March 2, 1995
The highly acclaimed one-woman play, Naomi, came to SF State Saturday but along with its praises the piece has received criticism for its portrayal of certain issues of Bedouin life.
For seven years Ruby Porat-Shoval, an Israeli woman, worked as a social worker for the Bedouin tribes of Israel. From that experience she wrote the play, which won high praise in Israel and has been titled "best play" at Israel's 1992 Acco Festival. The play portrays the life of a woman who is torn between two worlds, that of the Bedouin and that of the west.
Last Saturday the play, sponsored by the Jewish student organization, Hillel, was brought to SF State for a performance at Jack Adams Hall in the Cesar Chavez Student Union. A discussion was held after the play where members of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association, La Raza, Women's Center and the General Union of Palestinian Students voiced their opposition.
According to the student groups, the play is controversial because of the way certain aspects of Bedouin life are portrayed. The issues of arranged marriages and the practice of female circumcision were addressed. Female circumcision is performed on Bedouin women so when they are married they cannot betray men, according to the playwright.
"When we brought the play here, we knew there was going to be some controversy. That is why we had a discussion after the play with the artist," Hillel coordinator Michael Atlan said.
A pamphlet by the Arabic Women's Solidarity Association describing its opposition was passed out to the audience before the play began.
"We were aware that the pamphlet was being passed around, the same thing happened when the play was performed in Berkeley last week," Atlan said.
The play takes place in the tent of Naomi, a Bedouin woman who has left her Bedouin family and her husband. The tent has been turned into a museum of her life with articles of both the Bedouin world and the modern western world. As a woman she cannot accept the role of women in Bedouin society but cannot embrace the modern world either.
Naomi is not able to return to her family because she left her husband -- under Bedouin law this is punishable by death. Naomi wants to study and have some choice in the course of her life.
"Porat-Shoval took advantage of her position as a social worker and took what (Bedouin) women said to her and used it in her play," Manal Jamal of the AWSA said. "This is a breach of confidentiality. The Bedouins were not given any royalties."
According to the distributed pamphlet, when Bedouin men came to see the play they were able to identify women patients from their community who were represented.
However, during the discussion, Porat-Shoval said that the Bedouin women liked the play.
"The (Bedouin) women who came to my play said 'thank you, you cried for us, you talked for us,'" Porat-Shoval said.
"We are also upset at the whole notion that to be liberated you have to be a western feminist. Can't there be a grass root Bedouin feminist movement," Jamal said.
Other criticism of the play included the use of stereotypes regarding Arab people, who were portrayed as backward savages, according to the AWSA pamphlet.
"We encouraged people who were opposed to the play to come out and express their viewpoints." Atlan said. Unfortunately, people who came only for the play were pushed into a political conversation, he said.
"I came here for theater, and watching the play I got a glimpse into another world," said an audience member during the discussion.