Literary Festival Shut Down, article by Rory McCarthy Options

[Zaina]

Armed israeli police tried to shut down the opening of a prominent Palestinian literary festival in Jerusalem, ordering a theatre to close at the event.
The week-long festival, supported by the British Council and Unesco, had brought several high-profile international authers on a speaking tour of Jerusalem and the West bank, among them Henning Mankell, Micheal Palin and Ahdaf Soueif.
Shortly before the opening night on May 23, a squad of about 12 Israeli border police walked into the Palestinian National theatre, in east Jerusalem and ordered it closed.
They Brought a letter from the Israeli minister of internal securtiy which said the event could not be held because it was a political activity connected to the Palestinian Authority.
The audience and eight speakers were ordered to leave. However, the event was held - several minutes later, on a smaller scale, in the garden of the nearby French Cultural Centre. Israeli police were deployed on the street outside.
"We're so taken aback. It is completely, completely independent." said the Egyptian novelist Soueif, who is chairing the Palestine Festival of Literature. "I think it's very telling" she told people at the French centre. "Our motto, which is taken from the late Edward Said, is to pit the power of the culture against the culture of the power."
Israel regularly prevents political Palestine events in east Jerusalem but has also started to clamp down on cultural events, in an apparent attempt to extend control over the city.
It comes at a time of mounting international concern over the Israeli government's demolition of Palestinian homes and the growth of jewish settlements in east Jerusalem.
In March, Israeli authorities banned a series of Palestinian cultural events in Jerusalem that were to mark the Arab League's designation of Jerusalem as the 2009 capital of Arab culture.
Israel said the events breached its ban on Palestinian political activity.
This month, Israeli police closed down Palestinian press centre established in east Jerusalem for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.
Mankell, the Swedish crime novelist, told the crowd at the event: "Don't lose hope." He compared the raid to life under apartheid South Africa: "What really makes us human begings is our capacity for dialogue. The only way we can save ourselves finally in the end is the capacity for making dialogue with each other."
The festival staged events in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Jenin, before returning to the same Palestinian theatre in Jerusalem for the final event.
Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman said the event had been closed because it was belived it was organised or funded by the Palestinian Authority. He said a signed order was handed over by the police. "This is the policy being implemented with regard to any events which are either organised or funded by the Palistinian Authority in Jerusalem."
Rafiq Husseini, cheif of staff to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was dismissive of the actions.
"It shows how the Israelis are not thinking. This is a cultural event. There is no terrorism, there is no-body shooting...they are creating enemies for themselves".

This post has been edited by Zaina: Jun 7 2009, 08:45 AM