Stop or I’ll Shoot You

Stop or I’ll shoot you … In the search for Arabic for soldiers, or to use the common term, “checkpoint” Arabic, I found this sentence to be central to the complex issue, and so I chose it as the title of my performance.
The exclusion of Arabic from the public sphere is almost complete. Or is it? It is in fact relegated to classrooms of state institutions in charge with its security. The performance will focus on this relegation of Arabic into security institutions. The performance takes place in the Art School building, a place where art and culture are carried out as a possibility of other life, a life that allows for human interactions beyond the forced separation. The contrast brings to the fore poignant questions about the duality of a soldier-civilian: Is language control sustainable? Will it lead to control of the human in us? What choices does a civilian make when faced with this absurd situation? How do we want to define ourselves? What would we like to leave those who will follow us? What do we want to go on from here?