilitate a discussion about the future of Palestine and Israel. There will be an opportunity for all to join in discussion in the spirit of compassionate listening.
Namaya has performed portions of “Witness” in Palestine at the Al-Rowadd Theater, at the Fellowship of Reconciliation in New York, at the Yemen Embassy in Washington D.C., and at colleges and universities in the United States.