My Phantom Limb Aryeh Hasfari

Created for The Amsterdam Storytelling Festival in 2023

My Phantom Limb is a political autobiography, a story told through fragments, songs and verses that travel through time, woven together with video and visual art. The piece draws deeply from Aryeh’s years of opposition to Israel’s far-right government as a political artist and activist, his family’s Holocaust experiences and his military service

These personal, historical and political threads converge at a critical moment—on the cusp of regional war, as Israel launches a hysterical retaliation to a terror attack. It is then that Aryeh's brother and musical collaborator, Avshalom, makes the decision to return to Israel just a week before their performance in Amsterdam. Aryeh, however, chooses to remain in Europe, no longer willing to sacrifice himself for the ideal of a Jewish state.

After years of fighting for his country, protesting, and creating resistance art, Aryeh finds himself caught between his past convictions and a growing sense of cynicism. At the heart of the performance is the metaphor of a "Zionist Phantom Limb"—a haunting pain from a lost part of his identity. In this dance of devils, ghosts from Aryeh's past confront him, demanding answers about survival, self-sacrifice, and solidarity, as he grapples with his identity and the meaning of his journey.

Aryeh is joined by Alkistis Misouli on viola and additional vocals.