Chehade, 36, is a professor at Columbia College Chicago. He teaches the Israeli/Palestine Conflict and Middle East History classes. Chehade wrote a play called “Garden of The Three” and directed “The Gaza Monologues: A Dramatic Reading,” one of Columbia’s very own events.
Coming from a Muslim and Palestinian family, Chehade and his sister were raised in Logan Square and Park Ridge. His father, from the West Bank, came to America from Brazil in 1963 and worked as a merchant. His mother came to Chicago in 1971.
Chehade is a Muslim Palestinian-American who has committed himself to teaching the truth about his parents’ homeland.
“It’s a responsibility we have as individuals to enlighten people in America about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” Chehade said.
The main goal is to be objective and not biased while educating people, he said.
“Iymen is very in-depth and knowledgeable about subjects, such as the Middle East,” said Chris SitzSimons, an actor and co-worker of Chehade.
As far as teaching, this is the first semester Chehade has taught the Israeli/Palestine Conflict class. Students tend to question the facts, but according to Chehade, he has never received any criticism towards his teaching. The class is based on debates and discussions.
“I’ve never had any student tell me I was biased or what I was teaching is biased,” Chehade said.
The class closed three days after registration this fall and next semester’s session closed two days after registration began.
“The students in the class believe something in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not right, and they want to learn more about it,” Chehade said.
Chehade has seen the conflict with his own eyes. The last time he went to Palestine was when he was 16 years old, during the first intifada (catastrophe.) He was in the West Bank while the intifada broke out between the Palestinians and Israelis. People were killed daily and riots would break out everywhere, Chehade said.
“You walk down the street here and you don’t feel the tension or the animosity like you do there,” Chehade said. “You can cut the tension there with a knife.”
As an American citizen, it was very difficult for Chehade to understand how the dynamic of being a civilian without civil rights worked. Palestinians were kicked out of their homes and forced to move elsewhere. Their land and property was stolen or destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), he said.
“They don’t care how they treat you there, whether you are an American citizen or not,” Chehade added, speaking of the IDF. “You need permission to go from one place to another. These people are prisoners in their own country.”
Chehade lays out the facts in class, but he also tells stories of struggle and conflict. One of his many accomplishments is the play “Garden of The Three.”
“Garden of The Three” was written in one month in 2002. It played in the Gorilla Tango Theatre on North Milwaukee Avenue for six weeks and it was sold out five out of six times. Chehade chose a productive way to bring the situation overseas to light. He wanted to do something positive; something many people don’t normally do, Chehade explained.
“It’s using the pen as a means to spread a message,” Chehade said. .
The play is about a Palestinian family that’s living in the West Bank during the rule of Ariel Sharon in 2000, the former AP:Prime Minister of Israel. The backdrop of the play is what can happen to a Palestinian family living during the second intifada. A very open-minded, progressive and religious father becomes very disenchanted and resorts to extremism, all due to the occupation.
“I chose the name ‘Garden of The Three’ because it is a metaphor for the three kids in the family. The father had a garden of three rose bushes, which are extremely hard to grow in the desert,” Chehade said. “He always tended to the rose bushes and it is a metaphor for tending to his children.”
The proceeds of the play were donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a non-profit, non-political organization that addresses the medical and humanitarian crisis of Palestinian youths in the Middle East.
“Iymen is a really nice person and very generous. He is extremely easy to talk to and he knows exactly what he is talking about,” Jenna Manonkes, a student and actress, said. “He is good with what he does and he is a professional in every aspect.”
Chehade directed “The Gaza Monologues: A Dramatic Reading” that debuted in Columbia December 2nd. Actors performed the monologues that were written by teenagers in Gaza in 2008.
“In the monologues, the teenagers put the war into context for us, and they reveal how they live through the occupation,” Chehade said.
One of the monologues described a teenage girl, Hanan, angry about the war in Gaza. She described there being smoke everywhere she looked. Along with the smoke of blasted rockets, was the smoke from her father's cigarette.
“Our dream is to die a good death, not to lead a good life," Hanan said, one of the lines from a series of monologues.
“Iymen is very intelligent and passionate with subjects such as theater and Gaza,” James Kinney, an accountant and actor-friend of Chehade, said. “He doesn’t put on a show in front of people, and he has a purpose for what he does.”
“It feels good to be a Muslim in America,” Chehade said. “Luckily I’ve never experienced any hate.”
No comments:
Post a Comment