Connecting Cultures: the Re-Imagine Peace Festival

Israeli singer Noa from Yemen and Abbot Bernardo Gianni at San Miniato

Florence is host to the Re-Imagine Peace Festival from Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12, a three-day gathering centered around unity and cross-cultural understanding organized by Israeli singer Noa, Arabic-Israeli singer Mira Awad, Israeli guitarist Gil Dor, and Israeli filmmaker Tamar Tal Anati. The festival includes a series of free concerts, film screenings, and talks that highlight Palestinian and Israeli activists. 

Known as an epicenter for re-birth and artistic vision of the Renaissance, the city of Florence embodies the ideals of Re-Imagine Peace. It is the fitting  background for the festival’s events encouraging dialogues on empathy, co-existence and justice. On the morning of July 10, the festival commenced with a tree planting ceremony at San Salvatore al Monte where the celebration will continue this evening at 5:45 pm with a multi-faith march up the stairs ending at the San Miniato al Monte basilica. 

This event aims to unite Jewish, Christian, and Muslim voices with notable attendance by the Imam of Florence, Izzedin Elzir, Rabbi Gad Fernando Piperno, the representative of the Council of Christian Churches of Florence, Pastor Saverio Scuccimarri, and the Archbishop Gherardo Gambelli. Following the march will be performances by singers Noa, Mira Awad, Sameh Zakout, Idan Toledano and Iranian poet, Fariba Hachtroudi in front of the altar.

Looking forward to this Saturday, there will be a series of panel discussions, musical performances and documentary screenings emphasizing conversations on grief, anti-violence and progress.

There will be a speaker event at 10:30 am in the morning at Church of Badia Fiorentina featuring Palestinian and Israeli peace activists Bushra Awad and Robi Damelin, two mothers that have both lost loved ones to the violence in the Middle East. They will share their stories of hope and bereavement with the audience, inspiring efforts of solidarity amongst families connected by the universal pain of loss.

Later at 4 pm there will be a screening of the documentary There is Another Way at the Astra Cinema (piazza Beccaria) followed by a Q&A session with two of the film’s lead actresses, Palestinian Mai Shaheen and Israeli Iris Gur. The documentary follows the story of Combatants for Peace, an Israeli-Palestinian grassroots movement promoting anti-violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. This will be followed at 6 pm with another documentary, Write Down, I am Arab, a story on the life and exile of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, showing at the National Theater (Via dei Cimatori 13). 

Also at the National Theater is an event titled 4Hands 4Peace, a musical performance by Palestinian and Israeli pianists Muhammad “Misha” Alsheikh and Iddo Bar-Shai. Their pieces will be accompanied by the vocals of Palestinian and Israeli-American sopranos Nour Darwish and Tehila Nini Goldstein. Together these musicians bring voice to a call for peace in the time of war, expressing a unified desire for justice to prevail and violence to cease. 

Sunday will be the final day of the Re-Imagine Peace program, ending the weekend with an afternoon aperitivo, part of a cuisine event and the festival’s main happening, a concert headlined by international Israeli and Palestinian artists,

At 4:30 pm, there will be a live cooking demonstration hosted by chefs Shady Hasbun and Tze’ela Rubinstein at the Teatro del Sale (via de’ Macci). The experience will bring  together two professionals of Palestinian and Israeli origins who have formed a friendship based in mutual respect and shared hope for a peaceful future in their homeland. Through spice infused recipes, kitchen memories and a connection to Tuscan cuisine, chefs Shady and Tze’ela demonstrate the power of food as a community building tool in a time of conflict. 

The Re-Imagine Peace Festival will conclude with a grand finale concert organized by Mira Award at the Cascine Amphitheater at 8 pm on the last day, Sunday, July 12. Performances by musical artists will focus on the theme of building bridges across Palestinian and Israeli identities. Special guest appearances will include the Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, actor Neri Marcorè, Clara Harmonia Choir, and the ISF Cantabile children’s choir directed by Tanja Kustrin.

For more information on the Re-Imagine Peace Festival program visit reimaginepeacefestival.it. (Francesca Negri)