Ashraf wanted to be “the Palestinian Romeo.” 

He was a student of Arna Mer, an Israeli activist, who started a theater group, as alternative education, for Palestinian children in the West Bank, during the first Intifada in 1989.

Ashraf never had the chance to pursue an acting career, though. Instead, he grew up to become a fighter and was killed during the Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in 2003.

However, Ashraf’s story nurtured Faisal Abu Alhayjaa’s determination to become an actor.  

“I was a child, like Ashraf. I wanted to act in a theater. The occupation was an obstacle, but I was determined,” Abulhayjaa said.

Currently, he is touring the United States with the Jenin Freedom Theater, to perform “The Island,” an award-winning play by famed South African playwrights Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona.

The Freedom Theater was founded in 2006 by Arna’s son Juliano Mer-Khamis, an actor, filmmaker and activist, whose father was Palestinian.

In the 2004 movie “Arna’s Children,” Mer-Khamis, who was involved in the theater until it folded in 1996, documents his mother’s work with Palestinian children. Arna died of cancer in 1994.

Alrakh (L) with Abu Alhayjaa rehearsing “Antigone” in “The Island.”

The documentary also inquires about the fate of Arna’s pupils—the young, aspiring actors, of whom many ended up fighting and dying in war, like Ashraf.

“The movie showed that Palestinian children were never given a chance to have a normal life; they had to run after the tanks,” says Chairperson of the Board of the Freedom Theater, Bilal al-Saadi. “It had more of an impact than we expected.”

On April 4, 2011, Mer-Khamis, who considered himself 100 percent Palestinian and 100 percent Jewish, was assassinated by masked gunmen in Jenin. 

Saadi says no serious investigation in Mer-Khamis’ murder was conducted by the Palestinian Authority or the Israeli Forces.

“Nobody wants to say who killed Juliano,” said Saadi. “The Israelis and the PA harassed us in the theater daily, while the killer is still free.”

Arna’s pupils. A screen shot from Mer-Khamis’ documentary.

Saadi added that the theater decided to continue after Mer-Khamis’ death, despite the hardships, and it has garnered more support and gained international recognition.

Two actors from the Freedom Theater are currently touring the east coast of the United States to perform “The Island.”

The first show was at the University of Connecticut on Sept. 6. They have also performed the play at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and Brown University in Providence, RI. The show will continue until Sept. 28, marking its finale at the 4th Street Theater in New York City.

Shows are performed in English, except for an Arabic matinee that will also be performed on Sept. 28. The play is directed by distinguished professor of drama at the University of Connecticut, Gary M. English.

The tour is co-sponsored by the “Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre” and the theater departments of the three universities where the play was performed.

Ahmad Alrakh, one of the two actors in the Freedom Theater’s performance of “The Island” said the reaction from the American audience after the show is always “great.”

“They knew the actors were Palestinian, but they don’t know a lot about Palestine. They don’t know about the prisoners and the refugees,” said Alrakh. “After the show, we open a discussion with the audience, and I think many of them go home to ‘Google’ the issues. That’s what we need.”

“The Island,” based on real events, tells the story of two black political prisoners who share a cell during apartheid in South Africa.  They spend their days doing hard physical labor and their nights rehearsing for a performance of “Antigone,” by Sophocles. Antigone, who defies the state to follow her conscience, is sentenced to death by her uncle, King Creon.

Ahmad Alrakh (front) with Faisal Abu Alhayjaa performing “The Island.”

Abu Alhayjaa said the names and locations in the play did not need to be altered to point to the injustices that are taking place in Palestine. 

“We did the original play. It is the same struggle. Racism was between whites and blacks in South Africa. It is the same in Palestine, except between Jews and Arabs,” he said. “Everything is segregated in the West Bank. They have special buses, special roads and special schools. We are here to tell Americans that we are victims of racism, like black South Africans during apartheid. This should not happen in 2013. The conflict is not between two equals.” 

Abu Alhayjaa added that artists have a role in fighting injustice

“We consider ourselves freedom fighters through our art,” he said. “We explain the struggle of Palestinians. ‘The Island’ talks implicitly about Palestinian prisoners. We tell the stories of the cause, through cultural means.”

Abu Alhayjaa added that the play also has a message for Palestinian society, where oppression could become the accepted norm.

“We want our people to remember that it is not a casual routine to be unjustly imprisoned,” he explained. “It is not normal, and we must refuse it.”

He added that art can also fight reactionary ideas within Palestinian society.

Saadi echoed Abu Alhayjaa’s comments, saying that art could lead to self-liberation.

“Theater is a place for the Palestinian people to express themselves, feel their own existence and communicate with the world. We refuse ignorance. There have been incitements against us, which, after all, could be planned for political reasons.” Saadi said.

Abu Alhayjaa said art preserves cultural identity and transmits the voice of the oppressed.

“The Israeli occupation is not only a theft of land; it is also monopolization of ideas. Art reflects the true picture of Palestine,” he said. “We don’t dream of blowing ourselves up in Tel Aviv. We love life. We deserve life. We deserve our rights; especially freedom.” 

Alrakh added that art helps counter Israeli propaganda that Palestinians are killers with a “white turban and a long beard.”

“Our demands are simple. I want to see the Mediterranean, which I have never seen. We love to dance and get married and have families,” Alrakh said.

Saadi said that art in Palestine has come a long way, despite the occupation and other social and political barriers.

He added that many performing arts schools have started and gained popularity in the occupied West Bank over the past two decades.

“Previous generations pursued art from personal experience. Now we have an academic foundation for art. We have taken long steps since the ’90’s,” he said.

As for the Freedom Theater, Saadi said: “We have proven that we deserve respect through our intellectual product and the issues we address.”

Abu Alhayjaa explained that Palestinian society has mixed feelings about theater.

“Some Palestinians embrace it, as a form of cultural resistance, while others do not take it seriously and consider it wrong and contradictory to religious traditions, even though Islam does not say art is prohibited,” he said. “Parents are generally wary of it. They want their children to have a steady job, not become actors.” 

Alrakh said art conveys a lasting message that remains, even after the death of people who created it. He recalled great Palestinian artists and authors, such as Mahmoud Darwish, Ghassan Kanafani and Naji Ali, whose work still influences the Palestinian cause long after their death.

“Even after we die, the song and the play and the poem will survive,” he said.