The Freedom Theatre

The Freedom Theatre (Arabic: مسرح الحرية) is a Palestinian community-based theatre and cultural center located in the Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern part of the West Bank. Established in 2006, the theatre aims to generate cultural resistance through the fields of popular culture and art as a catalyst for social change in the occupied Palestinian territories. The theatre’s goals are to "develop a vibrant and creative artistic community [that] empowers children and young adults to express themselves freely and equally through art [while] emphasizing professionalism and innovation." The theatre teaches courses in film, photography, creative writing, and theatre.

The Freedom Theatre is located in the Jenin refugee camp, which was established 1953 in the municipal boundaries of the city of Jenin to house residents from the Carmel region of Haifa after the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. The theatre was inspired by Care and Learning, a project established during the first Intifada in response to the chronic fear, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by children in the Jenin refugee camp as a result of the violence of the uprising.Arna Mer Khamis, an Israeli political and human rights activist, created the project to support the education of children in the West Bank. In the 1980s, Mer Khamis established several educational centers in the Jenin refugee camp, one of which was a small community theatre called "Stone Theatre." Located on the top floor of a local family house, the theatre was destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer during the 2002 Battle of Jenin resulting in the deaths of several of Mer Khamis’ students.

Years later, Zakaria Zubeidi, a former student of the Stone Theatre, contacted Mer Khamis’ son, Juliano Mer Khamis and suggested that they set up a drama project for the new generation of young people. Joined by Swedish activist Jonatana Stanczak, they opened the Freedom Theatre in 2006 as a venue to "join the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation with poetry, music, theatre, cameras." According to Juliano Mer Khamis, the goal of the theatre is to create an artistic movement dedicated to eradicating discrimination and violence. He explains the theatre’s mission within the Palestinian resistance movement by stating:

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