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Sitting perched on a
hill in the suburb of Al-Masyoon, the Ramallah Cultural Palace has
an almost conspicuous air of tranquillity to it. Just down the road
lie the mangled remains of half a dozen cars destroyed by Israeli
tanks as out in the distance one can see the first signs that the
separation wall is finally beginning to encroach on the city. The
gleaming new building, however, almost seems to rise above these
troubling reminders of the enduring Israeli occupation, offering
instead a sense of hope and renewal.
The Ramallah Cultural Palace is the first and only cultural centre
of its kind in the Palestinian territories. The centre contains
state-of-the-art facilities including a 736-seat auditorium,
conference rooms, several exhibition halls designed to handle
anything from intimate poetry recitals, to film premieres and
big-ticket music events. The centre cost approximately $5 million to
build and is the result of a six-year joint venture between the
Palestinian Authority, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
and the Japanese government. The Japanese are no strangers to such
projects, having previously helped build a similar cultural centre
in Cairo.
Izuru Shimmura, head of the Japanese diplomatic mission to Palestine
explained to Al-Ahram Weekly why the Japanese helped fund the
project. "The importance of such a cultural centre stems from the
need to preserve the very rich Palestinian cultural heritage," he
said. "We hope that the new centre will create a venue for cultural
exchange among Palestinian people as well as with other cultures
throughout the world." Shimmura's comments are just one indication
of the high expectations being placed on the Ramallah Cultural
Palace. There is a real sense that the centre represents a kind of
turning point, or at the very least a symbol of the kinds of normal
activities Palestinians can look forward to once the occupation
ends.
The centre's grand opening on 5 July will kick off a busy month of
inaugural activities including a keynote address by Mahmoud Darwish
and a concert performance by well-known Palestinian musician Simon
Shahin later in the month. The Spanish group Radio Tarifa, whose
critically acclaimed music stems from a fusion of Andalusian and
Arabic influences, is set to perform on 25 July. The Cultural Palace
will also host the first ever Ramallah International Film Festival
on 8 July, followed a few weeks later by Palestine's first ever
musical.
Ayoub Rabbah, Ramallah's mayor, told the Weekly that he hoped the
bevy of planned activities sends a clear message that despite the
hardships being endured, Palestinians can still host world-class
events. "It is a necessity for any people to have a cultural centre
like this. Ramallah is well known to be a city that supports the
arts," he told the Weekly, adding, "the Palestinians have the right
to continue our normal life despite the hardship and occupation."
In addition to the cultural events planned throughout the month, the
centre will also host celebrations on 7 July to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of the UNDP's Programme Assistance to the Palestinian
People (PAPP). Building the cultural centre was a major PAPP
undertaking with UNDP staff heavily involved in every stage of its
construction.
Timothy Rothermel, the UNDP's special envoy to the Palestinian
occupied territories, told the Weekly that its completion was a
cause for celebration for both Palestinians and the UNDP. "A
cultural centre is particularly important in the Palestinian context
because it gives a sense of national identity at a time when people
are struggling for their nationhood," he said.
While PAPP has provided a variety of assistance to the Palestinian
people over the past quarter century, including major infrastructure
projects in both the West Bank and Gaza and the release of the first
ever Palestinian Human Development Report, Rothermel told the Weekly
that he considered the cultural centre to be one of PAPP's greatest
achievements. "Culture cuts to the core of development," he said.
"People can be deprived of their incomes, their education and their
crops, but it is hard to take somebody's love for music and the
arts. And in a place like Palestine, that doesn't have its own
recognised identity yet, I think to preserve the past but also to
adapt it and to share Palestinian traditions is a very important
thing," he said.
Completion of the building was delayed by almost a year owing to the
logistical nightmare involved in trying to build anything new in the
occupied territories. With the border often being sealed without
notice, officials were often hard-pressed to find the most basic
building materials. Rothermel also told the Weekly that UNDP staff
also sometimes faced "frustration at checkpoints, particularity with
the treatment of national staff."
Despite the headaches and the difficult situation still facing the
Palestinians, everyone involved in the project is tremendously
optimistic about the impact the centre will have on the city of
Ramallah and for Palestinians everywhere. The opening "does happen
to coincide with a time where the noose seems to be tightening
around the Palestinians. The hope is that this operation will give a
renewed sense of pride and hope for a better future," said Rothermel.
After the ceremonies on 5 July, responsibility for the maintenance
of the building will fall to a board of directors comprised of
Palestinian intellectuals and artists, with joint management with
the municipality of Ramallah and the Ministry of Culture.
*Posted by http://electronicintifada.net. Originally published in
Al-Ahram Weekly on Tuesday July 6, 2004.
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