On March 12, 2024, I visited the Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp in occupied Palestine.
I was accompanied by Canadian-Palestinian artist Rehab Nazzal.
The Freedom Theatre was established decades ago, during the first Intifada. It was run initially by Arna Mer Khamis – a revolutionary who devoted her life to campaigning for freedom and human rights – together with Palestinian women in the refugee camp. Mer Khamis was born to a Jewish family and chose to live and work among Palestinians.
During their visit, Rehab and I spoke at length with the Theatre’s Artistic Director, Ahmed Tobasi. Tobasi described the horrific abuses to which Israeli forces had subjected him and other members of his team after the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Tobasi places the blame for Palestinian suffering, and for the suffering of all oppressed peoples today, squarely upon the shoulders of the United States government, and the elites who control it.
You can watch my report on our visit to the Theatre, as well as my interview of Tobasi, here:
The Freedom Theatre’s Artistic Director, Ahmed Tobasi, in greeting Dimitri with a handshake:
“How are you…still alive?”