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AMIT BERLOWITZ, La mer Morte (ou ”mer de Loth” ou “mer de Sel”) — fin décembre 2015

Machtesh Ramon is the world’s largest machtesh created by erosion. Unlike other craters, which are created by meteors, a machtesh is a result of a long and slow erosion, mainly created by precipitation flowing on layers of rock.

Machtesh is a Hebrew word that entered the international geological vocabulary. Within the machtesh’ cirques ancient layers of rocks are revealed, unique fossils, beautiful colors, unique geological forms and many more secrets.

The length of the machtesh is about 40 km, its maximal width is 9 km, and its deepest point is about 350 meters. Most of the machtesh’ land is drained by the Ramon river, called in Arabic “Wadi-a-Roman,” named after the Romans, who have traveled this area in the past, walking through the spice trail. The spice trail is an ancient trade road, which led from Petra, the Nabataeans’ main city, to the Mediterranean Sea near Gaza.

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMIT BERLOWITZ — November 2015

#Amit Berlowitz #mactesh ramon #wadi-a-roman #gaza #spice trail

#Amit Berlowitz #mactesh #ramon

SHOMREI HA’GAN (Keepers of the Garden)

Keepers of the Garden seek to educate children and grownups in a unique way, one that is based on learning skills that will help individuals have better connections to themselves, to those around them and to their own role in the ecological system. It offers a special way of being in the world, one that is balanced with our environment, and yet suits the era in which we live.

The underlying basic notion is that hunter-gatherers had reached an ongoing balance with their environment 2.5 million years BC because they were able to master skills that touch upon three circles: man – earth – spirit.

The earth circle – begins with learning basic day-to-day skills of hunter-gatherers’ cultures: learning to light a fire, or build a shelter, scouting and camouflage, chiseling rock, gathering medicinal herbs or growing one’s food. These skills help us understand the influence each of our actions has on the world, as well as being aware of our ability to provide our own basic needs.

The man circle – focuses on skills that are related to the way in which men conduct themselves in the world, such as looking at and listening to our surroundings; respectful communication and conflict resolution skills which stem from connection to the two other circles. One of the main purposes of Keepers of the Garden is to allow each individual to connect to his own calling, while allowing him to live in peace and cooperation with his brothers and sisters, and create a healthy environment for himself and for future generations.

The spirit circle – awareness – the children at Keepers of the Garden learn how to be in their surrounding environment, they acquire a unique way of listening: listening with all senses, listening in hearing and seeing, listening with smell and taste, with an open heart and intuition. Such attentiveness creates a direct connection with nature, with the essence of human being within nature, and with each man’s own spiritual world.

(Thank you to Ariel Appel and Boaz Shiloh, the wonderful guides, and to all the beautiful children.)

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMIT BERLOWITZ — October 2015, Tel Aviv

#Amit Berlowitz #keepersofthegarden #children

Dimanche 21 juin | Amit Berlowitz | Reportage

THE EL-HAKAWATI (STORY TELLER’S) THEATRE

The theatre was established in 1984 in the old Al-Nuzha cinema in the Bab A-Azhara neighborhood in East Jerusalem. El-Hakawati was formed in 1977 by a group of young creators that included Francois Abu Salem, Amer Khalil, Jackie Lubeck, Radi Shehadem Eduard Mualem, Admam Tarabshesh and Ibrahim Khalayleh. They believed theatre is tied to stories and a vision and not necessarily a place. The theatre’s repertoire included Jidaria, a play based on a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, and two co-productions with the French playwright Jerome Savary and his Magic Circus from Nice (A Thousand Nights of a Stone Thrower, and Galilean Ali).

From its establishment the theater was known as the Palestinian National Theater (PNT), and became a national Palestinian symbol. As such it faced problems with the Zionist establishment.

The years of the first Intifada, from 1988, hurt the theater. Not only did the interest in art decrease, but the freedom of movement of its audience was impaired and Palestinians from outside Jerusalem had difficulties traveling due to blockages and curfews. Most of the theater members left El-Hakawati, continuing their work in other places. In 1999, Jackie Lubek established the Theater Day Production in Gaza and Hebron. Radi Shehadeh formed the Al Syyreh Theater in Al-Maga in Saudi Arabia in 1992. In 1990 Eduard Mualem formed the Astar Theater and the same year Admam Tarabsheh the Al Meydan Theater in Dubai.

Not supported by Palestinian funds due to Israeli laws, the El-Hakawati Theater suffered censure and was shut down a number of times on Israeli Government decrees.

François Abu Salem, who had dedicated his entire life to the El-Hakawati Theater, committed suicide in 2011. Amir Khalil, who in 2011 established the Pocket Theater in Jerusalem, closed it when he was asked to return to El-Hakawati as its manager, a position which he still holds today.

These days the theater is busy rehearsing Des Roses et du Jasmin, a new play set to open in June, directed by Adel Hakim. This is the theater’s first co-production with the Theâtre d’Ivry. The play tells the story of a Palestinian family through three generations living in Jerusalem in the period between the end of World War II and the first Intifada.

El-Hakawati was established in order to promote theatrical education for the Palestinians in Palestine, to train actors and form a cultural community with international ties. As such the theater continues to exist despite the political difficulties. I hope that the story of the El-Hakawati theater group, the story of the Palestinian theater and identity, a story of loyalty and dedication, will receive international acknowledgment, and will continue to exist as an expressive tool for Palestinian personal and national ideas.

— East Jerusalem, May 2015.

[For Amit Berlowitz’s other chronicles, click here.]

#Amit Berlowitz #Bab A-Azhara #East Jerusalem #theatre #El-Hakawati #Mahmoud Darwish #François Abu Salem #Adel Hakim #palestine

The village of Iqrit was captured by the Israeli army in October 1948. A week later its residents were told to evacuate for a period of two weeks, until there were no security problems with their return. Since then, the residents of the village have been trying to get back to their homes, without success. For more than 60 years the church has stood abandoned on the top of the hill, with the ruins of the village as monuments beneath her.

The village was captured without a fight and four of its representatives signed a “temporary surrender decree,” in which they agreed to surrender to the IDF without demands, and to give up all the weapons and artillery they had, and abide by the army's rules. The people of Iqrit raised a white flag. The village priest, holding the Bible, welcomed the Israeli armed forces, he spoke in Hebrew, "Welcome, sons of Israel.” The Mukhtar followed the priest with bread and salt and invited the entire regiment to stay at the village.

A week later, on November 6, the residents of Iqrit were told to leave their homes and move to the neighboring town of Ramah, situated about 30 kilometers to the south-east. According to the residents, a IDF officer by the name of Jacob Karah, who gave them the order, said it was only for fifteen days, and that they should take only what they needed for that period of time. And so, the people of Iqrit left behind the majority of their property and food plus a number of guards. According to witnesses from the village they were moved in Army trucks and put up in houses from which the residents of Ramah had escaped during the fighting.

126 families, comprised of 616 people, evacuated Iqrit. The British Mandate Government documents from 1947 stipulate that at the time the area belonging to the village was 16,000 dunams, of which 73 were built, 324 were used for agriculture, 588 for grazing and 14,028, empty land.

On Christmas eve 1951, five months after the supreme court upheld the right of the people of Iqrit to return to their village, Iqrit was ruined by the IDF, leaving only the church standing, yet it too bears signs of damage. The destruction took place while the residents claim was still in discussion at court — from September 18th, when the appeal to cancel the leaving orders they received was handed in, and February 6th, the date the Supreme Court had set to discuss the appeal.

The villages land was divided up into three Israeli villages — Even Menachem, Shumra, Goren — and one natural reserve.

During the years, the displaced Iqrit residents had no choice but to come to terms with the Jewish settlement on their lands. At a very early point they declared that they did not want a solution that would cause new problems, meaning that they would settle by going back only to the area of their village and some of the unworked land."

There is no doubt in my mind that if the village were standing today, we could walk between its shaded alleys and enjoy the fruit of its orchards, and meet its residents, with the church bells ringing in the background.

(Many thanks to Jacob Hayatt without whom we wouldn’t have arrived at Iqrit.)

TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMIT BERLOWITZ — Iqrit, April 2015

#Amit Berlowitz #israel #palestine #iqrit #1948