OVER 60 people attended Marino Church, Bantry on Monday May 18th to hear Dr Abdelfattah Abusrour, founder of the Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society, in Bethlehem.
Dr Abusrour told the story of his family, and of growing up in Aida refugee camp after his parents became refugees when their villages were destroyed or repopulated. His parents first pitied Jewish refugees from Europe but described their experience as like ‘giving a bed to a distressed stranger for the night and in the morning they put you out of your house saying it belongs to them’.
His first-hand account described how day to day life is becoming increasingly difficult for Palestinians with 900 checkpoints and barriers, over 60 in Bethlehem alone.
ADVERTISEMENT
In 1998, Dr Abusrour established Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society as a theatre group, in his parent’s house, in the refugee camp. His aim was to give hope to Palestinian children and provide peaceful ways to express themselves and to resist the occupation by celebrating and keeping alive Palestinian culture. The activities expanded to include music, dance, photography, art, and writing to cater for different interests.
Programmes also cater for children with trauma, for people with learning difficulties and for older people. People in Aida refugee camp are the most exposed to teargas in the world.
The Alrowwad Society now works as mobile arts programme in seven different refugee camps. International tours let young people see normal life and he hopes to bring a group to Ireland in 2027.
Dr Abusrour was joined by Naser Al-Swirki, a film producer and theatre director who was born in Gaza, and Dr Pat Bracken, retired clinical director of West Cork Mental Health Services for a panel discussion chaired by Maeve Higgins. Dr Bracken spoke of how the war in Gaza had introduced a new word into the English language. The UN now use the word ‘medicide’ to describe Israel’s targeting of hospitals, ambulances, healthcare workers and this has now extended to Lebanon. Naser reminded the audience that Gaza was the place which invented gauze, still used for healing all over the world.
A total of €720 was raised for the work of the Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society.
