The 19th annual Palestinian children’s theater festival in the East Jerusalem theater of Al-Hakwati, was due to open on Saturday, June 22nd, but was  canceled under a special warrant issued by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch. The festival organizers protested the shutting down of the highly-anticipated eight-day long cultural event, which was  scheduled to feature Palestinian, Nordic, French and Turkish performers.

In recent days, more than 1,700 Israelis signed a petition protesting the closure of the theater. The petition aims to remind Aharonovitch the ways in which the state simultaneously neglects the residents of East Jerusalem while preventing them from providing for their own needs. It also refers to the latest Israeli statements on the willingness to re-enter negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. “Can the way to build mutual trust go through the prevention of a puppet theater from showing?”

Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian children’s theater festival (Photo: Al Ittihad)

One can find many Israeli theater actors amongst the signatories on the petition, including playwrights and directors such as Itay Tiran, Yehoshua Sobol, Norman Issa, Einat Weitzman and more. Hadash MK Dov Khenin also wrote to Aharonovitch, demanding the warrant be rescinded. Two theatrical protests are planned to take place in East and West Jerusalem as well.