Bait Byout: The Palestinian Live Action Role Playing (Larp) Organisation

Bait Byout, a Palestinian non-profit, LARP-based organization Our LARP (Live Action Role Play) community took the decision to institutionalize itself as a Larp-based organization called Bait Byout. 'Bait Byout' being the Arabic term for the act of role-play wherein children pretend to be adults. Bait Byout aims at contributing to a free society by creating a safe space for creative and critical freedom of expression. Six year later we continue to live out our dream by utilising LARP as a tool to bridge gaps within the Palestinian society and outside of Palestine. Within the Palestinain society, LARP has acted as a non-physical platform in which adults and children have been gifted the chance to interact with others creatively. For six years, LARPers have engaged with the Palestinian public in educational environments such as schools and even more unstable environments such as refugee camps. The stories played out are entertaining and educational. Such stories include children becoming animals to fighting oppressive lions with magical water balloons, or adults becoming tribe members of Jericho 3,000 years ago and act out dance battles to solve disputes. Each LARPer is assigned a certain role along with the character’s description. No script is handed. Instead, the story is created along with the role-playing with the other LARPers. By joining the LARP community, you can “play whatever you want, wherever you want.” LARP can also be used as a means of connecting cultures: a LARP wedding was played out between a Palestinian woman and a Norwegian man. In this LARP wedding, a Palestinian wedding ceremony was conducted which included cultural practices of a bride’s henna, and dabka dance. Outside of Palestine, Palestinian and Finnish LARPers acted out a story of occupied Finland as a means of experiencing life under occupation in the most ethical way possible.