Gazan artists fight against social discrimination, violence through theater

A group of Palestinian artists is trying to change social discrimination and violence in the local community through creative theater performances, reported Xinhua.

Three theater performances, featuring social problems in Gaza, were staged at the Red Crescent Society theater in Gaza Wednesday night.

The theatrical show reflected cruel realities faced by many disadvantaged people in Gaza, including women suffering domestic abuse and people with disabilities, Hanin al-Samak, an official at the Future Development Commission organization, the organizer of the event, told Xinhua.

"Based on our statistics, the coastal enclave has been witnessing a significant increase in the number of people who were subjected to social discrimination and violence," Abdul Fattah Shihada, a director at the Future Development Commission organization, told Xinhua.

Women, cancer patients, and people with disabilities are among those who suffered the most, added Shihada.

As a result, he said, those people are more likely to become victims of psychological crises like depression, lower self-esteem, guilt and sometimes even suicide.

So they decided to launch the theatrical performances to educate the locals on how to deal with others based on human values regardless of their physical and psychological condition, al-Sammak said.

In Gaza, about 57.2 percent of women are subjected to psychological violence and 18.5 percent to physical violence, according to the latest report issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

In addition, the report said that about 49,000 persons with disabilities live in the coastal enclave, presenting about 2.4 percent of the total population.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run health ministry reported that some 9,000 cancer patients live in the Gaza Strip and the majority of whom are suffering from poverty, unemployment, and psychological problems because of the political and economic crises for more than 16 years.

"The abnormal and deteriorated conditions experienced by the population in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade and the internal Palestinian division have affected the psychological condition of the majority of the population, as well as the human and social values," Mahdi al-Sayed, a Gazan audience, told Xinhua.

He praised the show and said that "I believe that such theatrical performances can help the population restore their values.

"The play and the actors helped me change my stereotype of cancer patients and disabled people. We have to treat them without expressing excessive pity, which may harm them psychologically instead of helping them," Shadia Abdul Aal, another Gazan audience, told Xinhua.