Performance Artist Will Present Program on Israel-Palestine Conflict at University of Richmond

February 6, 2004

Israeli storyteller Noa Baum has spent years having a dialogue and friendship with a Palestinian woman. She will tell their story April 13 at the University of Richmond in her performance piece "A Land Twice Promised," which deals with the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Born and raised in Israel, Baum has lived in the United States since 1990. She met the Palestinian woman, who wishes to remain anonymous for family and political reasons, in Davis, Calif. Baum had never had a friend from the West Bank, and the Palestinian woman had never met an Israeli who wasn't a soldier or a settler before meeting Baum.

The women's friendship is the basis for the performance. "I was reminded again that once you've heard the other's story, they could no longer be your enemies," Baum said. "I wanted to connect my listeners with this experience of discovery and common ground and crafted these stories from our memories and those of our mothers."

"We spent hours arguing and disagreeing, getting defensive and struggling with the voices we grew up with, our respective historical narratives we believed were The Truth," Baum said. "However, having heard the story of the other, we were able to come back to our basic trust, affection and compassion for each other."

Baum has been teaching and performing since 1982. The event, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Modlin Center for the Arts, is sponsored by the Office of International Education, the Department of History and the Department of English. It is free and open to the public.