Chinese kufiyas and Hebron (al-Khalil)

A play, presumably about how kufiyas are mostly made in China, is being put on in Hebron on April 18 (and after, elsewhere in Palestine). Hebron (al-Khalil), of course, is the site of the last remaining kufiya factory in Palestine. I have no further information about the play, other than what is on the poster itself. It is presented (and presumably funded) by the A.M. Qattan Foundation, and the al-Malki al-Falamanki Theater. It's good to see some attention being paid to this critical issue. If you're gonna buy kufiyas, please buy Palestinian.

New DAM video for Juliano Mer Khamis

On the first anniversary (April 4) of the unsolved murder of Juliano Mer Khamis, the Palestinian-Israeli rap band DAM put out this very moving video. (Helpfully, with English subtitles.)

Juliano was the son of Palestinian-Israeli Saliba Khamis (who I met in 1985) and Jewish-Israeli Arna Mer-Khamis. His parents were Communists, and such "mixed" marriages were quite common in the Israeli Communist party in the 1950s. Julian was a movie and theater actor, and director of a well-respected documentary, Arna's Children (watch it here) about his mother's work with a children's theater in Jenin, a city in the West Bank. He is best known for founding Freedom Theatre, a community theatre that provided opportunities for children of Jenin Refugee Camp. Juliano was shot by a masked gunman in front of the theater, and the killer is still at large.

Check out Mark Levine's tribute to Juliano and his work here.