What role does literature play in the Palestinian liberation movement? Though the question itself isn’t subversive, it feels that way. There are many considerations, but it’s hard to imagine what a poem can do in the barrel of a gun.
Mahmoud Al-Saadi was in his final year of high school, and his father worked all his life to secure an education for his son. Israel killed his father’s joy.
Israel arrested Jenin Freedom Theatre chairman Bilal Al-Saadi last month and sentenced him to six months detention on undisclosed charges as part of a crackdown on Palestinians’ artistic freedom. PEN America and an international group of theater community members have condemned the arrest. They are demanding Al-Saadi’s release.
The Palestinian actor Faisal Abu Alhayjaa is known to the New York theater audience for his charismatic performance as a wounded resistance fighter in Bethlehem in “The Siege”, a production from the Jenin Freedom Theatre. He will be speaking about “laughter and liberation” at the People’s Forum in NY on Sunday.