by husamkalotiJenin Refugee Camp, Occupied Palestine – April 2009
In the early hours of April 15, 2009, an arson attack targeted The Freedom Theatre (TFT) in Jenin Refugee Camp. An unidentified individual set fire to the theatre’s main entrance, causing severe damage to the door. Due to swift circumstances, the fire did not spread into the building, and the theatre was spared further destruction.
This was not an isolated incident.
Only weeks earlier, on the same night that the Al Kamandjati Music Centre in Jenin was deliberately set ablaze, an initial attempt was made to burn The Freedom Theatre. Together, these attacks represent a direct assault on Palestinian cultural life, artistic freedom, and the right of our children and youth to imagine a future beyond violence and fear.
Despite immediate notification to the Palestinian Police following the first attempt, no concrete outcomes have emerged from the investigation. This renewed attack confirms that The Freedom Theatre remains exposed, unprotected, and at risk, at a time when cultural institutions in Palestine are already operating under immense political, social, and economic pressure.
An Attack on Culture Is an Attack on the Future
The Freedom Theatre was founded on the belief that culture is not a luxury, but a necessity, especially in contexts of occupation, displacement, and systemic violence. Our work is grounded in cultural resistance: empowering children and youth to think critically, express freely, and reclaim agency through theatre and the performing arts.
Over the past year alone, more than 16,000 children, youth, and adults have participated in TFT’s programs and performances. Our productions, most recently Animal Farm, have brought thousands of young people from across the Jenin district into a shared cultural space that encourages dialogue, reflection, and collective imagination.
To attack this space is to attack the very possibility of a democratic, creative, and liberated Palestinian society.
Our Call
We call upon:
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The Palestinian Authority to take immediate and decisive action to identify those responsible, ensure accountability, and guarantee the protection of cultural institutions.
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Palestinian communities, in the occupied territories and the diaspora, to recognize that safeguarding culture is inseparable from safeguarding liberation.
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Artists, cultural institutions, and theatres worldwide, in the Arab region, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States, to stand in solidarity with The Freedom Theatre.
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International civil society and cultural networks to raise their voices against these acts and affirm that culture must never be silenced by fear.
We Will Not Be Burned Out
The Freedom Theatre will continue its work.
We will continue to train young artists, stage bold productions, and insist on the right to imagination as a form of resistance. Attempts to intimidate or destroy us only reaffirm why this work matters, and why it must continue.
Do not allow The Freedom Theatre to be destroyed.
Defend culture. Defend freedom. Defend the future.