Press Releases
4 May 2009, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights - Bethlehem, Palestine. BADIL is proud to announce the winners of the 2009Al-Awda Award, the third 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 winners of the 2009 Award come from various parts of historic Palestine as well as Palestinian refugee communities in exile. They were honored on Saturday, 2 May, in two parallel Awda Award Festivals in the West Bank (Ramallah Cultural Palace) and the Gaza Strip (Red Crescent Hall, Tal al-Hawa, Gaza City). The festivals were attended by an enthusiastic combined audience of over 1,500 people from all over Palestine.
The awards were granted by Fawzia (Um Kamel) Al-Kurd, a Palestinian refugee in Jerusalem who has become a symbol of resistance to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian capital since her home was expropriated by Jewish-Israeli settlers last year, Husam Khader, member of the Palestinian National Council, Afif Ghatashe, President of Badil's Board of Directors, and Ingrid Jaradat Gassner, Director of Badil.
Winners were selected by independent juries composed of internationally renowned Palestinian artists, academics, journalists, academics and authors. The stage was also graced by the youthful Lajee Center Popular Arts Troupe from Aida camp, which opened and closed the events with a beautiful performance incorporating color, costume, movement and beauty.
This year's Al-Awda Award launches multiple activities and events across Palestine and the world commemorating the 1948 Nakba in which a majority of Palestinian were expelled from their homeland. These activities and events will point to the ongoing nature of the Nakba, the fact that Palestinian refugees have not been allowed to return to their home despite the international community's consensus on the legitimacy of this right, and the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinians throughout historic Palestine.
The 2009 Award Winners are:
Category: Research Papers
Members of the selection committee: Asad Ghanem, Norma Masriyah, Aziz Haidar, Musleh Kanaaneh, Shawqi Alayasa
Name: Wafa Yousef Ibrahim Zabadi
Prize: First
Tulkarem
Age: 36
Name: Mutasem Khader Ali Adelah
Prize: Second
Jerusalem
Age:36
Name: Jihad Suleiman Salem Almasri
Prize: Third
Khan Younes/Gaza
Age:45
Category: Children’s Stories:
Members of the selection committee: Issa Qaraqi, Salman Natour, Zakaria Mohammad, Renad Qubbaj, Mahmoud Shuqair, Majdi Shomali
Name: Amal Ka'wash
Prize: Honorable mention
London (village of origin: Miron)
Age:28
Name: Anas Abu-Rahmeh
Prize: Honorable mention
Bil'in/Ramallah
Age:20
Name: Shadiah Zu’bi Kasem
Prize: Honorable mention
Nazareth
Age:47
Name: Ahmad Abdelhameed Issa
Prize: Honorable mention
Gaza
Age:27
Name: Jihan Yaser Al-Sedah
Prize: Honorable mention
Jet/Qalqilya
Age:13
Name: Ahlam Besharat
Prize: Honorable mention
Tulkarem
Age: 33
Category: Nakba Commemoration Poster:
Members of the selection committee: Yusif Katalo, Suleiman Mansour, Umaya Juha, Makbula Nassar, Sharif Waked, Mohammad Alayan, Omar Assaf, Nassar Ibrahim,
Name: Rami Hazboun
Prize: First
Abu Dhabi/Bethlehem
Age:32
Name: Kholoud Khalil Mohammad Al-Ahmad
Prize: Second
Ya'bad/ Jenin
Age:36
Name: Mohammad Hassan Abdelhadi
Prize: Third
Jenin
Age: 27
Name: Mohammad Abedullah Al-Krunz
Prize: Honorable mention
Gaza
Age: 32
Name: Rania Yousef Mohammad Al-Madhoun
Prize: Honorable mention
Gaza/Egypt
Age: 33
Name: Bilal Al-Hirbawi
Prize: Honorable mention
Al-Khalil (Hebron)
Age: 24
Name: Mohammad Adel Abdelraheem Dawud
Prize: Honorable mention
Qalqilya
Age: 23
Name: Donia Ahmad Humeidan
Prize: Honorable mention
Nablus
Age: 23
Name: Issam Darawsheh
Honorable mention
Nazareth/Italy
Age: 15
Name: Salem Salah Tawfiq Sghayir
Prize: Honorable mention
Al-Khalil (Hebron)
Age: 24
Category: Photograph (photographer under 18):
Members of the selection committee: Ibrahim Melhem, Loay Sababa, Ammar Awad, Atef Al-Safadi, Rula Halawani Alaa Badarnah
Name: Abdelfatah Yahia Abdelaziz Da’ajneh
Prize: First
Name: Aidah Refugee Camp/Bethlehem
Age: 15
Name: Firas Akawi
Prize: Second
Akko
Age: 15
Name: Sana Ahmad Abdelhamid Al-Ayaseh
Prize: Third
Beit Jala
Age: 14
Category: Written Journalism :
Members of the selection committee: Abdelnasser Al-Najar, Qassem Khatib, Shireen Abu Aqleh, Nasser Al-Lahham, Najib Farraj, Khalil Shaheen
Name: Muntaser Suleiman Hamdan
Prize: First
Ramallah
Age: 38
Name: Hussam Mohammad Ezzedin Hamdan
Prize: Second
Ramallah
Age: 42
Name: Maha Adel Al-Tamimi
Prize: Third
Ramallah
Age: 54
Name: Rana Ali Awaiseh
Prize: Honorable mention
Nazareth
Age: 25
Name: Shaima’ Yousef
Prize: Honorable mention
Gaza
Name: Mohammad Ahmad Hassan Othman
Prize: Honorable mention
Gaza
Age: 22
Name: Marwah Awad Hassan Al-hasanat
Prize: Honorable mention
Gaza
Age: 35
Name: Mahmoud Yousef Issa Khalil
Prize: Honorable mention
Jordan
Age: 23
Name: Khader Yousef Mousa Manasreh
Prize: Honorable mention
Al-Khalil (Hebron)
Age: 46
Name: Ra’fat Husni Faris Al-Eis
Prize: Honorable mention
Tulkarem
Age: 49
Badil has committed to disseminate the works of these Awda Award winners through various media.The winning poster has been adopted by the Nakba Commemoration Committee as the official poster for this year's Nakba commemoration activities. Those interested should continue to check our website as we publish the pieces of written journalism, the children's stories, and research papers through various Badil publications.
We also call on artists, writers, and researchers to prepare themselves for next year's competition, and 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.
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For more information, contact Badil at:
+972-2-277-7086