On the outskirts of the camp is a youth theater run by Ahmed Tobasi. “Our idea is resisted by art,” he says. “We don’t want to express our ideas and feelings with weapons, but on stage.” But the history of the theater, like everything else in the camp, is intertwined with the armed struggle against Israel. In the past, several youth drama participants eventually took up arms and were killed by Israeli soldiers.
Also this month the weapons sound a lot louder than the voices of the actors. Last week, a resident of Jenin refugee camp killed at an attack in Tel Aviv three Israeli citizens. Another Palestinian near Jenin killed five people in a terrorist attack near Tel Aviv.
The attacks sparked a large-scale series of raids on the West Bank for Israel, with Jenin topping the list. The goal, according to Israel, was the arrest of terror suspects. Dozens of Palestinians were arrested.
There were also deaths. In total, more than 20 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since March. Some were involved in attacks or gunfights with soldiers, but an unarmed woman and a lawyer were also shot dead. According to the AP news agency, there are 12 Palestinians in and around Jenin alone.
‘Violence response to raids’
One of them is 17-year-old Mohammed Zakarneh. According to Israel he has shot at Israeli soldiers, his family is fighting that. A large poster with his face on it hangs in front of his childhood home. Friends drop by to offer their condolences to Zakarneh’s father.
“The death of Mohammed is something that could have happened to all of us,” said one of the Palestinian youths. According to him, the violence is ultimately all Israel’s fault, even if it is perpetrated by Palestinians: “It is a reaction to the raids here. Every day there are victims and we are further oppressed. unavoidable.”
Because of the terror attacks, the Israeli government decided to severely restrict traffic between Israel and Jenin. As a result, some Palestinians were unable to go to work in Israel, where wages are higher. Conversely, Israelis of Palestinian descent could not go to Jenin for cheap shopping. It was therefore a lot quieter than usual this week.
Call to calm
It is also quiet in the theater, because of Ramadan, but also because of the violence that has flared up. The increased tensions make it more difficult to seduce young people for the stage, theater director Tobasi thinks: “The more young people are killed here by Israel, the more people want to hit back. And the less interest there is in theater and culture.”
It is difficult to predict how long the new wave of violence will last. There are fears of a further escalation as major Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays converge this week. The United States and the European Union, among others, are calling on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint and calm.
–
