Gaza Monologues in the Balkans

People and collectives across geographies, including many that are part of the AGITATE! Community took up ASHTAR Theatre’s call for solidarity with Gaza. Our comrades from the Balkans organized the translation, reading, performance and extensive sharing of Gaza Monologues on the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine, observed on Wednesday, Nov 29th.

The Free Palestine Initiative based in Croatia assembled a group of artists to embody soulful monologues of Gazan teenagers that reflect on their lives, experiences of death, loss of home and dreams during the first war on Gaza in 2010. The monologues also elucidate hope and imaginations of freedom that persist despite violence, oppression, and occupation. The six performances of stories from the Gaza Monologues in Croatian are available here. The transcript of the monologues are available here.

The artists’ labor was accompanied by an even wider response by children, teachers, health practitioners, and others who performed in their backyards, at public squares, by railway lines, and in their workplaces.

Feministički antimilitaristički kolektiv/The Feminist Antimilitarist Collective from Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted a Feminist reading of Gaza Monologues in Bosnian at the Museum of Literature and Performing Arts in Sarajevo, where echoes of a four year long siege from 1992 to 1996 persists. The siege, an indelible mark etched in the tapestry of collective memories, lingers as a visible wound upon Sarajevo’s visage, continually fueling movements for freedom, and urging resistance against occupation and violence.

The Bosnian translation of Gaza Monologues is still undergoing refinement, but we are making the current working version available for anyone who wants to join this action.