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Saleem Dabbour (Arabic: سليم دبور‎) (born 18 September 1970), is a Palestinian writer, scenarist, director, film critic and political activist.^[1] Dabbour became popular for his "straight-forward and daring work" as a writer in Kaffa (2007) and Shubak al-Ankabout (2009).^[2]

Background[edit]

Born in Jalazone, Palestine in 1970, Dabbour acquired Dutch citizenship in 1998 after a royal decision by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and since then, detains two citizenships (Dutch and Palestinian). He holds a BA degree in English Literature from Bir Zeit University and a postgraduate diploma in Cultural Studies from the Netherlands.

Poetry and writing[edit]

Dabbour started writing poetry and stories at a very young age. His first poem was published in the national newspaper aged 12. He continued writing and publishing throughout his teenage years; at least hundreds of his writings, including poems, short stories, song lyrics and articles were published in mainly Arabic, but also a few Western/American magazines and newspapers. He sang, recorded various tapes and performed at several occasions in his late teens. In university he became editor of both the Arabic and English university magazines, as well as an important contributor. He wrote several plays (among others 'Khaliluha'; Keep Her – on the social custom of early marriage, 'Fi Beetina Jinn'; A Ghost in Our House – on superstitions and 'Mala'ikaat Rahmeh; Angels of Mercy – on performance of nurses) most of which were performed in the main Palestinian theater houses. He also authored two novels; 'Saber' – A common name that can be translated as The Patient One; on the life of a Palestinian between 1982–1993, and 'Al-Kharqa al-Belliyya' – The Dirty Rag, on social and political life of a group of young Palestinian adults; but both remain unpublished. Saleem continued writing short stories and won literary prizes, incl. First Prize for Short Prose 2003, El-Hidzjra Foundation, Netherlands, for 'Eyewitness' – a story on the Jenin Massacre in 2002, in which hundreds of Palestinians were brutally killed. English and Dutch translations of his work are distributed through a network of admirers in the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France.

Achievements[edit]

Dabbour was chosen to participate in Stateless Nation, a project from the Venice Biennale that collected video interviews with prominent Palestinians in Palestine and the Diaspora for ongoing exhibition throughout Europe, starting at the Venice Biennale in 2003 and currently (2008) at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

Upon return to the West Bank in late 2003, Dabbour started working for the Association of Women Committees for Social Work, where he is still the General Manager of PR and Programs on a full time basis. He established and runs his own semi-independent department within this organization to empower Palestinian women and promote their rights. He was selected to take part in the US Department of State-funded International Visitor Leadership Program in 2006 as sole Palestinian representative, during which he was presented the Distinguished Visitor Plague by the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights in 2006.

Dabbour was listed in the top 5 "Leading cultural personality" category in Palestine in Ma'an's 2009 Annual Leading Figures and Organizations poll.^[3]^[4] About 296,000 of the voters who took part in the poll were in Palestinian territories, 85,000 were in Israel, and the remainder of voters, 10% of the total, were from 120 other countries, mainly Jordan, Egypt and the United States.^[3]

He recently traded his home in this refugee camp near Ramallah on the West Bank for life in the adjoining village of Jifna. Lived from 1998–1999 and between 2000-2003 in the Netherlands.

Work[edit]

Featured films[edit]

Nuktet Tahawul (Turning Point) (2012)

Nuktet Tahawul, also known as Turning Point, was the brainchild of producer and writer Anas Abu Saada, director Refaat Aadi and scenarist Saleem Dabbour. The film was an intended "turning point" in Palestinian cinema history, with a 100% Palestinian-backed production.^[5]^[6]^[7] The film gained a lot of media attention for being the first Palestinian film that was released in Egyptian cinemas, after initially being banned by former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.^[8]^[9]^[6] The film that was shot in its entirety in Palestine, faced many difficulties due to Israeli conflicts, especially when shooting in the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour in the West Bank.^[5]^[9]^[6]^[7]

The drama, which is based on true stories about a Palestinian growing up under Israeli occupation in the early and late 80s, stars Sami Mitwasi as narrator and leading character Osama, and co-stars 15-year old Majd Dabbour as the young Osama.^[7] The 100-minute film which took 14 months to shoot, is set in a small Palestinian village and tells a personal journey of adolescence and young adulthood, struggles, hardships and existence.^[5]^[9]^[6] As a child, Osama tries to live a carefree life, but he is surrounded by misery and strongly believes that the occupation is responsible for most of it.^[8]^[5]^[6] His hate of the occupation and love for the country surmounts the love for his family members, his true love, and his much older, special friend.^[8]^[5]^[6]

Spider Web (Shebaak al-Ankabout) (2010): Spider Web deals with lawlessness and the rule of law in Palestine in a moving dramatic story on the fight for justice and dignity. The 90-minute film highlights the role of the PNA and various justice agencies in confronting corruption and crimes that take place in a Palestinian village due to the corruption of a police officer who covers up for criminals. Their crimes disrupt order in this village, causing chaos and undermining the safety and well-being of the whole community. The film sends a strong message that it’s not possible for any citizen to feel safe and secure on the personal or community level in the absence of law, as only the law can guarantee justice and impartiality of the judiciary and safeguard the rights of all citizens. The film also shows women progressing to non-stereotyped roles, i.e. an abused wife becoming a gas station owner and worker, a harassed university girl complaining to high level police officer.

The high quality film was produced for the TAM project, screened in community and university settings with following discussion sessions and broadcast on 10 TV stations.

Kaffa! (Enough!) (2007)

Kaffa! is a short drama that deals with the political turmoil in Palestine which began in January 2006 during the first democratic parliamentary elections that Hamas participated in, its unexpected landslide victory, the following international aid boycott and the developing internal conflicts that marked 2007 and overshadowed Israeli occupation policies.^[10] The 48-minute film sought to provide truthful and objective insight into these issues by capturing developments in a family with two sons of rivaling parties. Focusing on the mother and the sons who belonged to rival factions Hamas and Fateh, the film followed the family through the excitement of the pre-election and immediate post-election period, to the growing tensions and increasing inter-factional violence which disrupts family life and the mother's health.^[10]

Kaffa! was awarded the Gold Prize at the 2009 Tunis Arab Media Festival,^[10] and won the Silver Prize at the 14th Arab Media Festival in Cairo, 2008, in the short film category.^[11]

Theater[edit]

Shahbour (2012): Shahbour is a 60-minute play that seeks to promote civic engagement and volunteerism, using irony and satire. The play focuses on misconceptions about volunteer work and criticizes the people that only move to action when there is direct material compensation. The play attempts to make the audience reflect about what (s)he can do to help others and help solve priority issues that affect their community. Shahbour, a misery coffee shop owner, gradually changes under the influence of Abu Srour into an active community volunteer, finding not only more respect but also an increase in his clientele. His wife, Aziza, finds an interesting solution to solving the waste problem in the village, forcing the local council to take the issues brought forward by their constituents more serious... The play was performed live on 20 occasions and will be filmed for broadcast on TV.

Let's Vote (2011): Let’s Vote is a 60-minute play that provides information about various voter registration and election procedures in an entertaining manner, using comedy and music, and a professional cast including famous Palestinian actors and young talent. Performed 10 times for live village audiences including at the annual 3-day Apricot Festival in Jifna, with a total attendance of around seven thousand people. The play was a project component of the Increasing Voter Awareness project that also included voter education workshops for women.

Dance with Death (2008): Dance With Death is a play inspired by regular Gaza bombings. It deals with extreme suffer, hope and despair of war victims. The play tells the story of a lone young boy that tries to save his father who his critically injured and trapped under the rubble of their destroyed house. Using a minimalist approach and an absurd interpretation of this harsh reality, the play criticizes not only the occupational war policies, but also the lack of intervention on part of the Arab and Western world. It was performed among others at the International Children Festival, Tunis, 2008. One week after that performance the War on Gaza started…

Balak Bithoun (2007): The 60-minute long social play Balak Bithoun deals with domestic violence, visualizing the cycle of violence including between spouses, child abuse and juvenile violence, in a realistic yet comic manner, with inclusion of Islamic and traditional views on the subject. The play was designed to help the diverse audience participants relate what they see to their own lives and to the life of the community, received much media attention and was applauded for its effective way in breaking the silence surrounding the sensitive domestic violence issues and stimulating the audience to participate in discussions. The play was performed in 80 communities, then filmed and screened in at least another 40 communities, and broadcast on various TV stations.

Aniimated films[edit]

Al-Hayaa Ahla (Life is Better) (2007)

Al-Hayaa Ahla (Life is Better) was the first-ever Palestinian-made animated film for children.^[12] Written by Dabbour, this 22-minute long film that evolves around children's rights using original characters, was funded by UNICEF and distributed to children, schools and child rights organizations throughout Palestinian territories.^[12]

Documantary films[edit]

The Road to Success (2008): The 50-minute, high quality documentary seeks to shed a light on the plight of Palestinian women activists, who face strong societal and occupational obstacles, and the important work of local and national women’s organizations in Palestine. The documentary is intended to inspire and support women’s activism in a patriarchal culture and an obstructive political environment. The documentary features successful young and veteran women’s activists, including the Minister of Women’s Affairs, telling openly about their personal journey and efforts towards becoming successful women’s rights’ defenders in their community and society. The documentary was broadcast on local TV stations.

Television[edit]

Shu Fi Ma Fi (20 episodes, 2006)

Shu Fi Ma Fi was the second Palestinian-produced TV 'soap' series in history. Produced by the independent Ma'an Development Center, the series, which was labelled as a family comedy, consisted of twenty 40-minute episodes set in a University and dealt with a range of social and political issues including domestic violence, corruption, parliamentary elections, inter-religious marriage, online love and drugs. The series, which was deemed a great achievement for Palestinian media productions, was first broadcast in 2006, during the month of Ramadan on Palestinian Satellite Channel as well as 12 other independent Palestinian TV channels.

Political movements[edit]

In April 2011, Dabbour accused the Israeli government of assassinating Palestinian director Juliano Mer Khamis and went on to claim that Israel has an agenda against Palestinian artists "who expose their policies".^[13]

References[edit]

^ "شاشات يعالج قضايا المرأة الفلسطينية". AlJazeera. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ "'Beyond The Sun' Film Premiere Au First Production Of 'Turning Point' Project". Palestine News Network. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Best of 2009 unveiled in Ramallah". Ma'an News Agency. 1 February 2010.
^ "Best of 2009 unveiled in Ramallah". American Task Force. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Shaeeb, Hiba (14 December 2011). "بالصورإعلان تفاصيل أول فيلم فلسطينى فى تاريخ السينما المصرية". AlNahar. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "نقطة تحول - أول فيلم فلسطيني يعرض في القاهرة". Maan News. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Namet'Allah, Sara (26 November 2011). "نقطة تحول فيلم فلسطينى بدور العرض المصرية قريباً". AlAhram. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sadek, Basem (17 December 2011). "نقطة تحول: فيلم فلسطيني منعه نظام مبارك". AlSharq. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c "نقطة تحول فيلم سينمائي فلسطيني في دور العرض المصرية". AlArab. 28 Deceber 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Palestinian shows win big at Tunis Arab TV and Radio Awards". Ma'an News Agency. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ "Palestinan film wins silver at 14th Cairo Arab Media Festival". Ma'an News Agency. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b "DCI and UNICEF produce animated film on child rights". DCI. 13. Retrieved 30 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
^ "مثقفو فلسطين فجعوا باغتيال جوليانو". AlJazeera. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2012.