The 6th Palestine Festival of Literature launches in West Bank and Gaza

The 6th Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) was announced a few days ago. The Festival will take place between May 23rd and 31st, and for the first time in cities across all of historic Palestine, PalFest said in a press statement.

Since PalFest's inception it has been a goal to put on a festival that bridges the lines of separation and segregation created by the Occupation by bringing together international and Palestinian authors.

This year, PalFest will consist of two groups of travelling authors: one in the Occupied West Bank and within the Green Line; the other in Gaza. Over the course of the festival free public events will be held in Gaza City, Haifa, Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah.

PalFest Founding Chair, Ahdaf Soueif says:

PalFest's first visit to Gaza in 2012 highlighted for us all the significance of what this festival tries to do. PalFest's mission statement instructs us to bring "world class cultural events to communities that otherwise would have no access to them". And who has less access than a community under siege – the Palestinians of Gaza? A community under military occupation – the Palestinians of the West Bank? A community fighting for equality and civil rights – the Palestinians in Israel? But despite their geographical fragmentation, and against tremendous odds, Palestinians continue to survive as a community. Culture plays a huge part in this. It is this unity of culture that PalFest speaks to this year by taking the festival to Haifa and Gaza City as well as Ramallah and Jerusalem.

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