In an effort to gain deeper understanding about a conflict in the Middle East that has lasted for more than 55 years, the Mir Centre for Peace is hosting two events that will present a local perspective on life in the occupied West Bank.
Argenta photographer and journalist Louis Bockner will share his writings and images in a pair of evenings titled Postcards from Palestine on May 11 and 12. The events in Castlegar and Nelson will feature a collaborative performance by poet Zaynab Mohammed and musician Bessie Wapp, as well as a short presentation from Sid Shniad of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, an organization that envisions a just peace in Palestine and Israel based on equality and human rights.
“We recognize that this is a highly charged and very sensitive issue,” says Jennie Barron, the chair of the Mir Centre for Peace at Selkirk College. “It would be too easy to turn our attention away, but it’s important that we engage with each other, to respectfully listen and have dialogue across divides. That dialogue will be complemented by Bessie and Zaynab’s performance, which is symbolically very meaningful.”
A Perspective Through the Lens
Bockner is an award-winning photographer and writer whose work has been featured in The Narwhal, The Globe and Mail and Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine. In December 2022, Bockner traveled to the Palestinian city of Hebron in the West Bank where he spent three weeks in the occupied territory.
“I’ve wanted to travel to Palestine for a long time to see for myself what the situation is like,” says Bockner. “It’s a place that’s hard to get a clear picture of from afar because of the polarity of opinions around it, so experiencing it first hand was important to me. My time volunteering for Community Peacemaker Teams [CPT] in Hebron, the only segregated city in the West Bank, was a crash-course in the Israeli occupation and what it looks like on the ground for Palestinians every day.”
A masterful photographer who captures the soul of his human subjects and beauty of magnificent landscapes, Bockner will transport those in attendance to the heart of the conflict.
“Although I am a journalist, this presentation isn’t meant to be a piece of journalism,” he says. “It’s an attempt to convey what I felt and saw during my three weeks in Palestine and sharing my journal entries alongside photographs seemed like the perfect way to do that.”
Making Change Through Sharing Culture
Mohammed is an award-winning professional performance poet based in the Slocan Valley. She was born on the coast of BC to immigrant parents fleeing war-torn countries. Inspired by the hardships her family has endured, Mohammed’s writing touches on what is possible in the realms of healing and creating new ways forward.
“I've been waiting to be part of this conversation for a very long time,” she says. “Louis Bockner’s courage to put forth these events and fundraise for CPT in Palestine inspires me. Further, to collaborate with a woman with Jewish roots adds to the joy in my heart, as I am a woman with Palestinian roots. Once upon a time, we were neighbours, not enemies. History has robbed us of our kinship.”
Mohammed was named Nelson’s Cultural Ambassador in 2022 and Wapp was named to that role in 2015.
Wapp was raised in Nelson and has been a professional performing artist since 1993. After a formal education in visual art and music studies, she traveled the world for more than a decade with innovate interdisciplinary groups before returning to her hometown. She leads the Taghum Hall Choir, is a faculty member of Oxygen Art Centre and is a member of the Bill Lynch Trio.
“My ancestors are Eastern European Jews and it breaks my heart that in Israel my people have privilege while our oldest neighbours are second-class citizens,” Wapp says. “I am honoured and grateful that Zaynab welcomed this collaboration.”
Postcards from Palestine will be presented on May 11 at the Mir Centre for Peace in Castlegar and May 12 at the Shambhala Music & Performance Hall in Nelson. All profits from these two events will go towards the Hebron office of Community Peacemaker Teams. CPT is a global peace organization with offices in Columbia, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Canada, Lesvos and Palestine who believe violence is rooted in systemic structures of oppression.
Tickets are available online here ($15 adults, $12 seniors, $10 students). Bockner will also be selling physical postcards of his photographs at the event so please bring cash if you wish to purchase.
Learn more about the Mir Centre for Peace.
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