A common language

LINDA GRADSTEIN THE MEDIA LINE

An elderly Arab woman approaches a young Israeli woman at a garbage dump. They have no common language, yet somehow they interact.

Called Take-away, the play is set in a garbage dump on what used to be a sacred hill. A group of garbage collectors, all refugees from conflicts, live on the hill. They sort through the garbage that is dumped and, in so doing, learn about each other.

“Garbage is the source by which we discard each other, and so much stuff,” explained Bonna Devora Haberman, the co-director of the Y Theatre Project. “We’re really trashing the world, and that comes from a very instrumental approach to the other. We look at a person as a means to fulfil our goals and, once that person is no longer useful, we discard them.”

The piece came out of two years of workshops by Haberman and her Palestinian Y Theatre partner, Kadar Herini. The play comes as political negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are frozen, and amid tensions over the United Nations recognition of “Palestine” as a non-member observer state and Israel’s decision to move ahead with thousands of housing units on post-1967 land. There is also pressure against “normalization,” or Palestinian contacts with Israeli organizations.

“Kadar has been threatened and blacklisted by co-professionals for working together with me,” Haberman said. “I’m an ‘out’ Israeli and I support the state of Israel. I believe working together will contribute to improving the quality of Israeli and Palestinian society by encouraging the process of critique and seeing things from each other’s point of view.”

The conflict, however, is never far away. Some of the Palestinian actors have been delayed at Israeli checkpoints. There are also personal conflicts over religion.

“Kadar believes that Islam is the ultimate development of religion, which encompasses whatever gifts and contributions that Judaism and Christianity made to humanity, and he sees no reason why we shouldn’t simply convert to Islam,” Haberman said. “I’m an observant Jew and I practise religiously. We’re both learning how to find shared space and sometimes it’s sheer agony.”

The project is being funded by a Kickstarter campaign to which people can donate money online. As of the campaign close, 106 people donated more than $7,500. They each received tickets to the show.

Other actors say they see the play as a way to reach out and start a discussion on how Israelis and Palestinians can live together.

“Today people don’t want to hear about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – they’re just sick of it,” said Fida Zeidan, a young Druze actress in the group and a student of theatre. “This is the only way I can get them to listen.”

Haberman said she is optimistic that the play can restart a dialogue that is essential for Israelis and Palestinians.

“There are so few people who believe in the possibility of working together,” she said. “Through relationships and professional collaboration, we can make a difference by educating people about what it means to live together with respect and even caring and commitment to each other.”

She paused and added, “We’re investing in hope.”

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