Activists Talk
Qais Awayes, Coordinator of Active Nonviolence
Network in Nablus.









Qais Awayes is a unique figure. A playwright and drama teacher,
he also serves as Coordinator of the Active Nonviolence
Network in Nablus.

Before he started working with MEND, he organised camps for
children, simply in order that they might have fun, a right which
the ubiquitous shadow of violence does not respect.

Qais started working for MEND in 2004. A man with remarkable
charisma, his personality plays its part in attracting volunteers,
such as Muhammad Tamimi, a 22 year-old who acted as
interpreter for our interview. Qais now also supervises around 80
young Menders, boys and girls of 10 to 17 years-old.

Not surprisingly, he has drawn upon the dramatic talent that
exists amongst his volunteers – and there really is some talent.
Qais showed me a video recording of one of his hour-long plays,
which ran for ten nights, and attracted an audience of around
1000 for each performance.

The scenario, which Qais co-wrote with Afaf Khalaf, tackles the
daily struggles of Palestinians, some of which are related to the
occupation, and others which relate more broadly to the human
condition: marriage, domestic violence, and the misery of
crossing Israeli checkpoints.

It traces the effects of occupation and poverty upon a family in
which the father, himself subject to violence, resorts to violence
against his two sons. The sons flee home for the street, whilst the
father attempts to force his 15 year-old daughter to get married
so that he does not have to pay school fees.

In one particularly poignant scene, he is stopped at the
checkpoint on his way to Tul Karem to find work. Soldiers order
him to walk like a donkey before he can pass. Desperate for
money, he bears the humiliation of walking on all fours for his
family – for whom, despite everything, he cares deeply.
However, he is still denied passage to Tul Karen and returns to his
house angry and full of hatred.

The climax of the play is a dialogue between the father and his
son’s school teacher wherein the teacher encourages him to
deal with conflict and his anger through conversation with his
family, rather than through violence.

I found the play thoroughly moving and thought provoking, and
the response of those who saw it would suggest I was not alone.
Qais said that he received phone calls from audience members,
asking his advice for conflict-resolution within their families and
homes.

Ten Menders are currently rehearsing for his forthcoming play,
but it is not all work and no play – on the day of our interview
they had been given a day’s break from rehearsals in Jericho.

Bearing in mind the extent of incursions and Israeli operations in
Nablus, any break is well-deserved. I asked Qais how this almost
daily violence affected the work of MEND in the city.

He was philosophical. “All over the world people face danger”.
He continued, “Still, life stops when the Israeli soldiers come
near” as indeed happened during the previous week.
Fortunately, they had finished their practice before the incursion
was in full-swing.

The activities Qais runs in Nablus are courageous statements of
non-violent resistance to violence. In Nablus, the arena of so
much suffering and so much violence, this is not at all easy.

However, he can be encouraged. Theatre has clearly had an
effect upon those who saw his plays. This is a wonderful
testimony to the potential of Active Nonviolence.

He said that the idea MEND promotes is the guiding principle in
his life. The effects of this, when accompanied by his remarkable
character and charisma, makes him and the ideas he espouses
popular with children and adults alike – a contagious
nonviolence.

This article is based on an interview conducted on March 8th
2007 by Takanobu Nakahara, International Public Relations
volunteer for MEND.
Author: Takanobu Nakahara
Edited by: Mark Calder
Translator: Muhammad Tamimi