Writing on Genocide: Rita Baroud x Maurits de Bruijn

Two authors write about the destruction of Gaza, each from their own perspective. She, as a Gazan journalist in exile; he, as a Jewish Dutchman. At De Balie, Rita Baroud and Maurits de Bruijn engage in conversation. How do you write about indescribable genocidal violence?

There was a time when Maurits de Bruijn (1984) imagined himself living in Israel, a vibrant, multicultural country where he could reconnect with his Jewish roots, severed by the Holocaust. But that affection cooled when De Bruijn was confronted with the other side of the country: the oppression of the Palestinians. He began to speak out against the violence committed in the name of Jewish security. For his latest book, Geweten (Conscience), he returned to Israel and Palestine to see for himself how things stand, to talk to people directly, and to possibly revise his judgment.

Journalist – and until October 2023, a student of French – Rita Baroud (2002) lived through the devastating war in Gaza. For international media outlets, including NRC, she wrote about the displacement and hunger she experienced, about the constant presence of death. This past april, she fled to Marseille. But her heart and mind remain in Gaza. “I write, I speak, I document, I tell stories… because that is the only thing I can still do for them here. I can’t send them bread, but I can send words. I can’t stop the rockets, but I can scream with their voice. Every time the thought creeps in that I’ve abandoned them, I tell myself: the real betrayal begins only when we fall silent.”

At De Balie, we’ll talk about the role of the writer in the face of collective violence. How do you give language to what feels unspeakable? And when the world demands clarity, allegiance, or silence – how do you insist on complexity?

During the sixth edition of Vrijdenkersfestival, we will honor, question, and continue the Amsterdam tradition of liberal-mindedness. With online echo chambers growing louder and public debate is increasingly about choosing sides, we offer the stage to contemporary free thinkers who prefer doubt over certainty. Who would rather ask good questions than give the right answers. Who dare to assume they might be wrong. And in doing so, chart their own course – free from dogma, labels, and authority. Or, as Annie M.G. Schmidt perhaps captured the spirit of free thinking best: ‘Never do as your mother said, and all will turn out fine instead.’

Programme editor: Rokhaya Seck

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