Outrage Over Israeli Army's War Crimes and US Support for Israeli Aggression

New Delhi: The Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, an organisation that has supported The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Occupied Palestine, since its founding 17 years ago, is outraged at the massive Israeli army attacks on the Jenin refugee camp and The Freedom Theatre, the major cultural institution in the northern West Bank.  

The organisation has released a statement condemning the attacks by the Israeli army and the US government’s main reaction of repeating well-worn, empty phrases “about Israel's "right to defend itself" to cover up its unstinting support for Israeli aggression.”

On July 3, 2023, An Israeli occupation drone fired a missile at Freedom Theater and its vicinity in Jenin refugee camp as the Israeli army continued its wide-scale assault on the northern West Bank city and its camp that so far left five Palestinians dead and more than 30 injured, many of them critically.

Medical sources in the Red Crescent told WAFA News Agency that a child was injured from shrapnel after a drone targeted the vicinity of Freedom Theater.

The Freedom Theatre

The Freedom Theatre (TFT) is a theatre and cultural centre located in the Jenin refugee camp, which took off in 2006, aims to “make available theatre and visual art to every young person in the Jenin refugee camp”, located in occupied Palestine.

As per its website, the TFT stages professional theatre and holds workshops in Jenin towns and villages in the hope that one day the artists and leaders will be “at the forefront of the Palestinian Liberation Movement.”

Message from Friends of TFT

Hello again everyone, 

Thank you for those who have sent messages of support. 

We ask you to write to your representatives and demand they STOP ENABLING Israeli impunity.  

Please also send us messages of love/encouragement to pass along to our friends in Jenin.

Here are a few updates on the current situation re: Jenin/The Freedom Theatre, and below please read and share our statement.

1. The Israeli army blew the entrance of The Freedom Theatre at approx. 02:00 this morning. They took the Naghnaghiye family to the theatre stage including the father of the 14-year old Sadeel that was killed by the army last week, and Adnan, the technical manager of The Freedom Theatre. They locked the entire family including elders and children inside the theatre and interrogated them there. Some members were held until the late morning.

2. Adnan was taken by the army and there’s no further news on his status.

3. The road outside the theatre has been destroyed and all people living in the surrounding neighbourhood have fled to Jenin, the area is empty of people and much of the infrastructure is damaged.

4. A TFT staff member and her mother are locked inside their apartment by soldiers that have confiscated it. They have taken their mobile phones and they have no way of communicating at this point.

5. It is impossible to enter the camp to verify or gather information. All roads to the camp are closed by the army. Mustafa tried to enter this morning but was unable.

6. Further information on TFT, if the theatre has been damaged, things stolen, etc. is impossible to know at this stage

Friends of TFT, NYC

Statement from The Friends of The Jenin Freedom Theatre

The Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, an organization that has supported The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Occupied Palestine, since its founding 17 years ago, is outraged at the massive Israeli army attacks on Jenin refugee camp and The Freedom Theatre, the major cultural institution in the northern West Bank.  While it is impossible to assess the true extent of the damage while the Israeli army bars entrance to the camp, we know rockets were fired into the Theatre's courtyard and the Theatre was broken into and occupied by Israeli troops. We know the camp infrastructure -- streets, sewers, electricity -- has been destroyed. We know many have been killed, more injured, and hundreds arrested. This nightmarish invasion has blocked ambulances and assistance to civilians, interrupted electricity and water service, terrorized inhabitants, and forced thousands to flee their homes. There can be no excuse for this war on a civilian population. There can be no excuse for reckless attacks on cultural institutions. The Israeli actions are war crimes.

We are equally outraged that our government's main reaction is to repeat well-worn, empty phrases about Israel's "right to defend itself" to cover up its unstinting support for Israeli aggression.  If the US government truly objected to this murderous collective punishment expedition, it could stop it overnight. Israeli land thefts, settler violence, military raids, and thousands of arrests are the authors of the resistance from a people simply insisting on their right to live in dignity. Israel is not defending itself, it is, as Israeli politicians have made so clear recently, embarked on an all out attempt to drive Palestinians out of their homeland and annex more territory.  

In light of Israel’s constant disregard of its humanitarian obligations as a signer of the Fourth Geneva Convention, we insist the US end its enabling of Israeli impunity and the funding of $3.8+ billion/year of our U.S. tax dollars of Israel’s out-of-control military.