Razanne Carmey\u00a0the artistic director and Mohamed Masharqa the producer certainly kept their promise. <\/span><\/a>It\u00a0 was indeed\u00a0 an incredible evening, and probably the biggest Palestinian cultural event since the 2005 Deir Yassin Annual commemoration event. Once again we saw\u00a0a room entirely full with an enthusiastic, dynamic crowd, supporting a stage that was exploding with Palestinian talent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The night was a commemoration for the great Juliano Mer Khamis, and a celebration of the power of cultural resistance.\u00a0 In the spirit of the ongoing regional Intifada in the Middle East, we saw hundreds of highly motivated Palestinians and\u00a0other members of the Arab community rising together,\u00a0believing in themselves and their cause.<\/span><\/p>\n But, there were also a few issues of concern that should be raised: the truth of the matter is that, prior to the evening\u2019s entertainment, I had been quite worried about the potential success of the show, because, generally speaking, tickets sales are very slow in Britain at the moment.\u00a0 But, I also knew that the\u00a0 <\/span>PSC<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>CAABU<\/span><\/a> (both production partners) hadn\u2019t \u00a0managed to sell many tickets in the run up to the show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Eventually though, it was clear to me that there had been no real reason to worry: the Arab community got it right<\/em>, and Logan Hall turned out to be very busy on the night.<\/span><\/p>\n And yet, I still want to express some concern: even though the event was strongly supported by the diverse Arab communities, how is it that out of more than 3000 PSC members, not that many UK people came out to support the event and to support these expressions of Palestinian culture? This is a serious question and it better be addressed by people who claim to support Palestine and Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n In Logan Hall, I met an old friend of mine, a much respected PSC activist and a very insightful woman. We both knew the truth: the Arab community had supported the event \u2013 but the English and the Jewish activists were just not there. I asked my friend, how is it that all those Jewish fiery enthusiast activists who join every BDS call to <\/span>boo Israeli artists<\/span><\/a> off stage \u2013 had failed to support the cr\u00e8me of Palestinian culture and artists? I do understand the reasoning behind Israeli boycott activity, and yet, isn\u2019t it equally important to support Palestinian artists?<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/ayman3-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Ayman\\"")
<\/span><\/a>The talent on stage was incredible: we enjoyed moving performances from Aymen Safieh, an incredible Palestinian modern ballet dancer, Al Zaytouna, enthusiastic Debka group, fabulous Nizar Al Issa and the outstanding Amal Murkus and her world class band, all of whom lit up the evening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n