On Saturday, January 27, storyteller Noa Baum enthralled a diverse audience with a powerful and compelling performance of her self-scripted show, "A Land Twice Promised," at the Kresge Theater in Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts building. This 75-minute masterpiece is a heartfelt and strong narrative drawn from real-life experiences, which vividly reconstructs the complex past of Israel and Palestine, two nations in conflict over the holy city of Jerusalem, located in the Judean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. Jerusalem has always been a land of many faiths and it remains central to the Middle East discord.

Baum was born and brought up in Jerusalem. Her childhood was full of stories from the Israeli-Arab wars. Having been born in a generation that came after the War of Liberation in 1948, she was asked not to be regretful for the Palestinian suffering. However, from a very young age she has envisioned herself as a peacemaker. Humble and unassuming, she wants to share her story with the world. She told the audience that she finds comfort and inspiration in an old Jewish tale:  

A Rabbi orders the village tailor to stitch him a pair of pants for the Passover. After waiting for many weeks, when the Rabbi finally receives his pair of finely made pants, he exclaims, "It took God only 6 days to create the world, and it took you more than 6 weeks to make a pair of pants?" The tailor replies, "Rabbi, Rabbi, take a look at the mess God made… and take a look at these pants."

In her own words, Baum says, "I'm not here to fix the mess that God made… I only want to share my story."

Baum has spent the last many years developing the script for "A Land Twice Promised." She is an acclaimed performance artist and has been trained in theater and education at New York University. The basis of the narrative is her strong friendship with a Palestinian woman, Jumana (name changed in the performance), who has settled in California.

 "We met on the green grass of student housing in Davis, California," Baum reminisced. And it all started from there.

The performance is a balanced consolidation of narratives. It conveys the voices of Baum, who shares her distinct memories from her childhood in Jerusalem; Jumana, who lived with a feeling of constant fear in terror stricken Palestine; Jumana's protective mother; and Baum's own grieving mother and grandmother. Baum has a wonderful ability to communicate emotions and intricate details. Her animated style, powerful delivery and extraordinary skill for impersonations had the audience captivated. In one of her accounts, as Baum narrates from the perspective of Jumana's mother, she relives the Palestinian fear of captivity and conveys the concern and helplessness of a protective mother.

"'All I wanted was for all of us to die together,'" said Baum, speaking in the voice of Jumana's mother, "'so no one was left to suffer for the loss of the other.'"

In Israel, caught in the chaos of war, Baum's mother would say, "If you have flour and a little bit of water and oil, you will never go hungry." Authentic anecdotes such as these touch your heart and make the struggles of war real.

Baum recalls that it took her and Jumana many years to build the trust and respect for each other's differences before they could have any conversations about their complicated history. Many times they would be faced with the challenge of dealing with conflicting beliefs.

"We learnt to agree to disagree," said Baum.

She acknowledges that the intimate relationship that she shared with Jumana would not have been possible had they not been in the United States.

"We talk above the rolling storm," Baum said. "We hold on to our compassion, our little peace. We have no choice." In their homeland, torn apart by its history, where "each side measures justice against its own sufferings," Baum and Jumana would not have been able to choose friendship.

Insightful and compassionate, Baum believes that "the definition of tragedy is in the clash between right and right." She is convinced that the road to peace requires acceptance and compromise by both sides and encourages the pursuit of life and happiness rather than of justice.

"A Land Twice Promised" is a story of fear and hope, struggle and courage, grief and faith. It is a tale that in spite of all its tragic political undertones is refreshing because of its innocence. Tears may cause your vision to blur, but the story will open your eyes. The magic of storytelling leaves you mesmerized but it is real enough to make you want to create a bridge of compassion in the grief stricken Middle East.

The show was co-sponsored by the University Lecture Series at Carnegie Mellon and the Middle East Peace Forum of Pittsburgh. To support or learn more about peace initiatives in the Middle East, visit http://justvision.org/. For more information about Noa Baum and her upcoming performances, visit her website.

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