At-Tuwani is a Palestinian village located in the Masafer Yatta region in ‘Area C’ of the Occupied West Bank where the Israeli state is attempting to establish a Firing Zone and forcibly remove more than 1000 Palestinian residents from eight villages. At-Tuwani lacks access to running water and an electrical grid, while also facing constant terrorization by the Israeli army and settlers who illegally occupy the West Bank according to international law. Residents are prevented from building or receiving building permits, and as an agricultural community their crops are often uprooted and sheep killed. The people of At-Tuwani come from a heritage of ardent non-violent resistance and engage international activists in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
In 2019, Rozner partnered with local Palestinian activist Basel al-Adraa to initiate a mural project at the center of At-Tuwani’s Women’s Handicraft Collective. Together with some of those women and the children from the village, we painted a series of murals that lifts up Palestinian heritage including the traditional crafts and activities that are intrinsic to a rural way of life — such as weaving and fruits picking. It’s been wonderful to see many visitors in solidarity to At-Tuwani post photographs of their visit that feature the murals on social media. In 2020, Rozner and al-Adraa were the recipients of a small grant from the Centre for Applied Human Rights at York University. They utilized this opportunity to initiate a new series of murals in At-Tuwani, which you can see in the flowers mural. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic however, the team was unable to complete the mural project but maintains the interest to employ art as a form of resistance in the future.