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As the world rallies behind Palestinian victims of the war on Gaza, social change organisations have showcased support for Palestine by drumming at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg this week.
Master drummers orchestrated the session where 200 people were beating drums for a recording of a short film clip to show support for Palestinian people who have lost loved ones and to call for an immediate ceasefire.
The national organiser of the session, Bobby Rodwell from Mehlo-Maya (Eye to the Sun), an organisation that uses theatre for social change, said: “Over the years, we have used the drum for various political issues that we feel strongly about, certainly Palestine being one of them. I feel that using art is a very important way of bringing people together and expressing themselves in a way that goes beyond the theoretical.”
Rodwell added that the reason for the drumming session was to protest the complete violation of the most basic human rights that is happening in Palestine.
Rodwell said:
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Meanwhile, Noor Neiftagodien, SA Research chairperson of local histories and present realities, commented that as the genocide unfolded since 7 October, people across the world people have been engaging in various activities, from pickets to marches.
“What we have been doing at Wits University has been quite modest in terms of keeping a few people together to picket. Last Friday, we had a virtual gathering where people lit candles with music and drums as well. The event must be seen in that context. What Wits Arts and Drama for Life students proposed was to get 200 drums and get people together in a different way of mobilising solidarity,” he said.
Neiftagodien further said that the drumming was to send a loud signal to authorities in South Africa and around the world.
Hamish Neill, director of creative research hub, Drama for Life, who was part of the group that organised the session, told City Press: “The main reason why we stood for partnering is because of our stance around the preservation of life, and a call for a ceasefire not just a temporary ceasefire but a lengthy, sustained and negotiated ceasefire.
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Neil added that although the reasoning has been communicated quite openly and broadly, the violence is a retaliation for the initial attacks.
“That attack and the bombings on the Gaza Strip, our stance is that the loss of life is what people would like to limit and mitigate and that is what we are saying, we are saying that where conflict is, surely, there should be a greater collective determination to preserve human life,” he said.
A drama therapy student at Wits, Nomfundo Ncanana, voiced that beating the drums for her was reminiscent of the violent background she grew up in.
“When I was hearing the mass drumming, it evoked flashbacks of gunshots and the gun firing, it also sounded like a stampede that was going on, I knew in my mind that I know these sounds and I am familiar with them,” she said.
