Director Miraz Bezar (L) and festival curator Mary el-Qalqili (C) speak with Ismail Khalidi (on screen), playwright of ‘Tennis in Nablus.’ (Photo by Anna-Esther Younes)A celebration of Palestinian arts and culture in the city of Berlin has sent a few German journalists and local politicians over the edge. “After the Last Sky” is a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary and international festival of contemporary Palestinian artists. Over the course of September and October, the festival sought to “transgress the boundaries of Palestinian life and identity,” and to do so through theatre, cinema, performance, literature, spoken word, music, dance, visual art, panel discussions, and more.
In a particularly vile article in the Tagesspiegel daily newspaper, journalist Johannes Bockenheimer accused the Palestinian and Jewish presenters of incitement, that is, being too critical of Israel. Showing no interest in the artistic program, his article attacks the curator Anna-Esther Younes and other organizers and presenters personally, for what he assumes to be their “proximity” to non-violent struggles for Palestinian rights.
Furthermore, Bockenheimer accused the Berlin Senate of supporting “anti-Israeli” activities, in an attempt to compromise the festival and its venue’s funding. Repeatedly referring to Israel as “Judenstaat,” the Jewish state, he equates Israel with Jews and manipulates any critique of Israel to appear essentially anti-Jewish.
