1st World War
Balfour Declaration
Ottoman Empire officially ends
British Mandate (legitimised by the league of nations 1922)
Arna Mer Khamis was born
Poet Nuh Ibrahim is murdered by the British
Second World War
The Nakbe, where an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes
Arna Joins the communist party
Jenin Refugee Camp was formed
Six-day war
Isreal murders writer Ghassan Kanafani
Isreal kills political leader, writer and poet Kamal Nasser in Lebanon
1st Intifada begins
Naji al-Ali is murdered in London. Whilst it was never confirmed, it is suspected to be a Mossad assassination.
Arna goes to Jenin Refugee Camp and established Care & Learning and The Stone Theatre alongside local women.
Suhail Khoury (Edward Said National Conservatory of Music) is arrested and imprisoned for creating music tapes.
Discussions for the Oslo accords begin
The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music is founded
Founding of Yabous Cultural Centre
2nd intifada begins
Yousef Swaitat suicide mission
Ten-day invasion of Jenin Refugee Camp
Omar Bakri films ‘Jenin Jenin’
Founding of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement
Founding of The Freedom Theatre In Jenin Refugee Camp
Ahmed Tobasi leaves prison and joins The Freedom Theatre
Israel and Egypt close the borders to Gaza, restricting movement for people in and out until this day.d ordering 24 copies to be confiscated.
Isreal launches Operation "Cast Lead" on Gaza.
Juliano Mer Khamis is murdered
Four members of The Freedom Theatre are arrested and imprisoned.
Nabil Al Raee, who became Artistic Director of the Freedom Theatre after Juliano's murder, is arrested and imprisoned.
Mohammad Saba’aneh is arrested and imprisoned
Photographer Mohammad Al Azza is shot in the head.
Mohammed Al Azzah is arrested.
Isreal launches 'Operation Protective Edge' on Gaza
Poet Dareen Tatour is arrested and imprisonment
Loai Tafesh, dancer-choreographer and founder of Naqsh dance ensemble, is arrested and imprisonment
President Trump formally recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and states that the American embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Land Day protests in Gaza begin demanding an end to the Israeli blockade and the right of return for refugees. Across 18 months, 168 Palestinians were murdered and thousands injured.
The US embassy is opened in Jerusalem on the 70th Gregorian anniversary of the creation of the modern State of Israel.
The Said al-Mishal Centre in Gaza is bombed
Dareen Tatour’s imprisonment and house arrest ends.
Rania Elias (Yabous Cultural Center) and Suhail Khoury (Edward Said National Conservatory of Music)
arrested and interrogated.
Mohammed Bakri continues to be taken to court for ‘Jenin, Jenin’. He is ordered to pay damages to Israeli soldier Nissim Magnaji of 175,000 shekels ($55,000) and 50,000 shekels of court expenses. The court also re-introduces a ban on the film in Israel and ordering 24 copies to be confiscated.
Dancer and choreographer Atta Khattab is held in prison.
Palestinian cultural organisations lose the majority of their core funding after refusing the demands of international funders to depoliticise their work.
1914 - 1918
1917
1922
1920 - 1948
1929
1938
1939 - 1945
1948
1951
1948 - 1953
1967
1972
1973
1987
1987
Late 80s
1988
1993
1993
1995
2000
2001
1st April 2002
April 2002
July 2005
2006
2006
2007
2008 - 2009
4th April 2011
Summer 2011
2012
2013
April 2013
July 2013
2014
2015
2016
6th Dec 2017
14th May 2018
9th Aug 2018
20th Sep 2018
July 2020
12th Jan 2021
2nd Feb 2021
2021
READ TESTIMONIES FROM THE REVOLUTION'S PROMISE
The Revolution's Promise is a collation of testimonies from Palestinian artists under attack.
Below are testimonies in English specific to artists receiving death threats, attacks on their lives or those
who have been murdered. These testimonies are available to be read, performed and shared at public events, protests, University and in your local community or groups
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE REVOLUTION'S PROMISE >>
HALA SHETA
ON THE ARREST OF HER FATHER PRODUCER MUSTAFA SHETA 2023
Hala Sheta is a 14-year-old participant in The Freedom Theatre and daughter to Mustafa Sheta, the producer of the theatre. Here she details the day her father was taken in December 2023 and imprisoned until now by the Israeli army.
RANIN ODEH
ON ATTACKS AT THE FREEDOM THEATRE & MURDER OF CHILD PARTICIPANTS, 2022 - 2024
Ranin Odeh, Child and Youth Co-ordinator at The Freedom Theatre, takes us through a year of attacks on the theatre. As three child participants are murder she continues to fight for the human and cultural rights of young people.
AHMED TOBASI
ATTACKS & IMPRISONMENTS AT THE FREEDOM THEATRE, 2023
Ahmed Tobasi, Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, speaks of the recent attacks on cultural venue and its team as part of a long history of Israeli targeting of the theatre.
JULIANO MER KHAMIS
ON CULTURAL RESISTANCE BEFORE HE WAS MURDERED
Juliano Mer Khamis was Co-founder and Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, who was murdered on 4th April 2011. Taken from interviews whilst he was alive, this text speaks of the dream of The Freedom Theatre and the role of cultural resistance.
ARNA MER KHAMIS
ON ARTS & EDUCATION IN JENIN REFUGEE CAMP
Born in 1929, to a Jewish settler family, Arna was a pro-Palestinian human rights activist and teacher. Alongside local Palestinian women in Jenin Refugee Camp, she founded Defence of Children and The Stone Theatre, teaching and giving art therapy. In 1993, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
MOHAMMED BAKRI
ON 20 YEARS OF COURT TRAILS FOR MAKING A DOCUMENTARY, 2002 - 2020
The story of what drove Mohammed Bakri to film the award-winning documentary 'Jenin Jenin' days after the Israeli invasion of Jenin Refugee Camp in 2002 and the continuous harassment from the Israeli government ever since.
SUHAIL KHOURY
ON BEING IMPRISONED & TORTURED, 1988
Musician and composer Suhail Khoury tells the story of being arrested, imprisoned and tortured by Isreal in 1988 during the 1st Intifada for creating music tapes.
MOHAMMAD AL AZZA
ON BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD AND SURVIVING, 2013
Born and living in Aida Refugee Camp, Mohammad Al Azza is a documentarian and photographer and directs the Arts & Media Unit of Lajee Center in Aida Refugee Camp. In 2013 he was targeted and shot in the head by Israeli soldiers, an attack he survived.
DAREEN TATOUR
ON BEING IMPRISONED FOR WRITING POETRY, 2015 - 2018
Dareen speaks of the occupation and the violence towards women and children that led her to write the poem 'Resist My People Resist Them' and her consequent arrest and imprisonment.
ALI ABU YASEEN
BOMBING OF AL-MISHAL CULTURAL CENTRE, 2018
Ali Abu Yaseen, an actor, writer, and director, tells the story of the day Al-Mishal Cultural Centre was specifically targeted and bombed in 2018.
RANIA ELIAS
ON ATTACKS ON YABOUS CULTURAL CENTRE, 1995 - 2021
Rania Elias tells on the challenges for Palestinians working in Jerusalem and the Israeli aggression towards Yabous and its staff, including her own detainment and interrogated.
MUHAMMAD ABU SAKHA
ON BEING IMPRISONED FOR CIRCUS, 2015
Muhammad Abu Sakha from the Palestinian Circus School speaks about being imprisoned in 2015 for two years.
On the 9 June 2023, Muhammad was once again taken by the Israeli army. On 10th July, the Israeli occupation military court ordered six months in administrative detention - imprisonment without charge or trial.
BAHAA ELDIN IBDAH
ON CENSORSHIP FOR PALESTINIAN LIVING IN 48, 2023
Bahaa is a young acting student from the 1948 Palestinian territories (also referred to as Israel). Here, he speaks about the current censorship Palestinians are facing as Israeli citizens and how The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee provides a space to speak.
OMAR BARGHOUTI
ON BDS, CULTURAL BOYCOTT & THREATS TO HIS LIFE, 2005 - 2020
Omar Barghouti speaks about BDS, including the Cultural Boycott, and the consequences he as faced as the co-founder
COPYRIGHT: The Freedom Theatre and Artists On The Frontline own the copyright to the script and monologues of The Revolution’s Promise. The texts are available for public readings and performances for all who abide by our values and have received written confirmation (please email info@artistsonthefrontline.com). We ask that tickets to any events and readings are free for audiences or, if chargeable, the money goes towards the Artist Resistance Programme. If this is not possible, please get in touch with us, and we are happy to talk through what might work.