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Bruce

Gaza Ghetto

Public Intervention (2014 – present)

There should be a word for it.

Earlier this summer I was sitting in a Berlin cafe with two other Jewish women. We each had a story about the moment when it happened. For me it was taking a language class and meeting a young man from Gaza. For the woman from Frankfurt it was while living in Jerusalem. A gear click-turns and the hazy fantasy of Israel is gone, replaced by something harsh and clear and true.

Question:
Am I living in alignment with my own values?

Gaza Ghetto was originally created in 2014 as a response to Israel's Operation Protective Edge. I wrote the name and age of each person killed in Gaza on my arm, photographed it and posted the image to social media. Israel killed roughly 2200 people that summer, most of them civilians, 548 were children. Since that time hundreds more Palestinians have been killed.

I used to believe that genocide was hard. Now I know that it is easy. An information bubble, an 'other' is all it takes. People line up to take the leap, contorting their beliefs like a pretzel to not confront the obvious.

The Gaza Ghetto project continues.

Please stay informed:
Democracy Now! has been doing exceptional reporting.

The Question of Palestine by Edward Said.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance 1917-2017 by Rashid Kahlidi

+972 Magazine

Forensic Architecture

Follow journalists in Gaza:
Hind Khoudary

Motaz Azaiza
Bisan


Please also see Chalk, Voices of 9.11.

Bruce premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS.

Selected screenings include: National Museum of Women in the Arts, Anthology Film Archives, The Place (London), Passages (Milan), Exploratorium (San Francisco),IDAT 00 (International Dance and Technology), Dance on Camera, El Infinito (Mexico), American Dance Festival, Toronto Worldwide Shorts, General Roca Festival (Argentina), Do Boy’s Dozens, Sisyphus Emerging (Limelight Nightclub), Aurora Picture Show, Cinéwomen, Projections (Toronto), Stony Brook Film Festival, Brooklyn Disability Film Festival, Alice’s 3 MInutes Film Festival, Dis This…Film Festival, CMJ Music Fest, Care Of (Italy).

Director/Cinematographer Ruth Sergel Editor Juliette Olavarria Production Design Paul Weathered  Assistant Director: Kate Sergel Buncher Camera Assistant Tricia Clark  2nd Camera Assistant Peter Gabriel  Gaffer Eric Neason  Best Boy Alexi Williams  Stills Pamela Griffiths  Props Dominic Toto  Sound Tim Mangin  Catering Claudia Sidoti

Dancer Bruce Jackson

Photo of Ruth Sergel + Bruce jackson by Pamela Griffiths

Photo by Pamela Griffiths

Lyrics for We Are… from Lessons by Y.M. Barnwell ©1993

For each child that’s born
a morning star rises
and sings to the universe
who we are.

We are our grandmothers’ prayers.
We are our grandfathers’ dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors.
We are the spirit of God.

We are
Mothers of courage
Fathers of time
Daughters of dust
Sons of great vision.
We are
Sisters of mercy
Brothers of love
Lovers of life and
the builders of nations.
We are
Seekers of truth
Keepers of faith
Makers of peace and
the wisdom of ages.

We are our grandmothers’ prayers.
We are our grandfathers’ dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors.
We are the spirit of God.

For each child that’s born
a morning star rises
and sings to the universe
who we are.

WE ARE ONE.