Wie man nach einem Massaker humanistisch bleibt
Performance
It’s 06:30 in the morning: a woman is asleep in her bed when the dog starts barking outside and a little later the sirens start wailing. She goes into her children’s bedroom and lies protectively over them. No amount of desperate knocking from a neighbor seeking protection can release her from this position. Based on this exemplary scenario, and in direct reaction to the terrorist attacks on October 07, Israeli author Maya Arad Yasur reflects on coping strategies in the face of inhuman horror. The subsequent panel discussion provides a space to discuss the possibilities and limits of humanism at a time of great catastrophe.
Diskussion
The play WIE MAN NACH EINEM MASSAKER HUMANISTISCH BLEIBT IN 17 SCHRITTEN was developed immediately after the terrorist attack on October 07. It is an attempt to come to terms with pain, powerlessness and horror. Since then, the situation in Israel/Palestine has escalated massively: until the fragile ceasefire (as of January 24), the ultra-nationalist government of Israel waged a brutal war in Gaza for 467 days. At least 46,000 people were killed, a high proportion of them women and children, and at least 110,000 were injured. A large part of Gaza was razed to the ground, the livelihoods of the Palestinians living there have been destroyed and the future is uncertain. Leading genocide researchers speak of a plausible genocide, which in turn is disputed by other researchers. Palestinians around the world complain of a lack of empathy with their situation in the face of serious crimes under international law. Has a humanist perspective failed? The subsequent panel discussion will provide a space to discuss the possibilities and limits of humanism in the moment of greatest catastrophe.