Holy Connection

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on 60pages. I met David Iselin, who invited me to participate to the 60pages project, about a year ago, in a place some people tend to call “Holy Land(s)”. To be honest, we did not really meet in any holy place.

We met in Tel Aviv, Israel, exactly during the sadly famous operation “Pillar of Defense” in Gaza. At the time, I was working for the Amnesty International’s office there. Random encounter during a very confusing period, that did not make any sense to me at all … During these few days, that lasted way too long already, it was the “war”. Fine. But more important, we were all exposed to a massive amount of war material posted, written, filmed, recorded etc. My social networks feeds turned into stupid battlefields in seconds …

A year passed. I had time to think and rethink about it. I went back to Paris, wrote a paper about war propaganda 2.0. I finished school, I graduated, and I got an offer to write everyday for 60 days. “Holy” connection I say.

“Holy” connection again : I’m working on a very new personal project related to the so-called “Holy Land(s)”. I’m organizing a pilgrimage. Yes, a pilgrimage in Paris. What’s wrong with a pilgrimage taking place in Paris ? Sounds weird ? Really ?

I have to say it’s not a normal pilgrimage. Innovation is needed everywhere, why not here ? It’s an off-the-wall pilgrimage we’re talking about there. Upside-down. Inside-out. Just because I’m sick of people always being portrayed the same way.

A festival of arts, led by israeli and palestinian artists, regardless the type of travel document they own. It’s an invitation to embark on a journey: a virtual, intellectual and artistic journey without even setting foot out of Paris: an invitation to dive into the nebula of microcosms that make up the Palestinian and Israeli societies.

So, are you ready to be a pilgrim ?