Occupied Palestine — Creative Healer Killed

Re-reporting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

Art aids children caught in conflict until armed men in masks kill all the artists

“Participation in cultural activities strengthens human resources such as creativity, knowledge and a sense of identity and dignity,” he said two years ago in an interview with the multimedia organization Explore.


“Cultural activities have great potential for stimulating communication and cooperation, building leadership and deconstructing social barriers. Support for the arts must be considered crucial to the promotion of human rights and to a healthy, equal society. The Freedom Theatre [established in 2006] raises both the quantity and quality of performing arts and filmmaking in the region, while also contributing toward rebuilding the shattered foundations of Palestinian culture and identity.

The interview subject in 2009 was actor, director, filmmaker, and General Director of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Juliano Mer Khamis.

Answering a question about security in this occupied-territory home of The Freedom Theatre, he said the Jenin Refugee Camp [existing since the 1950s] had been under heavy siege for the most recent seven years. “Israel ghettoized the area and restricted movement of people as well as mobility of goods. During the first two years of The Freedom Theatre [2006-2007], we had to smuggle in scenography and artists. Audiences were sometimes brought on small buses through the mountains.”

The situation improved after “some agreements with the Palestinian Authority [and] Israel eased the movement restrictions, reducing the number of checkpoints from more than 400 to 220,” Khamis said. “The travel between Jenin and other parts of Palestine is difficult but possible.”

West Bank North — Occupied Palestine

The Freedom Theatre’s mission, according to its website, is to help heal children growing up under occupation.

“One of the greatest tragedies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the 40-year long Occupation is the consequences it has for the young generation — the most innocent and vulnerable part of society. Since the eruption of the Second Intifada in 2000, conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories have rapidly deteriorated. In a context of almost daily violence and aggression, young Palestinians’ experiences and perceptions of the world are increasingly shaped by frustration, accumulated trauma and feelings of impotence and hopelessness.

“Almost every child or young person in Jenin Refugee Camp has witnessed actual or threat of death, experienced serious physical injury, or threats to physical and/or psychological integrity. Many of the children exhibit symptoms of severe emotional problems, including difficulty with concentration, aggressive behavior, sleeplessness and nightmares, bed-wetting, withdrawal and a range of psychosomatic symptoms.

“This situation is directly opposed to that of an ideal childhood, in which children investigate and experience the world through play. Instead of being able to carelessly experiment with the world, develop a sense of coherence and create the skills needed to manage their tasks and overcome problems successfully — these children grow up in fear, oppression and humiliation. Seeing their parents incapable of protecting them, children lose their source of safety and trust and, instead, tend to develop feelings of helplessness and victimization.”

Yesterday masked assailants murdered The Freedom Theatre’s general director, actor, filmmaker, director Juliano Mer Khamis.

Sources and notes

Juliano Mer Khamis [was] an actor, director, filmmaker, and General Director of  The Freedom Theatre.

His greatest work was said to have been his “creation of a theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp that provides a creative outlet for local youth in an emotionally-charged environment.”

http://www.explore.org/interviews/juliano-mer-khamis/

Israel in 2002 reinvaded the camp as part of its ‘Operation Defensive Shield.’ It brought one of the fiercest battles of the Second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) to Jenin Camp. Altogether 75 civilians, fighters and soldiers died in the battle.  Most of the central camp ended up in ruins.

The Freedom Theatre, established in 2006, is a theatre and cultural centre in Jenin Refugee Camp developing the only professional venue for theatre and multimedia in the north of the West Bank in Occupied Palestine. Since its 2006  opening, “the organization  continues to grow, develop and expand, enabling the young generation in the area to develop new and important skills, which will allow them to build a better future for themselves and for their society.”

http://www.thefreedomtheatre.org/aboutus-background.php

“Leading Palestinian Peace Activist & Theater Director, Juliano Mer-Khamis, Killed in Jenin,” Democracy Now, April 5, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/

Jenin town (also spelled Janin)

Jenīn was contained within mandated Palestine during 1923–48. It was an important centre for Jordanian and Iraqi forces in 1948. In 1950, following the Arab–Israeli War of 1948–49, Jenīn (northern Samaria, central Palestine) was in the area annexed by Jordan.

Though Israel took much of the strategic territory in the vicinity, Janīn remained in Arab hands. It was the northern apex of ‘the triangle’ (Janīn, Ṭūl Karm, Nābulus), a staging area for Arab guerrilla activity against Israel in 1949-1967. Since the Six-Day War of 1967, Jenīn has been in the West Bank territory under Israeli administration.

Lying in a well-settled Arab agricultural region, Janīn has long been the chief marketing centre of northern Samaria; wheat, olives, dates, carobs, and figs are grown in the vicinity. Ruins of an interesting Byzantine church have been excavated in the town. Population was estimated in 1984 at 25,000 — Janīn.  (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica —

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