Sharif شريف - is a staged reading of a play about the precarious lives of LGBTQ+ Palestinians.
Sharif شريف is a gripping and deeply moving new drama that follows the journey of a queer Palestinian young man who is forced to flee the West Bank after being violently outed. Alone and seeking asylum in Israel- a place that is both refuge and threat- Sharif must navigate a complex web of bureaucracy, suspicion, and social stigma, all while haunted by the memory of Nour, the secret lover he was forced to leave behind.
Told through a series of interwoven flashbacks and present-day scenes, the play brings to life Sharif’s struggle for survival, his longing for love, and the quiet courage it takes to endure in the face of constant danger. Based on real testimonies, Sharif shines a rare light on the lives of LGBTQ+ Palestinians living under occupation.
It’s a heartbreaking, urgent, and ultimately hopeful call for empathy, justice, and human dignity.
Written by Israeli playwright Tomer Aldubi and developed in collaboration with Palestinian dramaturg Samira Saraya, Sharif is a rare cross-border artistic collaboration that brings Israeli and Palestinian artists into shared creative space. Performed in English with Arabic and Hebrew interwoven, the play offers an intimate, human perspective on lives too often flattened by politics.
This is a work-in-progress staged reading and will be followed by a talk-back conversation. We invite the audience to join us on this fascinating development journey!
About the Playwright
Tomer Aldubi is a queer Israeli journalist, playwright, and theatre director. In the past three years, Tomer has been part of the Israeli Fringe Theatre awards committee. He’s been working as a freelance journalist for the news media website Mako since 2014, where he had
published hundreds of articles and interviews about various LGBTQ+ issues. It is through his journalism practice that he was first introduced to the situation of queer Palestinians in 2020 and was one of the first-ever journalists to publish articles and interviews about that community.
His knowledge of that community was also deepened through his time as a volunteer during the last two years for The Different House - المختلف البيت, an Israeli non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering and assisting Arab LGBTQ+ people in Israel and in the
occupied territories. The NGO works to empower the community and provides legal and personal support to Palestinian asylum seekers in Israel and Arab transgenders.
Tomer has a B.A in Theatre Directing from the Tel Aviv University.
