The above is the promotional photo for a one-woman show called I Heart Hamas, which I quite literally stumbled upon accidentally. Written and performed by someone called Jennifer Jajeh, it is in its fifth year of touring.
With the current ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of global terrorism, and the never-ending negotiations and hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by all of the bad international news. That’s exactly how Jennifer feels. And to make matters worse, Jennifer is Palestinian. Well, Palestinian American. Or more precisely: a single, Christian, first generation, Palestinian American woman who chooses to return to her parents’ hometown of Ramallah at the start of the Second Intifada.
Join her on American and Palestinian soil on auditions, bad dates, and across military checkpoints as she navigates the thorny terrain around Palestinian identity. Weaving together humour, storytelling, multimedia, live theatre and pop culture references, Jajeh explores how she becomes Palestinian-ized, then politicized and eventually radicalized in this fresh, often funny, searingly honest solo show.
And what about that title? On one hand, Jajeh claims the show does not support or encourage terrorism. On the other hand, she admits to understanding terrorists like Hamas.
In the end, she says, she “get[s] it”—she understands how someone would become a suicide bomber.
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Jajeh has said that she called her play I Heart Hamas to be provocative, but the title also virtually guarantees that no one will see it who doesn’t already support the cause of justice and freedom for Palestinians. That said, for those of us who do, it’s worth the ticket price to get the rare glimpse of the Palestinian experience on a New York stage.
She also seems to be trying to make them sound less ominous.
“I’m taking ownership of ideas and words and conflicts that people are very serious about…and I’m trying to kind of loosen it up and open up a conversation in a different way…take some fear away that you can be a little more playful with these ideas.”
Her tweets reaffirm the fact she at worst supports terror and at best understands it.
Brave statements! RT @haaretzonlineIsraeli ex-soldier: I support Palestinian armed resistance and understand terror. htz.li/MJ981Z
— Jennifer Jajeh (@ihearthamas) June 18, 2012
Despite the vile title and message of the show, it is receiving good reviews, and Jajeh is currently fundraising to spread her message to Scotland.
It is truly a sick world we live in where a show that rationalizes terrorism is so in demand.
