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CREATED:20080613T192500Z
DESCRIPTION:Juliano Mer Khamis, the artistic director of the Freedom Theatre, and Dr. 
 Mervat Aiash, the Theatre’s Board Chairperson, will be in the San 
 Francisco Bay area to speak about their current work with children in the 
 Jenin refugee camp.  A well-known cultural icon in the West Bank, the 
 Freedom Theatre thrives in a community traumatized by the ongoing Israeli 
 Occupation. \n\nAt a time when the world is simultaneously recognizing the 
 60th anniversary of the State of Israel and what the Palestinians call Al 
 Nakba (the Catastrophe), Mer Khamis holds a unique perspective: A prominent 
 Israeli actor, he is the son of an Israeli Jewish mother who fought 
 alongside Zionist forces in 1948, and a Palestinian father who was a 
 committed political activist. He directed the award-winning documentary 
 film Arna’s Children, which follows the lives of several young 
 Palestinians involved in his mother’s theatre project in Jenin, until its 
 destruction-along with most of the camp- in the 2002 Israeli bombardment 
 and military incursion.  The Freedom Theatre today is a continuation of 
 Arna’s legacy and commitment to the children of the camp.\n\nDr. Aiash, a 
 Palestinian woman who is a long-time resident of the West Bank, also defies 
 stereotype. A working artist and fine arts professor at the Arab-American 
 University in Jenin, she is an accomplished art historian and expert in 
 Islamic archeology, and has chaired the Board of the Freedom Theatre since 
 2006.\n\nMer Khamis and Dr. Aiash are dedicated to providing innovative 
 programs to the camp’s youth, offering them an empowering alternative to 
 the violence they have been born into.  Children at the theatre participate 
 in acting workshops, voice lessons, drama therapy, an art gallery and 
 computer center, and a host of activities designed to foster their 
 creativity and independence of mind.  \n\n“The camp is alive today,” 
 says Mer Khamis, “and ‘Jenin’ is now a magical word.”\n\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/13/18506736.php
SUMMARY:Freedom Theatre- West Bank, Palestine
LOCATION:American Friends Service Committee- 3765 21st St., San Francisco, CA 94114
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/13/18506736.php
DTSTART:20080620T023000Z
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