“My only weapon…is that I won’t leave this place”

“My only weapon of defense is that I won’t leave this place,” says Abu Sagr, a resident of the Jordan Valley, in the documentary This Palestinian Life: Stories of a Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance, screening tonight at the Wellington United Church of Christ.

Living in Palestine as a relief and development worker from 2005 to 2007, Egyptian-German student Philip Rizk encountered the practice of sumoud, or perseverence, a form of nonviolent resistance against the Israeli occupation.  This became the inspiration for Rizk’s documentary, which portrays the daily lives of Palestinian villagers and Bedouin. 

Rizk was briefly imprisoned and interrogated by Egyptian security forces last February after participating in a protest against the Isreali incursion into Gaza.

Rizk will speak live after the screening via Skype.  Rabbi Brant Rosen of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston moderates a panel featuring Usama Houlila of Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence.

This Palestinian Life screens tonight at 7 and 9 PM at 615 W. Wellington. $5 suggested donation.