A new play by the Jaffa Theater is infuriating right-wingers, as it was written by, among others, Issa Amro, a Palestinian accused of 18 serious security charges, including incitement and organizing demonstrations against military violence and settlers in the city of Hebron.
Amro was convicted of six of these charges last year.
The play, "How to Make a Revolution," written by Amro together with actress and director Einat Weizmann, and to be staged on July 14, is defined by the theater as a "documentary play" based on transcripts of Amro's trial in the Ofer Military Court "where the conviction rate is 99.7% "And the judges and prosecutors are all on the side of the state. The sentence is known even before the trial begins, and the defendant knows how the trial will end before the jailer calls his name."
According to the authors, Amro is a freedom fighter, while in Israel he is known as a terrorist.
"The UN calls him a human rights defender - in Israel he is called a terrorist."
The creators claim that "Issa's story reveals all the factors and all the pressures exerted on those who are trying to fight for justice and liberation. Issa is also persecuted by the Palestinian Authority, subcontractors and executors of the occupation. The play presents a multifaceted reality, with the playwright on stage sharing the challenges. She has had to deal with them since she started working with Issa. She tells how she too has come under heavy pressure even from civil society activists and organizations that support the struggle but seek to dictate its terms. In this impossible reality, while Issa tries to oppose the occupation This is almost impossible. "
The fact that one of the producers of the play is a man accused of serious security offenses, including incitement and harm to IDF fighters, and that the play presents the acts as legitimate on the grounds that it is a struggle for human rights is particularly disturbing because the Jaffa Theater has received state support. Curator Avigdor Lieberman claims that the show violates the law, because they say it is a former security prisoner and a BDS activist.
"Issa is a cousin of the terrorist who murdered the baby Shalhevet Fes, and was himself convicted of a number of very serious security offenses, including assaulting members of the security forces," wrote attorney Michael Litwok on behalf of B'Tselem. , And calls for a boycott of Israel around the world.
"Despite all this, the citizens of the State of Israel are going to fund a play about the life and work of this violent and boycotting anti-Israel activist."
In the past, Litwok mentioned, the Jaffa Theater staged a play by Einat Weizmann called "Prisoners of Occupation," which presented letters from terrorists calling for the murder of Jews.
"Following this, the spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, Adv. Assi Messing, ruled that the show encourages terrorism and violence."
He also mentioned that "a mass support event was held at the theater for Darin Tartur who was convicted of inciting the murder of Jews. In this case, too, there were calls for the murder of soldiers, and again To negate the budget of the place in accordance with the Budget Fundamentals Law.
Shai Glick, director general of B'Tselem, said that a play glorifying a person who harmed IDF soldiers and the leaders of the boycott of Israel must not be funded by the public and in general. The Ministry of Finance, which the theater has repeatedly violated the Nakba Law and incited violence and terrorism.
This place must not receive another shekel from the state, it is a hostile body that has nothing to do with culture.
I call on the Ministers of Finance and Culture to respond to my request and cancel their funding as required by law. "
Yigal Ezrati, director of the Jaffa Theater, responded: "This is not a terrorist and he was not arrested for anything related to the sabotage, this is nonsense in tomato juice. The man was arrested for a stay and all sorts of similar things. This is not a security offense and Issa is not a terrorist. He is a terrorist. "
He added that "we are a theater and operate on the basis of freedom of expression. We are allowed to take court records and bring up a restoration. Everything is legitimate and according to the law."
Einat Weizmann added that Issa Amro "is an activist of non-violent resistance - and for that he was tried."
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