Jenin refugee camp has recently suffered a higher number of arrests than usual. Over thirty arrests have been made in the past month. Last night alone, at least eight new arrests were made during a major Israeli military invasion of the refugee camp. Among the people arrested were three members of The Freedom Theatre, a cultural centre for children and youth.
One of the arrested were Mohammed Saadi, light and sound technician at The Freedom Theatre:
“At around midnight soldiers broke down the door to my house, they didn’t even knock. They blindfolded me and my brother and took us up to the mountain behind Jenin camp. There we were shoved into an army jeep. During the approximately half-hour drive to the army base we were constantly abused, physically and orally. The soldiers hit us with their fists and the buts of their machine guns. In the early morning we were released after having been interrogated throughout the night.”
The reason for these arrests remains unclear.
To bring attention to Israel’s systematised practice of military rule and arbitrary arrests, The Freedom Theatre will hold a street performance at 2 pm today (December 21st) near The Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp.
We will use Playback Theatre* to enact the stories of those who were arrested. Other related stories may be shared and enacted.
The 2 pm performance will also be a publicity event for The Freedom Bus project.
For further information call:
Rawand Arqawi, press officer on +972(0)599971070
Ben Rivers, playback theatre practitioner on +972 (0)592902256
Or e-mail The Freedom Theatre at [email protected]
still pictures and video material will be available later in the day.
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playback Theatre performance, audience members volunteer life experiences and watch as a team of actors and musicians transform these accounts into improvised theatre pieces. Playback Theatre helps to foster community strength through the sharing of experiences that remind us of our common humanity and our capacity for courage, creativity and resilience.
