A BEAM OF LIGHT

Sariyyat Ramallah Al-Ula announced on Thursday morning that preparations for the Ramallah contemporary dance festival are ready.
It means that a dance festival will be held in ramallah this week (24th April)!! it will last 10 days.The festival will host 51 dancers from several countries (including Brazil, Denmark, South Africa, the United States, Serbia, Portugal, Lebanon, Canada, Spain, Ireland and France).

This is the second festival of its kind, and it will coincide with similar festivals being held in the Lebanese and the Jordanian capitals. It commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The festival will develop themes, such as lifting the siege of the Palestinian people, and establishing bridges of cooperation between the countries participating in the festival.

The director of the Sariyyat Ramallah group, Isam Rafidi, also announced that the group will honor Palestinian photojournalists, Osama Silwadi and Fadi Al-'Arouri who were both injured in Ramallah. I am happy to know that the photojournalists are important and respected here. It makes me wonder when could I be such a photojournalist!

I expect to see more cultural events such this! And not burning of books like I have witnessed not long ago.. Burning books are not the real essence of Palestine, but culture is the real essence of Palestine!The world needs to know that Palestine can develop great culture.Culture is the real character of Palestine, and i hope it will continue to be shown (and not burning books), in order to get respect from the rest of the world.

Happy and hopeful,

Asad.