Below are two statements regarding the recent attacks on the Jenin Freedom Theatre. They include an appeal for support. First from Felice Gelman, a New York-based activist/leader. Then an email from Jacob Gough of the Freedom Theatre.
Felice Gelman:
The Israeli Occupation Forces continue their "investigation" of the killing of Juliano Mer Khamis [in April]. Their "investigative" methods? Trashing The Freedom Theatre and peoples' homes, middle of the night raids and arrests, and torture and imprisonment. Truly a medieval approach. Threaten and torture the victim's friends and colleagues, despite their repeatedly stated willingness to cooperate with the investigation and answer all questions. That way they can be sure that anyone in the camp who actually possesses information will never let it be known.
At this point, three people associated with The Freedom Theatre have been arrested in post-midnight raids and imprisoned, and one snatched at a checkpoint and imprisoned, and two more summoned to appear for questioning -- with arrest almost certain to follow. The courts have found there was no evidence to arrest the first three, but imprisoned one because, while being held and abused, he admitted to having entered Israel illegally at some point in the last two years. The other person seized in a post-midnight raid has had his detention extended for three weeks.
Needless to say, staging a play, holding film series, and conducting acting classes when your personnel are arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and traumatized is incredibly challenging. The Israeli Occupation Forces have clearly targeted The Freedom Theatre for destruction under the guise of "investigating" the murder of its co-founder and director, Juliano Mer Khamis.
This is the way occupation works, and The Freedom Theatre is the way art works as resistance.
Please let people know what is happening and how they can support The Freedom Theatre.
:
It might be that the Israeli authorities should investigate themselves regarding the terrible murder of Juliano. If Israel didn’t like the theater, and it is obvious that they don’t, what better way then to get rid of the director and try to pin the blame on the Palestinians.
It is an old trick and Israel is not above using that trick.
Jan, has anything bad happened in the ME or the world for that matter, where Israel isn’t responsible? you can only cry wolf so many times before people start to ‘get it’
DBG it seems strange to me that Israel is so interested in “investgating” the murder of a Palestinian. I think this is a cover for destroying the theater.
If Israel wasn’t intrested in destroying the theater then why are they bent on arresting people working with the theater? Why did the IDF thugs do physical damage to the theater?
Is it possible that Israel doesn’t even want Palestinians to dream of freedom yet along have a theater that uses the word “FREEDOM” in its name?
Israel is certainly not responsible for every bad thing that happens in the ME but they are cerainly responsible for a lot of it. I suspect that you would whitewash everything Israel does.
i think israel had him murdered. just a logical hunch.
of course you do annie, just like you think eilat was a false flag, the fogel’s were killed by either settlers or foreigners and the school bus attack was perpetrated by Israel also.
You don’t have to tell us, we can automatically assume that anything which happens to Israelis by Palestinians is probably Israelis in disguise.
Jan,
Juliano Mer Khamis was Israeli.
Is it possible that Israel doesn’t even want Palestinians to dream of freedom yet along have a theater that uses the word “FREEDOM” in its name?
who knows, this current government is so far gone I wouldn’t put it past them.
You know, Nazis destroyed Jewish cultural institutions like theaters back in the day too. So much for “Never Again,” huh, DBG?
I think that it truly shows the unique character of Israeli occupation. After all, there were more atrocious occupations, say, southern Sudan by northern Sudan. Even American occupation in various places was not (and is not) free of atrocities. But inventiveness and intensity of essencially petty harrasment is really special. Bureaucratically planned and methodical.
Bureacracy is not fast, so it took some time to devise a harrasment plan for Freedom Theatre following the unexplained murder. Of late, we do not see much of “targetted assasinations” (well, outside Gaza which serves as a hunting preserve for IDF marksmen), but bureaucrats raise up every day and think: how to update the plans to make Palestinian lives miserably within established limits (we do not want a humanitarian crisis, oh no!).
And this is not an aimless effort, various annoucements and discussion show that the aim is to change Palestinian thinking and spirit (forceful language is “crash their spirit”, more gentle “create realistic expectations”) so targetting a theatre is grimly logical.
RE: “The Israeli Occupation Forces continue their ‘investigation’ of the killing of Juliano Mer Khamis [in April]. Their ‘investigative’ methods? Trashing The Freedom Theatre and peoples’ homes, middle of the night raids and arrests, and torture and imprisonment.” ~ Felice Gelman
MY COMMENT: Mini-Kristallnachts of attrition!
Attrition warfare – link to en.wikipedia.org
Learned helplessness – link to en.wikipedia.org
FROM ALISTAIR COOK, London Review of Books, 03/03/11:
SOURCE – link to lrb.co.uk