Open Meeting/ AREA stands for Palestine, censorship and self-censorship in the Academia and in the Art sector
- 3 mesi fa
On the morning of the 13th of December, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began attacking and ransacking The Freedom Theatre, in the Jenin Refugee Camp. They shot from inside the theater, destroying the offices and knocking down a wall. The army then went to the homes of Ahmed Tobasi and Mustafa Sheta, blindfolded, handcuffed, and took them away.
That evening the army went to the home of Jamal Abu Joas, a young poet and graduated actor from The Freedom Theatre, severely beat him and then took him. On the evening of the 14th of December, Tobasi was released, and yesterday, on the 21st of December, Jamal Abu Joal was released, while Mustafa Sheta is still in administrative detention, a measure where a person is held without trial without having committed an offense because he or she plans to break the law in the future.
In the last few weeks in Gaza, an unprecedented number of writers, poets, theatremakers, and journalists have been killed, including DR. Refaat Alareer, who was deliberately targeted and murdered. Israel continues to target and destroy buildings of cultural heritage, a war crime under international law.
We ask our colleagues from all over the World to stand for the rights of Palestinians to exist and to live in their homeland and to ask for an immediate ceasefire.
We continue to support and be connected with our peers in Palestine and we continue to talk with them and to open the floor of the AREA to freedom of speech.
For this reason, we hosted another meeting dedicated to organizing and cooperating on actions we can share and multiply in our inner circles, wherever we work, live, or stand.
We invite you to join a Global artistic collaboration and we subscribe to the words of Juliano Mer Khamis, founder of The Freedom Theatre, assassinated in Jenin, in 2011: ”The 3rd Intifada will be a cultural one”, we invite you to fight for Palestinian Justice through Culture.
We launched a platform called RiseUpForPalestine, the coordination is curated by the journalist Simona Frigerio, InTheNet, and Anna Estdahl, member of AREA and founder of Code per Curiosi, a non-profit association based in Italy. Speakers, among others:
- Ahmed Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theatre
- Prof. Iain Chambers, University of Naples Orientale
- Prof. Benoit Challand, The New School for Social Research
- Mike Van Graan, South African playwright and producer and cultural activist
- Zoe Lafferty, Artists on the Frontline
That evening the army went to the home of Jamal Abu Joas, a young poet and graduated actor from The Freedom Theatre, severely beat him and then took him. On the evening of the 14th of December, Tobasi was released, and yesterday, on the 21st of December, Jamal Abu Joal was released, while Mustafa Sheta is still in administrative detention, a measure where a person is held without trial without having committed an offense because he or she plans to break the law in the future.
In the last few weeks in Gaza, an unprecedented number of writers, poets, theatremakers, and journalists have been killed, including DR. Refaat Alareer, who was deliberately targeted and murdered. Israel continues to target and destroy buildings of cultural heritage, a war crime under international law.
We ask our colleagues from all over the World to stand for the rights of Palestinians to exist and to live in their homeland and to ask for an immediate ceasefire.
We continue to support and be connected with our peers in Palestine and we continue to talk with them and to open the floor of the AREA to freedom of speech.
For this reason, we hosted another meeting dedicated to organizing and cooperating on actions we can share and multiply in our inner circles, wherever we work, live, or stand.
We invite you to join a Global artistic collaboration and we subscribe to the words of Juliano Mer Khamis, founder of The Freedom Theatre, assassinated in Jenin, in 2011: ”The 3rd Intifada will be a cultural one”, we invite you to fight for Palestinian Justice through Culture.
We launched a platform called RiseUpForPalestine, the coordination is curated by the journalist Simona Frigerio, InTheNet, and Anna Estdahl, member of AREA and founder of Code per Curiosi, a non-profit association based in Italy. Speakers, among others:
- Ahmed Tobasi, artistic director of The Freedom Theatre
- Prof. Iain Chambers, University of Naples Orientale
- Prof. Benoit Challand, The New School for Social Research
- Mike Van Graan, South African playwright and producer and cultural activist
- Zoe Lafferty, Artists on the Frontline