An attempt to understand my socio-political disposition through artistic research on personal identity in relationship to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Part One

I like to think of this performance as an unfinished product, an ongoing situation just like the Palestinian situation is unresolved. Originally this piece was a dance. However, in the process of making the dance, I found myself unable to translate the text in my mind with my physical body. The process therefore became a challenge for me to figure out how to put the Palestinian situation within the context of performance. Humour became a way for me to distance myself from personal feelings in order to draw the interest of the audience and inform them at the same time. This project also became a way for me to further educate myself about the Palestinian situation in order to better understand the complexity of my own identity: an American-Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia with Jordanian/U.S. nationalities, raised in the Catholic Church speaking English and who moved to the United States at age 10. Though I feel a certain amount of distance to the land of Palestine and the Palestinian People, the fact that I feel lost and confused about my Palestinian identity is a state that many Palestinians identify themselves with. That is what it means (partially) to be Palestinian today.
Tarek Halaby