This is an open letter from representatives of the international volunteers and staff members, the friends, supporters and foundation of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin to the Israeli security apparatus including the Shabak, the IDF and Israeli Police.
After the attack on The Freedom Theatre's office and multimedia centre, during which you arrested our head technician Adnan Naghnaghiye and Bilal Saadi, the chairperson of The Freedom Theatre Board in Jenin; and after you have for two weeks refused Adnan and Bilaal access to a lawyer, treated them inhumanely and denied them their basic human rights, and after the arrest of our acting student Rami Hwayel, we hereby state:
We encourage all efforts to find whoever is responsible for the brutal murder of Juliano Mer Khamis [last April] and we are deeply concerned over the fact that the murderer has not yet been found. Nevertheless we reject the inhumane methods that you apply in investigating the murder. The Freedom Theatre has been seriously damaged by your actions which have further implanted fear and trauma not only among our students and employees but also into the very society we aim to empower.
By acting the way that you act you have once again proved to the residents of Jenin refugee camp as well as to the outside world that the only methods you know are the ones involving violence, terror and fear. We in The Freedom Theatre have nothing to conceal regarding the murder of Juliano Mer Khamis.
We have made that very clear and we state it again that everyone in the theatre has given statements to the Palestinian Police when they were asked to do so and are willing to do so again.
No matter what harm you cause to us or the theatre, we will continue our struggle for individual and collective liberation. We have joined our comrades in Jenin Refugee Camp in their struggle for liberation using culture and non-violence in order to not only shake off the occupation that you keep the Palestinian people under, but also other forms of oppression that they are faced with.
We demand that our friends and colleagues who have been subjected to severe cases of human rights abuses will be treated with absolute respect for all their basic human rights according to international conventions, receive immediate access to their lawyer and be promptly released.
The international staff, friends and supporters of The Freedom Theatre as represented by:
Jacob Gough, acting general manager at The Freedom Theatre
Micaela Miranda, Pedagogical Director at The Freedom Theatre
Jonatan Stanczak, co-founder of The Freedom Theatre
Udi Aloni, film and theatre director at The Freedom Theatre
Dror Feiler, co-founder of The Freedom Theatre and board member of The Freedom Theatre Foundation
Jan Tiselius and Britt-Louise Tillbom, chairpersons of the Friends of The Freedom Theatre (Sweden)
Constancia Dinky Romilly, president, Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre (USA)
Mrs Zahia Oumakhlouf and Mrs Marie-José El-Haimer, co-presidents of The Friends of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin (France)
Good response, we can all guess who might have had the motive to murder Khamis. I hope they circulate this to theatres everywhere and ask for their signed support. I expect they will get further reprisals now, to prove their point about violence and terror being the only response Israel has to self-determination and self-assertion.
“No matter what harm you cause to us or the theatre, we will continue our struggle for individual and collective liberation. We have joined our comrades in Jenin Refugee Camp in their struggle for liberation using culture and non-violence in order to not only shake off the occupation that you keep the Palestinian people under, but also other forms of oppression that they are faced with. ”
Powerful and so clear.
Ot
Our garden is exploding. Handing friends buckets of tomatoes off of our 40 tomato plants. Wish I could hand all the Mondofolks some. Hope everyone is either gardening or going to their local farmers market. Gardening is one of my therapeutic activities.
Back to the serious topic of this blog. Phil how do we directly support these folks quest for accountability?
I’ll take some of those fresh tomatos;-)
Where I live in Wyoming, we have 28 days a year where the low temp is above zero. At least I can grow fresh herbs for my fish and game.
So surprised that Amy Goodman did not cover the 84 US Reps in Israel this week. Not a mention.
link to democracynow.org
did you write her? twitter?
You can put your money on that if I put up a suggestion or observation I have all ready contacted that person or organization.
Several days ago asked folks to contact Amy with a link
good for you kathleen. i love how you are so on top of the media!
I love Amy/DN, but I have noticed gaps in her coverage from time to time.
I think we all are aware of the influence large donors can have on one’s reporting. I have also noticed a hestitancy in her willingness to report on religion. Have often wondered why.
After Israel’s latest attacks on the Jenin Freedom Theater there seems to be little doubt that the Israeli government was responsible for the murder of Juliano.
After all for Palestinins to even think of freedom let alone use the word Freedom in the name of the theater is an anathema to Israel and those persons must be punished in whatever way Israel chooses..
ot but so important
600,ooo children on the brink of starvation
link to huffingtonpost.com
i love the freedom theatre.
Palestinians can NOT be permitted to carry on cultural activities that may make them seem just like regular folk. Outsiders must not have the opportunity to look and think “people like us”.