Our Statement of Solidarity (A Year Later)

October 2024

Noor Theatre profoundly mourns the precious lives — Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni, and Israeli — lost over the past year and prior during this horrific time for our community. As a theatre company dedicated to championing artists of MENA/SWANA descent, we are deeply horrified by the escalation of violence in the Middle East, and we urgently stand in solidarity with our communities - across the Middle East and in the diaspora - against the escalating devastation of the region.  We continue to call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the Israeli government assaults on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen as well as an end to United States support and exportation of weapons to the region. We continue to condemn all anti-Semitic acts of violence inflicted across the world and we call on U.S. leaders to join the international community in holding the Israeli government accountable for its ongoing genocide and intensifying destruction of the region. Most importantly, we reiterate our call for an end to the Israeli occupation and for the internationally recognized independence, freedom, and self-determination of Palestinians. 

We were deeply grateful to present our Arab Voices Festival this September in Beirut at a time when the healing power of art and community was more important than ever, but due to the bombings in Lebanon by the Israeli government, we were forced to end the festival early to protect the safety of our artists and colleagues. We are devastated by this, and continue to acknowledge the grief, rage, and tremendous pain that so many artists in our community have experienced over the past year and continue to experience now.  We are more determined than ever to develop and support new and innovative ways to hold space for you to tell your stories and to celebrate your beautifully rich heritage. We continue to uplift the plurality of our beautifully diverse community, which includes peoples of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths among others, and will continue to fight for our diverse voices to be heard and uplifted, radically and compassionately. We continue to stand with our community.

Read our original statement of solidarity HERE.

Resources and ways to take action:

Sign/Call/Write:

• Actions from the Adalah Justice Project

• Actions from Jewish Voice for Peace

Donate:

• US Campaign for Palestinian Rights 

• Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

• Middle East Children’s Alliance

• Islamic Relief USA

• Médecins Sans Frontières

• UN Relief and Works Agency

• Lebanese Red Cross/Red Crescent

• Syrian Arab Red Crescent

• Center for Arab American Philanthropy Disaster Relief Fund

Other Resources:

MENATMA’s list of resources and action steps (2023): https://www.menatheatre.org/statement-on-palestine