My People Will Not Die: Staging the Revolution/ary in Palestinian Resistance Theater

Israel's military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights in 1967 marked a new era in the Palestinian political consciousness. The inability of the Arab states to withstand Israel's aggression gave rise to a distinct, revolutionary consciousness which centered “Palestine as the key to liberating the Arab world.” Formed in 1959, al-Fatah, or the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, positioned confrontation with Israel as the primary strategy for liberation, and was tasked with organizing the masses of Palestinians to join the struggle for their homeland. Propelled by their victory at the Battle of Karameh, Fatah embarked on a new era of political leadership. Situated within their advancement and growth, the PLO initiated what Dr. Dina Matar refers to as “PLO Cultural Activism,” or the cultivation of posters, films, newspapers, radio, and importantly theater with the intent of politicizing and organizing the Palestinian people. Hallmarked as the foundation of the Palestinian theater movement, al-Fatah established the Association of Palestinian Arab Theater in 1968, with Sha'ab Len Yamoot, or My People Will Not Die, as their first play. While recent scholarly attention has been given to cultural production in service of the revolution, almost no literature exists on the role of theater. I argue that Sha'ab Len Yamoot played a crucial role in the political and organizational motivations of al-Fatah by developing the image of the Fida'i, agitating against and delegitimizing Israel's politico-cultural hegemony, and centering al-Fatah as the primary vehicle for Palestine liberation