This article focuses on a performance titled In the Land of the Gilead, performed in 2012 by Doron Tavori and Yochai Avrahami at the Centre for Digital Art in Israel. The work was performed as a part of the exhibition Le’an (Where To?). Its title is derived from a plan suggested by Laurence Oliphant (a British colonialist bureaucrat, author, and Member of Parliament) in 1881 to settle Jews in the Gilead region east of the Jordan River. The article examines the ways in which Tavori and Avrahami re-enact Oliphant’s plan, which was never realised, as well as numerous other historical moments of Oliphant’s colonialist endeavours and those of his contemporaries, tying them to the present-day situation in the Middle East and elsewhere. The article also examines the wider contexts and curatorial strategies of the exhibition Le’an, which focused on alternative Zionist histories that challenged Zionism’s exclusive focus on the land of Israel. The article suggests that by juxtaposing nuanced and complex re-enactments of numerous and conflicting histories, the work prompts audiences to reconsider their political and national understanding of such colonial and Zionist histories, allowing these complex pasts (which are often celebrated or silenced) to be articulated as integral to contemporary national narratives.

中文翻译：

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在 Yochai Avrahami 和 Doron Tavori 的“基列之地”中重现中东的过去、现在和未来

本文重点介绍 Doron Tavori 和 Yochai Avrahami 于 2012 年在以色列数字艺术中心举办的名为“基列之地”的表演。该作品作为乐安（去哪儿？）展览的一部分进行。其名称源自劳伦斯·奥利芬特（Laurence Oliphant）（英国殖民官僚、作家和国会议员）于 1881 年提出的在约旦河以东的基列地区安置犹太人的计划。这篇文章探讨了 Tavori 和 Avrahami 重新制定 Oliphant 从未实现的计划的方式，以及 Oliphant 和他同时代人的殖民主义努力的许多其他历史时刻，将它们与中东的当今局势联系起来和其他地方。文章还考察了乐安展览的更广泛的背景和策展策略，它专注于替代犹太复国主义历史，挑战犹太复国主义对以色列土地的独家关注。这篇文章表明，通过将众多相互矛盾的历史进行细微而复杂的重演并置，该作品促使观众重新考虑他们对此类殖民和犹太复国主义历史的政治和民族理解，让这些复杂的过去（通常被庆祝或沉默）成为现实作为当代民族叙事不可或缺的一部分。