Iziko Museums of South Africa and the Yasser Arafat Foundation and Museum have collaborated on an exhibition that depicts land acquisition, displacement, and resistance in Palestine.
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The exhibition, which is usually held in Ramallah, Palestine, will be shown in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap. It was first unveiled at the Yasser Arafat Museum in Ramallah, but it now exposes the realities of settler colonialism through relocation, while also highlighting the enduring spirit of resistance and battle for liberation and justice.
The exhibition opened in Cape Town on August 8 at the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum on Wale Street, with representatives from the Yasser Arafat Foundation and Museum, including Hanan Jarrar, Palestinian ambassador to South Africa.
The exhibition will be open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 4pm, until 31 March next year.
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It also includes artworks from the Butterfly Souls project by the South African initiative 2 Suns Shamsaan, which honours and commemorates the fallen children of Palestine.
Lynn Abrahams, curator of Social History at the Iziko Museums of South Africa, stated that the show was intended to raise awareness about the Palestinian struggle.
Shaun Byneveldt, South Africa’s representative in Ramallah, helped bring the exhibition to Cape Town after visiting the Yasser Arafat Museum.
‘It is up to us because when we went through apartheid, the outside world carried us. They gave us hope when they put sanctions against South Africa and all these interventions.’
Annelize Kotze, curator of Social History at the Iziko Museums, read a message from Byneveldt:
‘Through photographs, testimonies and historical documents, the exhibition serves as a poignant reminder of the injustices of forced displacement but also the enduring spirit of resistance.
‘Exhibitions like these are crucial for building solidarity and understanding across borders and generations… The forced removals in South Africa and the forced displacement in Palestine, are not merely political issues. They are profound human tragedies that touch the very essence of our shared humanity.’
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Yasser Arafat Museum director, Mohammad Halayka said: ‘When I came to South Africa, I went to Robben Island. Nothing surprised me … because it’s like moving from Palestine to Palestine, or South Africa to South Africa, it’s like the same utility, the same approach which is based on segregation and discrimination.’
He explained that the display was self-guided and was designed to illustrate visitors what Palestinians faced in terms of Israeli laws and actions, as well as why they were resisting.
Israel controls and occupies large areas of Palestine, with over 700 military checkpoints, roadblocks, and gates throughout the West Bank, as well as approximately 300 illegal settlements and colonial outposts.
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Picture: Bokaap.org