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"value": "Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024, photo: Ken Schles \nIn the early hours of Dec. 13, Israeli forces raided the offices of the Freedom Theatre, a world-renowned bastion of artistic expression in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The soldiers ransacked the building and\u00a0defaced it\u00a0with graffiti bearing Jewish symbols, before violently abducting three members of the theater\u2019s community from their homes: artistic director Ahmed Tobasi, producer Mustafa Sheta, and a graduate of the theater\u2019s performing arts program, Jamal Abu Joas.\u00a0\n\nTobasi was released the next day; Abu Joas a week later. Sheta, however, was sentenced to six months in administrative detention \u2014 a form of arrest that enables Israel to put anyone it deems a security risk behind bars for an indefinite period, without due process. Sheta, who has joined\u00a0nearly 3,500\u00a0Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, was able to speak with his lawyer for only 10 minutes before the lawyer appeared in a closed military trial.\u00a0\n\nWhile this attack comes in the context of a\u00a0brutal crackdown\u00a0across the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, it also represents the latest escalation in Israel\u2019s decades-long persecution against the Palestinian cultural sphere in general, and Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in particular. This time, however, Israel\u2019s aggression has not gone unchallenged, and the response from the global artistic community in solidarity with the theater has been unprecedented.\n Share this article on Twitter Facebook Mail A targeted assault on Palestinian culture\nFounded during the First Intifada as the Stone Theatre by Arna Mer-Khamis, the Israeli army destroyed the theater\u2019s original building during its siege of Jenin amid the Second Intifada. In 2006, Arna\u2019s son, Juliano, re-opened the theater in its current venue \u2014 a cultural center in the Jenin refugee camp \u2014 with Zakaria Zubeidi. Three years later, an unknown individual threw Molotov cocktails at the building while it was empty, and in 2011, a masked gunman killed Juliano as he left the theater.\n\nThe Freedom Theatre sees its work as intertwined with the Palestinian struggle for liberation and\u00a0refuses to ignore\u00a0decades of Israeli apartheid, colonization, and military occupation. It provides a space for young people in particular to create a political imaginary different from their daily reality, steeped as it is in pervasive dehumanization, oppression, and violence. It enables them to cultivate a vision of equality and freedom and to act it out, making the imagined tangible. It is, in short, a venue of resistance, which is why the theater has been such a frequent target of Israeli attacks over the years.\n\n\n Ahmad Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theater and actor, performing his play 'And Here I Am' (The Freedom Theater) Ahmad Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theater and actor, performing his play 'And Here I Am' (The Freedom Theater)\nAhmed Tobasi, artistic director of the Freedom Theatre, performing his play \u2018And Here I Am.\u2019 (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\n\nSince its inception, the Freedom Theatre has staged over 25 different plays to tens of thousands of people in Jenin and beyond, including through successful international tours. Its repertoire is overtly political, allowing transformative processes to emerge from the creative process itself.\u00a0\n\nAmong the plays presented in the theater are George Orwell\u2019s \u201cAnimal Farm,\u201d Ghassan Kanafani\u2019s \u201cMen in the Sun,\u201d Lewis Carroll\u2019s \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d Harold Pinter\u2019s \u201cThe Caretaker,\u201d and original plays such as \u201cFragments of Palestine,\u201d \u201cPower/Poison,\u201d \u201cReturn to Palestine,\u201d \u201cThe Siege,\u201d and \u201cSuicide Note from Palestine.\u201d The theater also offers workshops and educational activities for children.\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\n\nIf you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.\nEmail\n(One summary e-mail a day, you can change anytime, and Portside is always free.)\n Leave this field blank\nThe plays are so powerfully political in part because the theater cannot be separated from its violent surroundings. Jenin has long been a locus of Israeli oppression, but in the past few years it has come to witness military raids on an almost weekly basis. Since October 7, these raids have further intensified, with Israeli forces killing\u00a090 Palestinians\u00a0in Jenin alone over the past four months.\u00a0\n\nThe December arrests of three members of the Freedom Theatre community thus took place in a dual context: the violence regularly inflicted on Jenin, and the targeted assault on Palestinian culture since the war on Gaza began \u2014 a campaign that has included the destruction of\u00a0an iconic bookstore, Gaza\u2019s\u00a0main library, the\u00a0Central Archive Building, and\u00a0the\u00a0Rashad al-Shawwa Historical Cultural Centre. These attacks have been read through the lens of\u00a0cultural genocide: efforts to erase the culture, language, and religion of a specific group.\n\n\n Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre) Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\nSecurity camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\n\nYet Israel\u2019s apparent goal of silencing Palestinian cultural critics has backfired. With much of the world aghast at Israel\u2019s brutality in the context of the war on Gaza, the effect of its latest attack on the Freedom Theatre has been to raise the theater\u2019s international profile even higher.\u00a0After decades of silence in the face of apartheid, occupation, and daily violence experienced by Palestinians, global public discourse and opinion seem to be decisively shifting.\u00a0\n\nAcross the world, public figures are speaking out against Israeli aggression, university campuses are consumed by debates on the issue, and marches of solidarity with Gaza are attracting record numbers of people. There has also been a seismic shift in the world\u2019s understanding of how specific sectors of Palestinian life face routine harassment, dehumanization, and a structural denial of human rights. One such sector, often overlooked but crucially important, is performance arts.\u00a0\nSolidarity from the stage to the streets\u00a0\nAlthough the Freedom Theatre\u2019s international solidarity networks have been robust for many years, this latest assault on the theater \u2014 occurring as it did in the context of Israel\u2019s genocidal aggression in Gaza \u2014 generated an unprecedented response from the global artistic community.\u00a0Open letters\u00a0garnered hundreds of signatories from industry professionals, while major players like\u00a0PEN America have released\u00a0solidarity statements.\n\nIn New York, the theater and performing arts community\u00a0gathered\u00a0on Dec. 19 for a rapid response rally, standing in solidarity with the Freedom Theatre and with Palestine more generally in protest of the continued detention of the theater\u2019s members. The rally featured a lineup of speakers who shared personal remarks and performances, including excerpts read from the Freedom Theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Revolution\u2019s Promise.\u201d\u00a0\n\n\n Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio) Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)\nRally in solidarity with Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)\n\nOther actions in solidarity with the theater took place in\u00a0France,\u00a0Scotland,\u00a0Mexico,\u00a0Italy,\u00a0South Africa,\u00a0Belgium,\u00a0Norway, and\u00a0Sweden. In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, more than\u00a01,000 leading lights\u00a0in the theater world, including such luminaries as Caryl Churchill, Maxine Peake, Vicky Featherstone, and Dominic Cooke,\u00a0called for\u00a0the immediate release of\u00a0Sheta, Abu Joas, and other residents of Jenin who were detained during Israel\u2019s Dec. 13 raid.\u00a0\n\nAmong a global sweep of solidarity with the Freedom Theatre, UK culture workers have come out firing against the silencing of support for Palestinians within their industry.\u00a0A new collective named\u00a0Cultural Workers Against Genocide\u00a0has critiqued arts organizations in the UK for their hypocrisy,\u00a0noting\u00a0that \u201cexpressions of solidarity readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression have not been extended to Palestinians.\u201d\u00a0\n\nPaul W. Flemming, general secretary of\u00a0Equity, the UK\u2019s performing arts and entertainment union, told +972 that the union had\u00a0sent funds to the Freedom Theatre in the wake of the attack. \u201cMembers expect their union to take the same approach in Palestine and Israel as we\u2019ve taken over Ukraine and Russia \u2014 supporting artists and trades unionists to survive and fight for peace, dignity, and freedom of expression for artists, irrespective of nationality or background,\u201d he said.\n\nOn Nov. 29, scores of workers in the culture sector in London\u00a0staged a walk-out, with the\u00a0support\u00a0of the Freedom Theatre, over the silence of cultural institutions and organizations regarding violence in Palestine. The following day,\u00a0another open letter\u00a0was published \u2014 signed by luminaries in the UK including Olivia Coleman, Juliette Stevenson, and Hassan Abdulrazzak \u2014 which stated:\u00a0\u201cFar from supporting our calls for an end to the violence, many cultural institutions in Western countries are systematically repressing, silencing and stigmatizing Palestinian voices and perspectives.\u201d\n\n\n Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre) Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\nGraffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\n\nThere has also been on-stage solidarity. On Nov. 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Ramallah-based Ashtar Theatre\u00a0called on theater companies\u00a0around the world to read out the\u00a0Gaza Monologues. Narrated by 33 young people in 2010, following Israel\u2019s first war on the Strip after withdrawing its settlers and soldiers, the play seeks to bring the voices of Gaza\u2019s young people to the world.\u00a0\n\nThe words\u00a0written\u00a0back then echo painfully today: \u201cI dream of having ONE day of safety, I\u2019m sure the world is too busy to remember our situation; six years have passed since we wrote our monologues and we are still under siege \u2026 When can we live in peace like the rest of the World?\u201d\u00a0Companies around the world responded to Ashtar Theatre\u2019s call, including in several venues in the United States, South Africa, and across South Asia and the Middle East.\n\nThese solidarity campaigns show that there is a growing understanding of the responsibility and commitment of theater makers to their comrades in Palestine \u2014 a development that is especially significant in the context of the deliberate attempts to silence Palestinian voices within the culture sector. In October, for example, the Frankfurt Book Fair hastily\u00a0canceled\u00a0the award ceremony for Adania Shibli simply because she is Palestinian. The blowback to that decision, combined with the campaigns in the theater world, suggest a fundamentally new path forward for the arts community.\nSubversion and liberation\nAs the world rallies around the Palestinian cause, the attack on the theater and the solidarity campaigns that this provoked exemplify our current moment: the cruelty that Israeli apartheid brings to the everyday lives of Palestinians, but also the change in how the world reacts to this dehumanization.\n\n\n Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles) Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)\nRally in solidarity with Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)\n\nTwo months after the raid on Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre, its producer Mustafa Sheta remains in administrative detention. But it is clear the global arts community is not returning to (show) business as usual, and will continue to fight for Palestinian freedom. The arts have always been a powerful mechanism of subversion and liberation, which is precisely why Israel is cracking down on Palestinian cultural life.\n\nOn Feb. 13, it was\u00a0announced\u00a0that the Freedom Theater has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The theater\u00a0responded: \u201cThe Freedom Theatre is an artistic movement made possible by the collective effect of thousands of people, starting from Jenin Refugee Camp in Palestine and rippling across the world.\u201d\n\nDana Mills is a writer, activist, dancer, and the +972/ Local Call resource development manager. She is the author of\u00a0Dance and Politics: Moving beyond Boundaries\u00a0(2016),\u00a0Rosa Luxemburg\u00a0(2020), and\u00a0Dance and Activism\u00a0(2021). Her fourth book, a collection of essays about and against war, is forthcoming in 2024 with Five Leaves Press.\n\n+972 Magazine is an independent, online, nonprofit magazine run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists. Founded in 2010, our mission is to provide in-depth reporting, analysis, and opinions from the ground in Israel-Palestine. The name of the site is derived from the telephone country code ... can be used to dial throughout Israel-Palestine.\n\nOur core values are a commitment to equity, justice, and freedom of information. We believe in accurate and fair journalism that spotlights the people and communities working to oppose occupation and apartheid, and that showcases perspectives often overlooked or marginalized in mainstream narratives.\n Palestinians theater Solidarity Subscribe to Portside",
"lang": "en",
"html": "<div class=\"expanded-article-image-wrapper\">\n<img alt=\"\" class=\"expanded-article-image u-photo img-responsive\" height=\"411\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://portside.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Ken-Schles_%40kenschles5-1200x802.jpg\" width=\"615\"/>\n<div class=\"article-image-credit\">\n Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024, photo: Ken Schles\n </div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"full-article-text-wrapper\">\n<p>In the early hours of Dec. 13, Israeli forces raided the offices of the Freedom Theatre, a world-renowned bastion of artistic expression in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The soldiers ransacked the building and\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/12/20/no-safe-place-jenins-freedom-theatre-raided-daubed-with-star-of-david\">defaced it</a>\u00a0with graffiti bearing Jewish symbols, before violently abducting three members of the theater\u2019s community from their homes: artistic director Ahmed Tobasi, producer Mustafa Sheta, and a graduate of the theater\u2019s performing arts program, Jamal Abu Joas.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Tobasi was released the next day; Abu Joas a week later. Sheta, however, was sentenced to six months in administrative detention \u2014 a form of arrest that enables Israel to put anyone it deems a security risk behind bars for an indefinite period, without due process. Sheta, who has joined\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.addameer.org/statistics\">nearly 3,500</a>\u00a0Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, was able to speak with his lawyer for only 10 minutes before the lawyer appeared in a closed military trial.\u00a0</p>\n<p>While this attack comes in the context of a\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.972mag.com/west-bank-gaza-war-protests/\">brutal crackdown</a>\u00a0across the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, it also represents the latest escalation in Israel\u2019s decades-long persecution against the Palestinian cultural sphere in general, and Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in particular. This time, however, Israel\u2019s aggression has not gone unchallenged, and the response from the global artistic community in solidarity with the theater has been unprecedented.</p>\n<div class=\"links inline social-buttons-links tokens\" id=\"block-socialsimpleblock\">\n<div class=\"social-buttons\">\n<div class=\"social-buttons-title\">Share this article on</div>\n<ul class=\"links\">\n<li class=\"twitter\"><a data-placement=\"top\" data-popup-height=\"300\" data-popup-width=\"600\" data-toggle=\"tooltip\" href=\"https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?url=https%3A//portside.org/2024-02-16/art-world-takes-stage-defend-palestinian-theater&amp;text=Art%20World%20Takes%20the%20Stage%20To%20Defend%20a%20Palestinian%20Theater\" title=\"Twitter\"><i class=\"fa fa-twitter\"></i><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Twitter</span></a></li>\n<li class=\"facebook\"><a data-placement=\"top\" data-popup-height=\"300\" data-popup-width=\"600\" data-toggle=\"tooltip\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A//portside.org/2024-02-16/art-world-takes-stage-defend-palestinian-theater\" title=\"Facebook\"><i class=\"fa fa-facebook\"></i><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Facebook</span></a></li>\n<li class=\"mail\"><a data-popup-open=\"false\" href=\"mailto:?body=%0AArt%20World%20Takes%20the%20Stage%20To%20Defend%20a%20Palestinian%20Theater%0Ahttps%3A//portside.org/2024-02-16/art-world-takes-stage-defend-palestinian-theater&amp;subject=Art%20World%20Takes%20the%20Stage%20To%20Defend%20a%20Palestinian%20Theater\" title=\"Mail\"><i class=\"fa fa-envelope\"></i><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Mail</span></a></li>\n</ul>\n</div>\n</div>\n<h3><strong>A targeted assault on Palestinian culture</strong></h3>\n<p>Founded during the First Intifada as the Stone Theatre by Arna Mer-Khamis, the Israeli army destroyed the theater\u2019s original building during its siege of Jenin amid the Second Intifada. In 2006, Arna\u2019s son, Juliano, re-opened the theater in its current venue \u2014 a cultural center in the Jenin refugee camp \u2014 with Zakaria Zubeidi. Three years later, an unknown individual threw Molotov cocktails at the building while it was empty, and in 2011, a masked gunman killed Juliano as he left the theater.</p>\n<p>The Freedom Theatre sees its work as intertwined with the Palestinian struggle for liberation and\u00a0<a href=\"https://thefreedomtheatre.org/who-we-are/\">refuses to ignore</a>\u00a0decades of Israeli apartheid, colonization, and military occupation. It provides a space for young people in particular to create a political imaginary different from their daily reality, steeped as it is in pervasive dehumanization, oppression, and violence. It enables them to cultivate a vision of equality and freedom and to act it out, making the imagined tangible. It is, in short, a venue of resistance, which is why the theater has been such a frequent target of Israeli attacks over the years.</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/play-and-here-i-am.jpg\"><img alt=\"Ahmad Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theater and actor, performing his play 'And Here I Am' (The Freedom Theater)\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/play-and-here-i-am-1280x853.jpg\" width=\"768\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Ahmad Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theater and actor, performing his play 'And Here I Am' (The Freedom Theater)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Ahmed Tobasi, artistic director of the Freedom Theatre, performing his play \u2018And Here I Am.\u2019 (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</p>\n<p>Since its inception, the Freedom Theatre has staged over 25 different plays to tens of thousands of people in Jenin and beyond, including through successful international tours. Its repertoire is overtly political, allowing transformative processes to emerge from the creative process itself.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Among the plays presented in the theater are George Orwell\u2019s \u201cAnimal Farm,\u201d Ghassan Kanafani\u2019s \u201cMen in the Sun,\u201d Lewis Carroll\u2019s \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d Harold Pinter\u2019s \u201cThe Caretaker,\u201d and original plays such as \u201cFragments of Palestine,\u201d \u201cPower/Poison,\u201d \u201cReturn to Palestine,\u201d \u201cThe Siege,\u201d and \u201cSuicide Note from Palestine.\u201d The theater also offers workshops and educational activities for children.\u00a0\u00a0</p>\n<p></p><div class=\"snapshot-mini-form tokens\" data-drupal-selector=\"snapshot-mini-form\" id=\"block-portsidelistservnewslettersubscribeminiform\">\n<form accept-charset=\"UTF-8\" action=\"#snapshot-mini-form\" class=\"form-horizontal\" id=\"snapshot-mini-form\" method=\"post\">\n<p class=\"helper-text\">If you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.</p><div class=\"subscribe-oneline\"><div class=\"row form-group js-form-item form-item js-form-type-email form-type-email js-form-item-email-address form-item-email-address\">\n<label class=\"col-sm-2 control-label js-form-required form-required\" for=\"edit-email-address\">Email</label>\n<div class=\"form--email col-sm-10 col-lg-8\">\n<input aria-required=\"true\" class=\"form-email required form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-email-address\" id=\"edit-email-address\" maxlength=\"64\" name=\"email_address\" required=\"required\" size=\"64\" type=\"email\" value=\"\"/>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"form-group\">\n<input class=\"btn-wide button js-form-submit form-submit btn-portside\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-submit\" id=\"edit-submit\" name=\"op\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe\"/>\n</div>\n</div><input class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-list-name\" name=\"list_name\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"PORTSIDE-SNAPSHOT\"/>\n<p class=\"helper-text\">(One summary e-mail a day, you can <a href=\"https://portside.org/subscribe\">change anytime</a>, and Portside is always free.)</p><input class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-honeypot-time\" name=\"honeypot_time\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"LHnLTnWzt4ETqplka7_19Gy5gpZtGYOGUQImBr6GPpI\"/>\n<input autocomplete=\"off\" class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"form-ag3btc3ccgow3tsip50xeysb82fiwakdbwtlllolvtw\" name=\"form_build_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"form-aG3BTC3ccgOW3TSIp50xeySB82fIwAkdBwtlllOLVtw\"/>\n<input class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-snapshot-mini-form\" name=\"form_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"snapshot_mini_form\"/>\n<div class=\"zip-textfield js-form-wrapper form-wrapper\" style=\"display: none !important;\"><div class=\"row form-group js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textfield form-type-textfield js-form-item-zip form-item-zip\">\n<label class=\"col-sm-2 control-label\" for=\"edit-zip\">Leave this field blank</label>\n<div class=\"form--textfield col-sm-10 col-lg-8\">\n<input autocomplete=\"off\" class=\"form-text form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-zip\" id=\"edit-zip\" maxlength=\"128\" name=\"zip\" size=\"20\" type=\"text\" value=\"\"/>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</form>\n</div>\n<p>The plays are so powerfully political in part because the theater cannot be separated from its violent surroundings. Jenin has long been a locus of Israeli oppression, but in the past few years it has come to witness military raids on an almost weekly basis. Since October 7, these raids have further intensified, with Israeli forces killing\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.shireen.ps/home\">90 Palestinians</a>\u00a0in Jenin alone over the past four months.\u00a0</p>\n<p>The December arrests of three members of the Freedom Theatre community thus took place in a dual context: the violence regularly inflicted on Jenin, and the targeted assault on Palestinian culture since the war on Gaza began \u2014 a campaign that has included the destruction of\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.arabnews.com/node/2390636/middle-east\">an iconic bookstore</a>, Gaza\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https://lithub.com/gazas-main-public-library-has-been-destroyed/\">main library</a>, the\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/22/gaza-city-archives-among-heritage-sites-destroyed-in-israel-hamas-war\">Central Archive Building</a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/gaza-library-palestinian-culture/\">Rashad al-Shawwa Historical Cultural Centre</a>. These attacks have been read through the lens of\u00a0<a href=\"https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/91577\">cultural genocide</a>: efforts to erase the culture, language, and religion of a specific group.</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Israeli-army-outside-Jenin-Theater-Security-Camera-image-13.12.23-e1708006321525.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\" height=\"739\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Israeli-army-outside-Jenin-Theater-Security-Camera-image-13.12.23-e1708006321525.jpeg\" width=\"1241\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</p>\n<p>Yet Israel\u2019s apparent goal of silencing Palestinian cultural critics has backfired. With much of the world aghast at Israel\u2019s brutality in the context of the war on Gaza, the effect of its latest attack on the Freedom Theatre has been to raise the theater\u2019s international profile even higher.\u00a0After decades of silence in the face of apartheid, occupation, and daily violence experienced by Palestinians, global public discourse and opinion seem to be decisively shifting.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Across the world, public figures are speaking out against Israeli aggression, university campuses are consumed by debates on the issue, and marches of solidarity with Gaza are attracting record numbers of people. There has also been a seismic shift in the world\u2019s understanding of how specific sectors of Palestinian life face routine harassment, dehumanization, and a structural denial of human rights. One such sector, often overlooked but crucially important, is performance arts.\u00a0</p>\n<h3><strong>Solidarity from the stage to the streets</strong>\u00a0</h3>\n<p>Although the Freedom Theatre\u2019s international solidarity networks have been robust for many years, this latest assault on the theater \u2014 occurring as it did in the context of Israel\u2019s genocidal aggression in Gaza \u2014 generated an unprecedented response from the global artistic community.\u00a0<a href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vSroOBxKtjVz6uGVfqmgzrih2f9Ucecxvz5zStC0eeVcKC9r43jn8NvqljmwwJFhxaVwDNCAqQwmOVX/pub?pli=1&amp;urp=gmail_link\">Open letters</a>\u00a0garnered hundreds of signatories from industry professionals, while major players like\u00a0PEN America have released\u00a0<a href=\"https://pen.org/press-release/sentencing-of-chair-of-the-freedom-theatre-in-jenin-palestine-is-a-serious-human-rights-violation/\">solidarity statements</a>.</p>\n<p>In New York, the theater and performing arts community\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nationalqueertheater/p/C1AZKsaP_83/\">gathered</a>\u00a0on Dec. 19 for a rapid response rally, standing in solidarity with the Freedom Theatre and with Palestine more generally in protest of the continued detention of the theater\u2019s members. The rally featured a lineup of speakers who shared personal remarks and performances, including excerpts read from the Freedom Theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Revolution\u2019s Promise.\u201d\u00a0</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ash-Marinaccio_@ashmarinaccio.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ash-Marinaccio_@ashmarinaccio-1280x853.jpeg\" width=\"768\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Rally in solidarity with Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)</p>\n<p>Other actions in solidarity with the theater took place in\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.change.org/p/solidarit%C3%A9-avec-l-%C3%A9quipe-du-freedom-th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre-de-jenine?recruiter=1323964981&amp;recruited_by_id=1e165c40-9aa4-11ee-8dd6-efdd496947c9&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&amp;utm_medium=email\">France</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2023/12/15/open-letter-in-solidarity-with-freedom-theatre-jenin/\">Scotland</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.change.org/p/liberaci%C3%B3n-inmediata-de-mustafa-sheta-y-jamal-abu-joas?recruiter=23746156&amp;recruited_by_id=95506410-4e1b-0130-3083-3c764e04b20e&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&amp;utm_medium=copylink\">Mexico</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://openletter.earth/italian-arts-united-for-palestine-lettera-aperta-per-una-presa-di-posizione-rispetto-al-genocidio-in-palestina-9125b29d\">Italy</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://forms.gle/3oWLqNqnMZn6Mgea8\">South Africa</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHD5q6sZ_YYQAqGwvH55Ehjt2gdgDnqwqYUhYkmoW2Vp7pGQ/viewform\">Belgium</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.karlsoyfestivalen.no/en/2023/07/05/the-freedom-theatre-angrepet/\">Norway</a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.mittskifte.org/petitions/kulturarbetare-palestina-behover-dig-nu\">Sweden</a>. In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, more than\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/19/leading-lights-of-uk-stage-call-for-israeli-release-of-palestinian-theatre-group\">1,000 leading lights</a>\u00a0in the theater world, including such luminaries as Caryl Churchill, Maxine Peake, Vicky Featherstone, and Dominic Cooke,\u00a0<a href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vQhYmx9wVagJqAQb3u-Rzdqb1CNzsdrlHplcYjTsUU6GRLsuujsVfXO_7Q6bv9EHe8bg6U0-5ApUigP/pub?urp=gmail_link\">called for</a>\u00a0the immediate release of\u00a0Sheta, Abu Joas, and other residents of Jenin who were detained during Israel\u2019s Dec. 13 raid.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Among a global sweep of solidarity with the Freedom Theatre, UK culture workers have come out firing against the silencing of support for Palestinians within their industry.\u00a0A new collective named\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cultureworkersagainstgenocide/kersuk/\">Cultural Workers Against Genocide</a>\u00a0has critiqued arts organizations in the UK for their hypocrisy,\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.thejc.com/news/olivia-colman-signs-letter-citing-genocide-of-palestinians-dsoy1ir1\">noting</a>\u00a0that \u201cexpressions of solidarity readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression have not been extended to Palestinians.\u201d<em>\u00a0</em></p>\n<p>Paul W. Flemming, general secretary of\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.equity.org.uk/\">Equity</a>, the UK\u2019s performing arts and entertainment union, told +972 that the union had\u00a0sent funds to the Freedom Theatre in the wake of the attack. \u201cMembers expect their union to take the same approach in Palestine and Israel as we\u2019ve taken over Ukraine and Russia \u2014 supporting artists and trades unionists to survive and fight for peace, dignity, and freedom of expression for artists, irrespective of nationality or background,\u201d he said.</p>\n<p>On Nov. 29, scores of workers in the culture sector in London\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/culture-workers-walkout-over-industry-silence-around-israel-hamas-conflict\">staged a walk-out</a>, with the\u00a0<a href=\"https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/palestine-solidarity-day-see-workers-strike-peace\">support</a>\u00a0of the Freedom Theatre, over the silence of cultural institutions and organizations regarding violence in Palestine. The following day,\u00a0<a href=\"https://artistsforpalestine.org.uk/2023/11/30/olivia-colman-among-1000-artists-accusing-art-institutions-of-censorship-on-palestine/\">another open letter</a>\u00a0was published \u2014 signed by luminaries in the UK including Olivia Coleman, Juliette Stevenson, and Hassan Abdulrazzak \u2014 which stated:\u00a0\u201cFar from supporting our calls for an end to the violence, many cultural institutions in Western countries are systematically repressing, silencing and stigmatizing Palestinian voices and perspectives.\u201d</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Jewish-symbols-wall-of-Jenin-Theater-13.12.23.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\" height=\"551\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Jewish-symbols-wall-of-Jenin-Theater-13.12.23.jpeg\" width=\"980\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</p>\n<p>There has also been on-stage solidarity. On Nov. 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Ramallah-based Ashtar Theatre\u00a0<a href=\"https://lithub.com/this-palestinian-group-has-an-urgent-request-for-theater-companies-around-the-world/\">called on theater companies</a>\u00a0around the world to read out the\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.gazamonologues.com/\">Gaza Monologues</a>. Narrated by 33 young people in 2010, following Israel\u2019s first war on the Strip after withdrawing its settlers and soldiers, the play seeks to bring the voices of Gaza\u2019s young people to the world.\u00a0</p>\n<p>The words\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.gazamonologues.com/\">written</a>\u00a0back then echo painfully today: \u201cI dream of having ONE day of safety, I\u2019m sure the world is too busy to remember our situation; six years have passed since we wrote our monologues and we are still under siege \u2026 When can we live in peace like the rest of the World?\u201d\u00a0Companies around the world responded to Ashtar Theatre\u2019s call, including in several venues in the United States, South Africa, and across South Asia and the Middle East.</p>\n<p>These solidarity campaigns show that there is a growing understanding of the responsibility and commitment of theater makers to their comrades in Palestine \u2014 a development that is especially significant in the context of the deliberate attempts to silence Palestinian voices within the culture sector. In October, for example, the Frankfurt Book Fair hastily\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/15/palestinian-voices-shut-down-at-frankfurt-book-fair-say-authors\">canceled</a>\u00a0the award ceremony for Adania Shibli simply because she is Palestinian. The blowback to that decision, combined with the campaigns in the theater world, suggest a fundamentally new path forward for the arts community.</p>\n<h3><strong>Subversion and liberation</strong></h3>\n<p>As the world rallies around the Palestinian cause, the attack on the theater and the solidarity campaigns that this provoked exemplify our current moment: the cruelty that Israeli apartheid brings to the everyday lives of Palestinians, but also the change in how the world reacts to this dehumanization.</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ken-Schles_@kenschles2.jpg\"><img alt=\"Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)\" height=\"800\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ken-Schles_@kenschles2.jpg\" width=\"1200\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Rally in solidarity with Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)</p>\n<p>Two months after the raid on Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre, its producer Mustafa Sheta remains in administrative detention. But it is clear the global arts community is not returning to (show) business as usual, and will continue to fight for Palestinian freedom. The arts have always been a powerful mechanism of subversion and liberation, which is precisely why Israel is cracking down on Palestinian cultural life.</p>\n<p>On Feb. 13, it was\u00a0<a href=\"https://lithub.com/palestines-freedom-theater-has-been-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/#:~:text=We%20are%20honored%20to%20announce,and%20rippling%20across%20the%20world.\">announced</a>\u00a0that the Freedom Theater has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The theater\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3SedPoNJ-R/?igsh=MWY1czU5Y3NwNjFrag%3D%3D\">responded</a>: \u201cThe Freedom Theatre is an artistic movement made possible by the collective effect of thousands of people, starting from Jenin Refugee Camp in Palestine and rippling across the world.\u201d</p>\n<p><em class=\"author-id\">Dana Mills is a writer, activist, dancer, and the +972/ Local Call resource development manager. She is the author of\u00a0Dance and Politics: Moving beyond Boundaries\u00a0(2016),\u00a0Rosa Luxemburg\u00a0(2020), and\u00a0Dance and Activism\u00a0(2021). Her fourth book, a collection of essays about and against war, is forthcoming in 2024 with Five Leaves Press.</em></p>\n<p><em class=\"publisher\">+972 Magazine is an independent, online, nonprofit magazine run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists. Founded in 2010, our mission is to provide in-depth reporting, analysis, and opinions from the ground in Israel-Palestine. The name of the site is derived from the telephone country code ... can be used to dial throughout Israel-Palestine.</em></p>\n<p><em class=\"publisher\">Our core values are a commitment to equity, justice, and freedom of information. We believe in accurate and fair journalism that spotlights the people and communities working to oppose occupation and apartheid, and that showcases perspectives often overlooked or marginalized in mainstream narratives.</em></p>\n</div>\n<div>\n<span class=\"hidden\"><a href=\"https://brid.gy/publish/twitter\"></a></span><span class=\"hidden\"><a href=\"https://brid.gy/publish/mastodon\"></a></span><div class=\"node_view\"></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<ul class=\"tags\">\n<li class=\"h-category\"><a href=\"https://portside.org/palestinians\" hreflang=\"en\">Palestinians</a></li>\n<li class=\"h-category\"><a href=\"https://portside.org/theater\" hreflang=\"en\">theater</a></li>\n<li class=\"h-category\"><a href=\"https://portside.org/solidarity\" hreflang=\"en\">Solidarity</a></li>\n</ul>\n</div>\n<div class=\"buttons-article-end\">\n<div class=\"subscribe-article-end\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary\" href=\"https://portside.org/subscribe\">Subscribe to Portside</a>\n</div>\n</div>"
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"content": "<div class=\"expanded-article-image-wrapper\">\n<img alt=\"\" class=\"expanded-article-image u-photo img-responsive\" height=\"411\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://portside.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Ken-Schles_%40kenschles5-1200x802.jpg\" width=\"615\"/>\n<div class=\"article-image-credit\">\n Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024, photo: Ken Schles\n </div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"full-article-text-wrapper\">\n<p>In the early hours of Dec. 13, Israeli forces raided the offices of the Freedom Theatre, a world-renowned bastion of artistic expression in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The soldiers ransacked the building and\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/12/20/no-safe-place-jenins-freedom-theatre-raided-daubed-with-star-of-david\">defaced it</a>\u00a0with graffiti bearing Jewish symbols, before violently abducting three members of the theater\u2019s community from their homes: artistic director Ahmed Tobasi, producer Mustafa Sheta, and a graduate of the theater\u2019s performing arts program, Jamal Abu Joas.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Tobasi was released the next day; Abu Joas a week later. Sheta, however, was sentenced to six months in administrative detention \u2014 a form of arrest that enables Israel to put anyone it deems a security risk behind bars for an indefinite period, without due process. Sheta, who has joined\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.addameer.org/statistics\">nearly 3,500</a>\u00a0Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, was able to speak with his lawyer for only 10 minutes before the lawyer appeared in a closed military trial.\u00a0</p>\n<p>While this attack comes in the context of a\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.972mag.com/west-bank-gaza-war-protests/\">brutal crackdown</a>\u00a0across the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, it also represents the latest escalation in Israel\u2019s decades-long persecution against the Palestinian cultural sphere in general, and Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in particular. This time, however, Israel\u2019s aggression has not gone unchallenged, and the response from the global artistic community in solidarity with the theater has been unprecedented.</p>\n<div class=\"links inline social-buttons-links tokens\" id=\"block-socialsimpleblock\">\n<div class=\"social-buttons\">\n<div class=\"social-buttons-title\">Share this article on</div>\n<ul class=\"links\">\n<li class=\"twitter\"><a data-placement=\"top\" data-popup-height=\"300\" data-popup-width=\"600\" data-toggle=\"tooltip\" href=\"https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?url=https%3A//portside.org/2024-02-16/art-world-takes-stage-defend-palestinian-theater&amp;text=Art%20World%20Takes%20the%20Stage%20To%20Defend%20a%20Palestinian%20Theater\" title=\"Twitter\"><i class=\"fa fa-twitter\"></i><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Twitter</span></a></li>\n<li class=\"facebook\"><a data-placement=\"top\" data-popup-height=\"300\" data-popup-width=\"600\" data-toggle=\"tooltip\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A//portside.org/2024-02-16/art-world-takes-stage-defend-palestinian-theater\" title=\"Facebook\"><i class=\"fa fa-facebook\"></i><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Facebook</span></a></li>\n<li class=\"mail\"><a data-popup-open=\"false\" href=\"mailto:?body=%0AArt%20World%20Takes%20the%20Stage%20To%20Defend%20a%20Palestinian%20Theater%0Ahttps%3A//portside.org/2024-02-16/art-world-takes-stage-defend-palestinian-theater&amp;subject=Art%20World%20Takes%20the%20Stage%20To%20Defend%20a%20Palestinian%20Theater\" title=\"Mail\"><i class=\"fa fa-envelope\"></i><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Mail</span></a></li>\n</ul>\n</div>\n</div>\n<h3><strong>A targeted assault on Palestinian culture</strong></h3>\n<p>Founded during the First Intifada as the Stone Theatre by Arna Mer-Khamis, the Israeli army destroyed the theater\u2019s original building during its siege of Jenin amid the Second Intifada. In 2006, Arna\u2019s son, Juliano, re-opened the theater in its current venue \u2014 a cultural center in the Jenin refugee camp \u2014 with Zakaria Zubeidi. Three years later, an unknown individual threw Molotov cocktails at the building while it was empty, and in 2011, a masked gunman killed Juliano as he left the theater.</p>\n<p>The Freedom Theatre sees its work as intertwined with the Palestinian struggle for liberation and\u00a0<a href=\"https://thefreedomtheatre.org/who-we-are/\">refuses to ignore</a>\u00a0decades of Israeli apartheid, colonization, and military occupation. It provides a space for young people in particular to create a political imaginary different from their daily reality, steeped as it is in pervasive dehumanization, oppression, and violence. It enables them to cultivate a vision of equality and freedom and to act it out, making the imagined tangible. It is, in short, a venue of resistance, which is why the theater has been such a frequent target of Israeli attacks over the years.</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/play-and-here-i-am.jpg\"><img alt=\"Ahmad Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theater and actor, performing his play 'And Here I Am' (The Freedom Theater)\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/play-and-here-i-am-1280x853.jpg\" width=\"768\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Ahmad Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theater and actor, performing his play 'And Here I Am' (The Freedom Theater)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Ahmed Tobasi, artistic director of the Freedom Theatre, performing his play \u2018And Here I Am.\u2019 (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</p>\n<p>Since its inception, the Freedom Theatre has staged over 25 different plays to tens of thousands of people in Jenin and beyond, including through successful international tours. Its repertoire is overtly political, allowing transformative processes to emerge from the creative process itself.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Among the plays presented in the theater are George Orwell\u2019s \u201cAnimal Farm,\u201d Ghassan Kanafani\u2019s \u201cMen in the Sun,\u201d Lewis Carroll\u2019s \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d Harold Pinter\u2019s \u201cThe Caretaker,\u201d and original plays such as \u201cFragments of Palestine,\u201d \u201cPower/Poison,\u201d \u201cReturn to Palestine,\u201d \u201cThe Siege,\u201d and \u201cSuicide Note from Palestine.\u201d The theater also offers workshops and educational activities for children.\u00a0\u00a0</p>\n<p></p><div class=\"snapshot-mini-form tokens\" data-drupal-selector=\"snapshot-mini-form\" id=\"block-portsidelistservnewslettersubscribeminiform\">\n<form accept-charset=\"UTF-8\" action=\"#snapshot-mini-form\" class=\"form-horizontal\" id=\"snapshot-mini-form\" method=\"post\">\n<p class=\"helper-text\">If you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.</p><div class=\"subscribe-oneline\"><div class=\"row form-group js-form-item form-item js-form-type-email form-type-email js-form-item-email-address form-item-email-address\">\n<label class=\"col-sm-2 control-label js-form-required form-required\" for=\"edit-email-address\">Email</label>\n<div class=\"form--email col-sm-10 col-lg-8\">\n<input aria-required=\"true\" class=\"form-email required form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-email-address\" id=\"edit-email-address\" maxlength=\"64\" name=\"email_address\" required=\"required\" size=\"64\" type=\"email\" value=\"\"/>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"form-group\">\n<input class=\"btn-wide button js-form-submit form-submit btn-portside\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-submit\" id=\"edit-submit\" name=\"op\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe\"/>\n</div>\n</div><input class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-list-name\" name=\"list_name\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"PORTSIDE-SNAPSHOT\"/>\n<p class=\"helper-text\">(One summary e-mail a day, you can <a href=\"https://portside.org/subscribe\">change anytime</a>, and Portside is always free.)</p><input class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-honeypot-time\" name=\"honeypot_time\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"LHnLTnWzt4ETqplka7_19Gy5gpZtGYOGUQImBr6GPpI\"/>\n<input autocomplete=\"off\" class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"form-ag3btc3ccgow3tsip50xeysb82fiwakdbwtlllolvtw\" name=\"form_build_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"form-aG3BTC3ccgOW3TSIp50xeySB82fIwAkdBwtlllOLVtw\"/>\n<input class=\"form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-snapshot-mini-form\" name=\"form_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"snapshot_mini_form\"/>\n<div class=\"zip-textfield js-form-wrapper form-wrapper\" style=\"display: none !important;\"><div class=\"row form-group js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textfield form-type-textfield js-form-item-zip form-item-zip\">\n<label class=\"col-sm-2 control-label\" for=\"edit-zip\">Leave this field blank</label>\n<div class=\"form--textfield col-sm-10 col-lg-8\">\n<input autocomplete=\"off\" class=\"form-text form-control input--text\" data-drupal-selector=\"edit-zip\" id=\"edit-zip\" maxlength=\"128\" name=\"zip\" size=\"20\" type=\"text\" value=\"\"/>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</form>\n</div>\n<p>The plays are so powerfully political in part because the theater cannot be separated from its violent surroundings. Jenin has long been a locus of Israeli oppression, but in the past few years it has come to witness military raids on an almost weekly basis. Since October 7, these raids have further intensified, with Israeli forces killing\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.shireen.ps/home\">90 Palestinians</a>\u00a0in Jenin alone over the past four months.\u00a0</p>\n<p>The December arrests of three members of the Freedom Theatre community thus took place in a dual context: the violence regularly inflicted on Jenin, and the targeted assault on Palestinian culture since the war on Gaza began \u2014 a campaign that has included the destruction of\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.arabnews.com/node/2390636/middle-east\">an iconic bookstore</a>, Gaza\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https://lithub.com/gazas-main-public-library-has-been-destroyed/\">main library</a>, the\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/22/gaza-city-archives-among-heritage-sites-destroyed-in-israel-hamas-war\">Central Archive Building</a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/gaza-library-palestinian-culture/\">Rashad al-Shawwa Historical Cultural Centre</a>. These attacks have been read through the lens of\u00a0<a href=\"https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/91577\">cultural genocide</a>: efforts to erase the culture, language, and religion of a specific group.</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Israeli-army-outside-Jenin-Theater-Security-Camera-image-13.12.23-e1708006321525.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\" height=\"739\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Israeli-army-outside-Jenin-Theater-Security-Camera-image-13.12.23-e1708006321525.jpeg\" width=\"1241\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Security camera footage shows Israeli troops outside the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</p>\n<p>Yet Israel\u2019s apparent goal of silencing Palestinian cultural critics has backfired. With much of the world aghast at Israel\u2019s brutality in the context of the war on Gaza, the effect of its latest attack on the Freedom Theatre has been to raise the theater\u2019s international profile even higher.\u00a0After decades of silence in the face of apartheid, occupation, and daily violence experienced by Palestinians, global public discourse and opinion seem to be decisively shifting.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Across the world, public figures are speaking out against Israeli aggression, university campuses are consumed by debates on the issue, and marches of solidarity with Gaza are attracting record numbers of people. There has also been a seismic shift in the world\u2019s understanding of how specific sectors of Palestinian life face routine harassment, dehumanization, and a structural denial of human rights. One such sector, often overlooked but crucially important, is performance arts.\u00a0</p>\n<h3><strong>Solidarity from the stage to the streets</strong>\u00a0</h3>\n<p>Although the Freedom Theatre\u2019s international solidarity networks have been robust for many years, this latest assault on the theater \u2014 occurring as it did in the context of Israel\u2019s genocidal aggression in Gaza \u2014 generated an unprecedented response from the global artistic community.\u00a0<a href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vSroOBxKtjVz6uGVfqmgzrih2f9Ucecxvz5zStC0eeVcKC9r43jn8NvqljmwwJFhxaVwDNCAqQwmOVX/pub?pli=1&amp;urp=gmail_link\">Open letters</a>\u00a0garnered hundreds of signatories from industry professionals, while major players like\u00a0PEN America have released\u00a0<a href=\"https://pen.org/press-release/sentencing-of-chair-of-the-freedom-theatre-in-jenin-palestine-is-a-serious-human-rights-violation/\">solidarity statements</a>.</p>\n<p>In New York, the theater and performing arts community\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nationalqueertheater/p/C1AZKsaP_83/\">gathered</a>\u00a0on Dec. 19 for a rapid response rally, standing in solidarity with the Freedom Theatre and with Palestine more generally in protest of the continued detention of the theater\u2019s members. The rally featured a lineup of speakers who shared personal remarks and performances, including excerpts read from the Freedom Theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Revolution\u2019s Promise.\u201d\u00a0</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ash-Marinaccio_@ashmarinaccio.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ash-Marinaccio_@ashmarinaccio-1280x853.jpeg\" width=\"768\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Rally in solidarity with Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ash Marinaccio)</p>\n<p>Other actions in solidarity with the theater took place in\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.change.org/p/solidarit%C3%A9-avec-l-%C3%A9quipe-du-freedom-th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre-de-jenine?recruiter=1323964981&amp;recruited_by_id=1e165c40-9aa4-11ee-8dd6-efdd496947c9&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&amp;utm_medium=email\">France</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2023/12/15/open-letter-in-solidarity-with-freedom-theatre-jenin/\">Scotland</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.change.org/p/liberaci%C3%B3n-inmediata-de-mustafa-sheta-y-jamal-abu-joas?recruiter=23746156&amp;recruited_by_id=95506410-4e1b-0130-3083-3c764e04b20e&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&amp;utm_medium=copylink\">Mexico</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://openletter.earth/italian-arts-united-for-palestine-lettera-aperta-per-una-presa-di-posizione-rispetto-al-genocidio-in-palestina-9125b29d\">Italy</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://forms.gle/3oWLqNqnMZn6Mgea8\">South Africa</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHD5q6sZ_YYQAqGwvH55Ehjt2gdgDnqwqYUhYkmoW2Vp7pGQ/viewform\">Belgium</a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.karlsoyfestivalen.no/en/2023/07/05/the-freedom-theatre-angrepet/\">Norway</a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.mittskifte.org/petitions/kulturarbetare-palestina-behover-dig-nu\">Sweden</a>. In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, more than\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/19/leading-lights-of-uk-stage-call-for-israeli-release-of-palestinian-theatre-group\">1,000 leading lights</a>\u00a0in the theater world, including such luminaries as Caryl Churchill, Maxine Peake, Vicky Featherstone, and Dominic Cooke,\u00a0<a href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vQhYmx9wVagJqAQb3u-Rzdqb1CNzsdrlHplcYjTsUU6GRLsuujsVfXO_7Q6bv9EHe8bg6U0-5ApUigP/pub?urp=gmail_link\">called for</a>\u00a0the immediate release of\u00a0Sheta, Abu Joas, and other residents of Jenin who were detained during Israel\u2019s Dec. 13 raid.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Among a global sweep of solidarity with the Freedom Theatre, UK culture workers have come out firing against the silencing of support for Palestinians within their industry.\u00a0A new collective named\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cultureworkersagainstgenocide/kersuk/\">Cultural Workers Against Genocide</a>\u00a0has critiqued arts organizations in the UK for their hypocrisy,\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.thejc.com/news/olivia-colman-signs-letter-citing-genocide-of-palestinians-dsoy1ir1\">noting</a>\u00a0that \u201cexpressions of solidarity readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression have not been extended to Palestinians.\u201d<em>\u00a0</em></p>\n<p>Paul W. Flemming, general secretary of\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.equity.org.uk/\">Equity</a>, the UK\u2019s performing arts and entertainment union, told +972 that the union had\u00a0sent funds to the Freedom Theatre in the wake of the attack. \u201cMembers expect their union to take the same approach in Palestine and Israel as we\u2019ve taken over Ukraine and Russia \u2014 supporting artists and trades unionists to survive and fight for peace, dignity, and freedom of expression for artists, irrespective of nationality or background,\u201d he said.</p>\n<p>On Nov. 29, scores of workers in the culture sector in London\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/culture-workers-walkout-over-industry-silence-around-israel-hamas-conflict\">staged a walk-out</a>, with the\u00a0<a href=\"https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/palestine-solidarity-day-see-workers-strike-peace\">support</a>\u00a0of the Freedom Theatre, over the silence of cultural institutions and organizations regarding violence in Palestine. The following day,\u00a0<a href=\"https://artistsforpalestine.org.uk/2023/11/30/olivia-colman-among-1000-artists-accusing-art-institutions-of-censorship-on-palestine/\">another open letter</a>\u00a0was published \u2014 signed by luminaries in the UK including Olivia Coleman, Juliette Stevenson, and Hassan Abdulrazzak \u2014 which stated:\u00a0\u201cFar from supporting our calls for an end to the violence, many cultural institutions in Western countries are systematically repressing, silencing and stigmatizing Palestinian voices and perspectives.\u201d</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Jewish-symbols-wall-of-Jenin-Theater-13.12.23.jpeg\"><img alt=\"Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)\" height=\"551\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Jewish-symbols-wall-of-Jenin-Theater-13.12.23.jpeg\" width=\"980\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Graffiti of Jewish symbols sprayed by Israeli soldiers during a raid of the Freedom Theatre in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Courtesy of the Freedom Theatre)</p>\n<p>There has also been on-stage solidarity. On Nov. 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Ramallah-based Ashtar Theatre\u00a0<a href=\"https://lithub.com/this-palestinian-group-has-an-urgent-request-for-theater-companies-around-the-world/\">called on theater companies</a>\u00a0around the world to read out the\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.gazamonologues.com/\">Gaza Monologues</a>. Narrated by 33 young people in 2010, following Israel\u2019s first war on the Strip after withdrawing its settlers and soldiers, the play seeks to bring the voices of Gaza\u2019s young people to the world.\u00a0</p>\n<p>The words\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.gazamonologues.com/\">written</a>\u00a0back then echo painfully today: \u201cI dream of having ONE day of safety, I\u2019m sure the world is too busy to remember our situation; six years have passed since we wrote our monologues and we are still under siege \u2026 When can we live in peace like the rest of the World?\u201d\u00a0Companies around the world responded to Ashtar Theatre\u2019s call, including in several venues in the United States, South Africa, and across South Asia and the Middle East.</p>\n<p>These solidarity campaigns show that there is a growing understanding of the responsibility and commitment of theater makers to their comrades in Palestine \u2014 a development that is especially significant in the context of the deliberate attempts to silence Palestinian voices within the culture sector. In October, for example, the Frankfurt Book Fair hastily\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/15/palestinian-voices-shut-down-at-frankfurt-book-fair-say-authors\">canceled</a>\u00a0the award ceremony for Adania Shibli simply because she is Palestinian. The blowback to that decision, combined with the campaigns in the theater world, suggest a fundamentally new path forward for the arts community.</p>\n<h3><strong>Subversion and liberation</strong></h3>\n<p>As the world rallies around the Palestinian cause, the attack on the theater and the solidarity campaigns that this provoked exemplify our current moment: the cruelty that Israeli apartheid brings to the everyday lives of Palestinians, but also the change in how the world reacts to this dehumanization.</p>\n<p>\n</p><figure role=\"group\">\n<a href=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ken-Schles_@kenschles2.jpg\"><img alt=\"Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)\" height=\"800\" src=\"https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2024/02/Ken-Schles_@kenschles2.jpg\" width=\"1200\"/></a>\n<figcaption>Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)</figcaption>\n</figure>\n<p>Rally in solidarity with Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)</p>\n<p>Two months after the raid on Jenin\u2019s Freedom Theatre, its producer Mustafa Sheta remains in administrative detention. But it is clear the global arts community is not returning to (show) business as usual, and will continue to fight for Palestinian freedom. The arts have always been a powerful mechanism of subversion and liberation, which is precisely why Israel is cracking down on Palestinian cultural life.</p>\n<p>On Feb. 13, it was\u00a0<a href=\"https://lithub.com/palestines-freedom-theater-has-been-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/#:~:text=We%20are%20honored%20to%20announce,and%20rippling%20across%20the%20world.\">announced</a>\u00a0that the Freedom Theater has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The theater\u00a0<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3SedPoNJ-R/?igsh=MWY1czU5Y3NwNjFrag%3D%3D\">responded</a>: \u201cThe Freedom Theatre is an artistic movement made possible by the collective effect of thousands of people, starting from Jenin Refugee Camp in Palestine and rippling across the world.\u201d</p>\n<p><em class=\"author-id\">Dana Mills is a writer, activist, dancer, and the +972/ Local Call resource development manager. She is the author of\u00a0Dance and Politics: Moving beyond Boundaries\u00a0(2016),\u00a0Rosa Luxemburg\u00a0(2020), and\u00a0Dance and Activism\u00a0(2021). Her fourth book, a collection of essays about and against war, is forthcoming in 2024 with Five Leaves Press.</em></p>\n<p><em class=\"publisher\">+972 Magazine is an independent, online, nonprofit magazine run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists. Founded in 2010, our mission is to provide in-depth reporting, analysis, and opinions from the ground in Israel-Palestine. The name of the site is derived from the telephone country code ... can be used to dial throughout Israel-Palestine.</em></p>\n<p><em class=\"publisher\">Our core values are a commitment to equity, justice, and freedom of information. We believe in accurate and fair journalism that spotlights the people and communities working to oppose occupation and apartheid, and that showcases perspectives often overlooked or marginalized in mainstream narratives.</em></p>\n</div>\n<div>\n<span class=\"hidden\"><a href=\"https://brid.gy/publish/twitter\"></a></span><span class=\"hidden\"><a href=\"https://brid.gy/publish/mastodon\"></a></span><div class=\"node_view\"></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<ul class=\"tags\">\n<li class=\"h-category\"><a href=\"https://portside.org/palestinians\" hreflang=\"en\">Palestinians</a></li>\n<li class=\"h-category\"><a href=\"https://portside.org/theater\" hreflang=\"en\">theater</a></li>\n<li class=\"h-category\"><a href=\"https://portside.org/solidarity\" hreflang=\"en\">Solidarity</a></li>\n</ul>\n</div>\n<div class=\"buttons-article-end\">\n<div class=\"subscribe-article-end\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary\" href=\"https://portside.org/subscribe\">Subscribe to Portside</a>\n</div>\n</div>",
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