The Levantine Cultural Center will host a night of art and activism in support of Palestinians, featuring the work of several Los Angeles-based artists, on Thursday, Feb. 5.

A painting by Syrian-American artist Kinda Hibrawi depicts a young girl she met before the massacre of Houla. It is part of the “War and People” exhibition at the Levantine Cultural Center. Works from the new “Art and Activism in Bil’in” program were not yet available. (photo by Luis Rivas)

“Art and Activism in Bil’in: from Los Angeles to Palestine” will be an evening of public conversation, photography and art revolving around issues facing Palestinians in the small West Bank village of Bil’in.

The group, led by Colombian-born artist and activist Hector Aristizábal, brought together people from Europe, the U.S. and Latin America to visit Bil’in in October 2014 to create art with the Palestinians. Village leaders and cultural activists asked Aristizábal, who is known internationally, to come to Bil’in to put together theatre performances to engage discussions around issues faced by the Palestinian community. The group hosted public theatre performances, art workshops, community mural paintings on roads and buildings and created large scale puppets for demonstrations.

“I use theatre as a form of healing — where communities come together to listen to each other and share stories and use art to look at how to transform, to empower, and give agency and beauty,” Aristizábal said.

Although this was not Aristizábal’s first trip to Palestine, it was the first trip he led that involved so many people, a total of 15, from different parts of the world who stayed for more than a week in the West Bank.

“For me, what was the most important thing about the trip is that people [in Bil’in and who visited] can now tell their own stories and share their experiences — especially in the U.S. where there is so much distortion and where it’s so difficult to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But when you’re there, it is clear cut, at least certain aspects of the conflict,” he said.

Aristizábal’s theatre techniques directly engage members of the audience, which he terms “spect-actors,” utilizing improvisation, in a style known as “theatre of the oppressed.”

“It was a great opportunity for people on the outside to get a taste for what it’s like for Palestinians in the villages, and also to receive their hospitality and for them to see people from other countries and have an exchange with them,” he said.

Peace activist and artist, Eva Baboun, also traveled to Bil’in with Aristizábal’s group. Similarly, this was not her first time to the region. Baboun’s mother is Israeli Jewish and her father is Palestinian Christian.

Almost on an impulse, after meeting Aristizábal one day, she decided to join the group to Bil’in.

“I felt like I had to go. It was really important for me to go and connect with my Palestinian heritage. I grew up without hearing much about it. I said to myself, ‘You can think about it or you can just go,’” Baboun said.

But the trip wasn’t without conflict.

The people of Bil’in have been organizing weekly demonstrations, with support from various international and Israeli peace activists, on every Friday since construction began on the barrier wall in 2005.

“Israel is taking away the Palestinians’ land. It’s shrinking day by day, and the people from the village, they do weekly protests … They were out there standing up for the people of Bil’in. Israel is building settlements basically in their backyards,” Baboun said.

She and others in the group witnessed Israeli Defense Forces interacting with the Palestinians, and once witnessed soldiers drawing their weapons at children, according to Baboun.

“Until then, I saw it on the news … these poor kids, these poor kids. It was so sad and scary, and we jumped on a bus and we had to go away because if we stood up to them, who would pay the price? Not us. They would, the Palestinians,” she said.

The Levantine Cultural Center has been at its current location on Pico Boulevard since 2009. Its executive director, Jordan Elgrably, said that due to the center’s commitment to a multicultural emphasis on the Middle East, which includes Arabs and Palestinians, it has garnered some criticism.

“We fly a little bit under the radar, and there are a couple of reasons for that. There’s been soft protest to all things Arab and Middle Eastern. You know, they say that Arabs are to blame for 9/11 and Iraq, etc. It’s been a general feeling of discomfort,” Elgrably said. “That’s one of the issues that we deal with. They think that our center is not there for everyone, that it’s only there for Arabs or Muslims. But that’s just not the case. Our center is for everyone.”

The village of Bil’in is known for having weekly nonviolent demonstrations. Bil’in is also known for its appearance and documentation in the award-winning documentary, “5 Broken Cameras” by Bil’in resident Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi.

For more than a decade, Palestinians in Bil’in have been organizing demonstrations against the barrier wall that goes through the village’s olive groves in what many call an expansion by Israeli settlements further into Palestinian territory, specifically the settlement of Modi’in Illit.

“Every time I visit Palestine, the settlements have taken over more and more land. The [barrier] wall cuts through the trees. The Israeli government uproots and burns the olive trees. You see the pain of people and you don’t understand how they can keep hope. But they continue,” Aristizábal said.

The evening will include a panel discussion with all five participants who travelled to Bil’in: Baboun, Aristizábal, Brian Biery, Kathleen Blakistone and Francisco Letelier. The suggested contribution is $10 and guests should RSVP to (323)413-2001. The Levantine Cultural Center is located at 5998 W. Pico Blvd.