The Jerusalem Fund Gallery
April 9 – May 7
2425 Virginia Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20037
202.338.1958

Last night a friend and I went to Duke University to see the play ‘Speak Truth to Power’ by Ariel Dorfman. It is based on testimonies from 51 human rights activists collected by Kerry Kennedy in her book “Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World.” The play was performed at the Kennedy Theatre in 2001 by famous US actors including Signourny Weaver, Kevin Kline, Alfre Woodard, and Alec Baldwin. Then President Bill Clinton addressed the audience.

When Ariel Dorfman took on the project, he assured Kerry Kennedy he would include the voices of each of the 51 who gave testimonies. Raji Sourani, Gaza’s foremost human rights lawyer, were among those interviewed, and I was looking forward to hearing his story and feeling his presence on the stage with the 50 others.

The stage was set like the outline of an eye. There was an arc of chairs in the back, a reverse arc of podiums in the front, and two men (representing repressive powers and apathetic onlookers) standing on a platform in the center. Before they told their stories of oppression and resistance, the actors moved from the seats in the back to the podiums in the front. Once at the podium a spot light shone on them, and their name and country was projected on the back wall. A small handful of the characters did not approach the podiums and were not lit by the strong spot lights, such as with the actor portraying an activist from the Sudan who did not give her name in order to protect her life (in the book she is listed as “Anonymous”). The actor playing Raji Sourani also did not go to the podium. He remained seated, in the dark, and was only given seconds to speak:

We Palestinians are nearly a forgotten people, consigned to a second-class existence. No one needs peace—a just peace—more than those who are oppressed.

That was it. It was the shortest of the testimonies, and unlike most of the others it gave no specfics. His name was projected in a flash. If you had turned or rubbed your eyes you would have missed it.

I’ve written a letter to Mr. Dorfman, whose work I admire (tacked to a wall in my studio is an article of his regarding making art during times of war). I asked how he made his choices, and specifically how he made the choices regarding Raji Sourani’s testimony. I realize it must have been a daunting task to include 51 voices in a play. It may be that his choice to keep the Palestinian voice quiet, brief, unspecific, and in the shadow was for a reason other than political. However, even if this is the case, the play’s lack of representation of a Palestinian story of oppression mirrors its absence in this country.

Raji Sourani’s testimony can be read at: www.speaktruth.org/defend/profiles/profile_19.asp

–Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, quoted in New York Times