Zakaria Zubeidi arrested

The Freedom Theatre is a cultural venue in Jenin  Refugee Camp, which uses the arts as a form of resistance against  oppression. In the last weeks Jenin refugee camp has suffered a higher number of arrests than usual. Over thirty arrests have been made in the past month. Among the people arrested were three members of The  Freedom Theatre, a cultural centre for children and youth.

The 29th of December, the  co-founder, avid supporter and mentor of The Freedom Theatre, Zakaria  Zubeidi, was told by the Palestinian Authority that his amnesty had been revoked by the Israeli authorities. Zubeidi is since then being held in arrest inside the Palestinian security headquarters, supposedly on orders from Israel. No reason has  been given for this incarceration.

The amnesty agreement, granted in 2007 by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office was in return for  Zubeidi’s ending of armed resistance. Zubeidi managed to escape numerous Israeli attempts to assassinate him during the Intifada. The amnesty agreement allowed him to remain safe inside the Palestinian Authority  district of Jenin where the Israeli military would not seek to arrest or assassinate him.

After  having been the leader of the armed resistance during the second  Intifada, Zubeidi is since 2006 committed to cultural, non-violent  resistance through theatre. He founded The Freedom Theatre together  with Juliano Mer Khamis, who was assassinated earlier this year by  unknown assailants.

No reason has been  given for the sudden withdrawal of Zubeidi’s amnesty. The Freedom  Theatre regards this as yet another stage in the continued attacks and harassment that the theatre has been facing for several months;  including attacks on the theatre and repeated nightly arrests of its  members by the Israeli military.

The  Freedom Theatre strongly condemns these actions and wishes to emphasize  that Zubeidi’s life is in real danger. The Freedom Theatre urges all  its friends to contact the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli DCO  in Jenin, the local Israeli representation and parliamentarians to voice  opposition to this move and show support to Zakaria Zubeidi.

For more info, visit: http://www.thefreedomtheatre.org.

Last changed: 01/03/2012 at 12:39

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