{"id":30201,"date":"2016-10-13T12:06:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T16:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=30201"},"modified":"2016-10-29T19:51:19","modified_gmt":"2016-10-29T23:51:19","slug":"cjp-alumnus-brings-nakba-museum-project-palestinian-experience-emu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/cjp-alumnus-brings-nakba-museum-project-palestinian-experience-emu\/","title":{"rendered":"CJP alumnus brings Nakba Museum Project, Palestinian experience to EMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bshara Nassar, Palestinian native and Center for Justice and Peacebuilding<\/a> alumnus, brings his Nakba Museum Project<\/a> to Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) this month.<\/p>\n

The “Hope is Stronger than Misery” exhibit opens with a reception at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 in EMU’s Sadie Hartzler Library. It will close Monday, Oct. 31.<\/p>\n

\"bshara\"<\/a>
Bshara Nassar started working on the establishment of a permanent museum devoted to the Palestinian people in 2014.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNakba,\u201d which means \u201ccatastrophe\u201d in Arabic, is used to refer to the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948 when the State of Israel was created. Today, nearly 5 million people, nearly all of them descendants of the original group, are registered as Palestinian refugees with the United Nations. (Nassar\u2019s grandmother is one, though he is not.)<\/p>\n

The exhibit features maps, photographs, and graphs outlining significant historical events in Palestine; photographs of nonviolent resistance in the West Bank; paintings by Palestinian artists living in refugee camps; and video accounts of the Nakba.<\/p>\n

“EMU is like a home to me, and I am very happy to share my vision with EMU and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding community,\u201d Nassar says. \u201cI learned from CJP that art is a powerful way to transform conflicts and create a deeper understanding and conversation and that’s what we are doing at the Nakba Museum Project.”<\/p>\n

Permanent museum in the works<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Since fall of 2014, Nassar has been working towards establishing a permanent space in Washington D.C. for what would be the first museum dedicated to Palestinian history and experiences, called \u201cMuseum of the Palestinian People.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has been building support through widespread travels with his exhibits around the United States.<\/p>\n