Voices Of The Middle East And North Africa

Why would a celebrated Chilean playwright decide to bring attention to a human tragedy all the way back in Syria that has been unfolding for the past 7 years? Bay area based artist and director of Guillermo Calderón's play Boosa or Kiss, in Arabic, Evren Odcikin tells us about his decision to direct this play and about the role that art and theater can play in addressing pressing cultural and political problems. But first we'll hear a conversation with Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, about Israel’s deportation order against him and the challenge to this decision - and to the draconian law it is based on - which Human Rights Watch has mounted in Israeli courts. Vomena contributor professor Bassam Haddad spoke with Omar Shakir about Israel’s passage of the Nation State Law, enshrining Jewish supremacy over Palestinians as a constitutional mandate, and how shifting regional dynamics may impact the human rights situation on the ground.`