BADIL proudly announced the winners of the 2008 Al-Awda Award, the second annual public competition of its kind. The award aims to foster Palestinian talent and creativity and to raise the profile of the Palestinian Nakba and the right of all forcibly displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and lands.
The 18 Palestinian winners of the 2008 Award hailed from the 1967 occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel, Syria and Germany. They were honored on Saturday, 3 May, in two parallel and satellite-linked Awda Award Festivals in the West Bank (Ramallah Cultural Palace) and the Gaza Strip (Red Crescent Hall, Khan Younis) which were attended by an enthusiastic audience of over 1,500 people from all over Palestine. The awards were granted by leaders of most of the Palestinian political parties; while the juries were composed of internationally renowned Palestinian artists, film-makers, academics, journalists and authors. The stage was also graced by the renowned Firqet al-Funoun al-Sha'abiyya (the Palestinian Popular Arts Troupe), which opened and closed the events with a spectacular performance that brought together Palestinian folklore with interpretive dance expressing the story of Palestine in a mesmerizing display of color, costume, movement and beauty.
Badil has committed to disseminate the works of these Awda Award winners through various media. To date, the winning poster has been adopted by the Nakba Commemoration Committee as the official poster of the Nakba-60 campaign and the winning documentaries will be broadcast on Arab satellite channels on 8 May. Those interested should continue to check our website as we publish the pieces of written journalism, the children's stories, the research papers, and the oral history works.
We thank all of those who participated in the one this year, including juries, awards committee, and of course the brilliant Palestinian participants themselves who have proved once again that the spirit of talent and creativity can not be caged by any oppressor.
