Saleem Dabbour

Poetry and writing

Saleem Dabbour published his first poem in Al-Quds (newspaper)at the age of 12. In his teenage years, hundreds of poems, short stories, and articles of his hand were published in Palestinian magazines and newspapers. He also wrote song lyrics and sang at several festivals. At university, he was contributor and editor of both the Arabic and English student magazines. At the age of 22, Dabbour wrote, directed, and produced his first theater play, Khaliluha, addressing the social custom of early marriage. Two other theater plays followed shortly; Fi Beetina Jinn and Malikaat Rahmeh, and were performed in the main theater houses.

At the age of 23, Saleem Dabbour completed his first novel, Saber,^{[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]}which was published 20 years later by Dar al-Jundi, in October 2013This novel draws a powerful, dramatic, and emotional portrayal of a young Palestinian refugee, Saber, facing poverty and unemployment in the occupied West bank between 1987 -the onset of the Intifada- and 1993 -the Oslo Accords. The second main character, the old man Abu Abed, provides an account of the years between the Nakba (1948) and the Intifada. The novel conveys the enduring spirit of a land and its people that has grown accustomed to suffer and lost expectations, but still lives on, usually finding some relief with each other amidst all the misery. The suspenseful, realistic narrative moves at a fast pace through detailed memories of two generations of Palestinian refugees, heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes, sharp observations, and lively dialogues that sometimes verge on the absurd.

In 2016, Dabbour's second novel "Al-Horoob"^{[28] [29] [30] [31][32][33][34][35]} was published. Al-Horoob (The Escape) accurately depicts through its crazy characters and crazier events an important period in the history of the Palestinian people, after the Oslo Accords in 1993 till the period of the Aqsa Intifada in 2001-2003. The reality of living in an illusion of peace with the arrival of the Palestinian Authority under ongoing occupation in a torn up country can only be described as madness. The 'self-made' mad main character learns with great disappointment that instead of any meaningful peace, the repressive measures of the occupation never cease and the only change is widespread corruption. So he tells and complains to his dead father, whom he imagines before him. Aside the often symbolic references to the whole political situation, the novel paints a real and realistic picture of the social life of the people in the camp, village and city, and shows the deep friendships and close relations between the members of the Palestinian society, especially under siege.

Achievements

Saleem Dabbour has won several literary prizes, including the First Prize for Short Prose 2003, El-Hidzjra Foundation, Netherlands, for Eyewitness – a story on the Jenin massacre of 2002^[36]. In 2003, Dabbour participated in Stateless Nation, a project from the Venice Biennale that collected video interviews with prominent Palestinians in Palestine and the Diaspora for ongoing exhibition. For his work and efforts in the human rights field, Dabbour was honored as a Distinguished Visitor by the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights in 2006. Dabbour was voted among the top 5 Cultural Personalities in Palestine in Ma'an's 2009 Annual Leading Figures and Organizations poll.^[37][38] in which around 450,000 persons took part. In 2013, Dabbour became CEO of IMPACT, a nonprofit organization specialized in creating visual productions for social change.

Featured films

Nuktet Tahawul^[39][40][41] (Turning Point/Beyond the Sun)) (2010)

Nuktet Tahawul is a truth-based drama on a Palestinian boy growing up under Israeli occupation in the 1980s, stars Sami Mitwasi as the leading character Osama, and co-stars 15-year-old Majd Dabbour as the young Osama. The 100-minute film is set in a small village and tells a personal journey of adolescence and young adulthood, struggles, hardships and existence. The film was a "turning point" in recent Palestinian cinema history, for being the first-ever 100% Palestinian-funded production with an all Palestinian crew and cast.^[42][43][44] As a result, unlike most Palestinian productions, it did not need heed any censorship and could take head on the brutality of the Israeli conflict and the controversial issue of collaboration with the Israeli military.^[45] It gained a lot of media attention for being the first Palestinian film that was released in Egyptian cinemas, after initially being banned by former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.^[43][46][47] The film that was shot in its entirety in Palestine, faced many difficulties due to Israeli conflicts, especially when shooting in the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour in the West Bank.^{[42][43][44][47]}

Spider Web^[48] (Shebaak al-Ankabout) (2010)

Spider Web deals with lawlessness and the rule of law in Palestine in a moving dramatic story on the fight for justice and dignity. The 90-minute film highlights the role of the Palestinian National Authority and various justice agencies in confronting corruption and crimes that take place in a Palestinian village due to the corruption of a police officer who covers up for criminals. Their crimes disrupt order in this village, causing chaos and undermining the safety and well-being of the whole community. The film sends a strong message that it’s not possible for any citizen to feel safe and secure on the personal or community level in the absence of law, as only the law can guarantee justice and impartiality of the judiciary and safeguard the rights of all citizens. The film also shows women progressing to non-stereotyped roles, i.e. an abused wife becoming a gas station owner and worker, a harassed university girl complaining to high level police officer.

The high quality film was produced for the TAM project, screened in community and university settings with following discussion sessions and broadcast on 10 TV stations.

Kaffa!^[49] (Enough!) (2007)

Kaffa! is a short drama that deals with the political turmoil in Palestine which began in January 2006 during the first democratic parliamentary elections that Hamas participated in, its unexpected landslide victory, the following international aid boycott and the developing internal conflicts that marked 2007 and overshadowed Israeli occupation policies.^[50] The 48-minute film sought to provide truthful and objective insight into these issues by capturing developments in a family with two sons of rivaling parties. Focusing on the mother and the sons who belonged to rival factions Hamas and Fateh, the film followed the family through the excitement of the pre-election and immediate post-election period, to the growing tensions and increasing inter-factional violence which disrupts family life and the mother's health.^[50]

Kaffa! was awarded the Gold Prize at the 2009 Tunis Arab Media Festival,^[50] and won the Silver Prize at the 14th Arab Media Festival in Cairo, 2008, in the short film category.^[51]

Theater

Shahbour (2012)

Shahbour is a 60-minute play that seeks to promote civic engagement and volunteerism, using irony and satire. The play focuses on misconceptions about volunteer work and criticizes the people that only move to action when there is direct material compensation. The play attempts to make the audience reflect about what (s)he can do to help others and help solve priority issues that affect their community. Shahbour, a misery coffee shop owner, gradually changes under the influence of Abu Srour into an active community volunteer, finding not only more respect but also an increase in his clientele. His wife, Aziza, finds an interesting solution to solving the waste problem in the village, forcing the local council to take the issues brought forward by their constituents more serious... The play was performed live on 20 occasions and will be filmed for broadcast on TV.

Let's Vote (2011)

Let’s Vote is a 60-minute play that provides information about various voter registration and election procedures in an entertaining manner, using comedy and music, and a professional cast including famous Palestinian actors and young talent. Performed 10 times for live village audiences including at the annual 3-day Apricot Festival in Jifna, with a total attendance of around seven thousand people. The play was a project component of the Increasing Voter Awareness project that also included voter education workshops for women.

Dance with Death (2008)

Dance With Death is a play inspired by regular Gaza bombings. It deals with extreme suffer, hope and despair of war victims. The play tells the story of a lone young boy that tries to save his father who his critically injured and trapped under the rubble of their destroyed house. Using a minimalist approach and an absurd interpretation of this harsh reality, the play criticizes not only the occupational war policies, but also the lack of intervention on part of the Arab and Western world. It was performed among others at the International Children Festival, Tunis, 2008. One week after that performance the War on Gaza started…

Balak Bithoun^[52] (2007)

The 60-minute-long social play Balak Bithoun deals with domestic violence, visualizing the cycle of violence including between spouses, child abuse and juvenile violence, in a realistic yet comic manner, with inclusion of Islamic and traditional views on the subject. The play was designed to help the diverse audience participants relate what they see to their own lives and to the life of the community, received much media attention and was applauded for its effective way in breaking the silence surrounding the sensitive domestic violence issues and stimulating the audience to participate in discussions. The play was performed in 80 communities, then filmed and screened in at least another 40 communities, and broadcast on various TV stations.

Animated films

Al-Hayaa Ahla (Life is Better) (2007)

Al-Hayaa Ahla (Life is Better) was the first-ever Palestinian-made animated film for children.^[53] Written by Dabbour, this 22-minute-long film that evolves around children's rights using original characters, was funded by UNICEF and distributed to children, schools and child rights organizations throughout Palestinian territories.^[53]

Documentary films

The Road to Success (2008)

The 50-minute, high quality documentary seeks to shed a light on the plight of Palestinian women activists, who face strong societal and occupational obstacles, and the important work of local and national women’s organizations in Palestine. The documentary is intended to inspire and support women’s activism in a patriarchal culture and an obstructive political environment. The documentary features successful young and veteran women’s activists, including the Minister of Women’s Affairs, telling openly about their personal journey and efforts towards becoming successful women’s rights’ defenders in their community and society. The documentary was broadcast on local TV stations.

Television

Hadrat Al-Adalah (part two 2015) – ^{[54] [55]} These series seek to inform about laws that protect the rights of Palestinian women, based on real court cases.

Naema wa Fadl – (30 episodes of 30 min 2017).^{[56] [57]}

This soap series features women in traditional male roles and vice versa leading to hilarious situations within a family in a world where men are the subject of oppression. It aims to open eyes about gender equality in a traditional Arab society. MA'AN

Shu Fi Ma Fi^{[58][59][60][61]} (20 episodes, 2006)

Shu Fi Ma Fi^[62] was the second Palestinian-produced TV 'soap' series in history. Produced by the independent Ma'an Development Center, the series, which was labelled as a family comedy, consisted of twenty 40-minute episodes set in a University and dealt with a range of social and political issues including domestic violence, corruption, parliamentary elections, inter-religious marriage, online love and drugs. The series, which was deemed a great achievement for Palestinian media productions, was first broadcast in 2006, during the month of Ramadan on Palestinian Satellite Channel as well as 12 other independent Palestinian TV channels.