13/06/2021
As Palestinians are actively resisting colonial occupation and ongoing ethnic cleansing, CinéMadart stands in solidarity with them and in support of their national liberation struggle against the apartheid state of Israel. Our solidarity is rooted in the acknowledgement that the roughless attacks of May 2021 in Sheikh Jarrah, Lydd, Haifa and Gaza, are connected to decades of state sanctioned violence amouting to incremental genocide. The Nakba is not an event restricted to 1948, it is a brutal and ongoing process of systemic and institutionnalized opression, displacement, erasure of the Palestinian identity and silencing of the voices of resistance.
We believe that more than ever, we in Tunisia, need to be (re)connected directly to Palestinians and to hear Palestinian voices. We want to start what needs to be an ongoing conversation with the Palestinian artistic and cultural scene, thriving despite being fragmented between the occupied West Bank, Gaza, Palestine 48, and their diaspora.
CinéMadart is launching GAZES FROM PALESTINE, a programme around Palestinian cinema, adressed to different audiences, from cinephiles, to students or anyone curious to encounter Palestinian cinematic and artistic expression.
This program is our pledge to deepen our common understanding of the current context in Palestine, historical and present, provide a platform to amplify Palestinian voices and support their anticolonial struggle by showcasing their multiplicity of experiences: through cinema screenings as well as conversations with Palestinian artists, thinkers and cultural workers.These needed connections are a way to honor our shared history, the attachment of the Tunisian people to Palestine, and our commitment to anti-zionism as an integral part of the anti-colonial struggle.
Part of the proceeds of the ticket sales will be added to a crowdfunding to rebuild the Samir Mansour Book Store, in Gaza, obliterated in the last onslaught on besieged Gaza. Built 21 years ago, it has also served as a community center for the local community and school children.
As we express our awe of the Palestinian steadfastness, we call on all artistic and cultural practionners in Tunisia to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people fighting for justice, dignity, freedom and right of return, by reading and spreading the LETTER AGAINST APARTHEID: www.againstapartheid.com
“Apartheid must be dismantled. No one is free until we are all free.”
It’s Free Palestine, until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.
Artwork : Mothanna Hussein