Background

Jasmin:

After the summer 2014 war in Israel/Palestine, I was confronted with the need to say something. As a Human being, Israeli, Artist and a woman married to a Palestinian man.

I reflected on what I as - Jasmin - have to say or to offer as an alternative to segregation a fear.

I dug into my personal experience. What has made me change? What changed the way I look at Palestinians? Not as “an other” but as “same”.

In 2006, I lived with Osama In Ramallah for 7 months. We lived openly as a mixed couple but not easily. Living on one side of the wall and working on the other side confronted me with my country in all its faces. I was challenged to look and reflect on reality in light of everything I learned and was educated to believe till then; about Israel, about being an Israeli, about being a “left wing” Israeli.

I had to review and choose my path and beliefs and come to look at the fellow human beside me, regardless Israeli or Palestinian, as brother/sister human.

I am asking my self today, almost a decade afterwards, living in Vienna Austria, what is possible to do in order to bring people to a microscopic experience of the process I went through, to make people reflect on themselves deeply and thus open a window to meet the other not as “an other” but as “same”.

Osama:

I am tired... Tired of being definded by my color, nationality, religion. All things that were passed down to me and not by choice. Since I remember myself, my life was defined by conflict till it became part of my identity and inspiration.

This is what drives me to create and voice my point of view of the world around me.

Conflict Zone Arts Asylum - Vienna

In 2007-8, Osama Zatar collaborated in an social political artistic project with the theater director Michael Ronen. They called the project Conflict Zone arts Asylum, trying to bring together artists from conflict zones to look at their own identity in light of their own conflict through the lenses of art.

Osama and I have decided to found a new non-profit organization: Conflict Zone Arts Asylum – Vienna, to continue the work and develop a platform for artists from different mediums to come together, interact and co-create in light of or in reference to conflict zones, physical or Abstract.