Incarcerating the Imagination with the Jenin Freedom Theatre
On Monday, June 16th of 2025 we joined for a public webinar with Mustafa Sheta of the Jenin Freedom Theatre to discuss the role of art under occupation. He is the General Manager of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, a globally renowned institution that offers drama and performance art education in the heart of the Jenin Refugee Camp.
Nearly all of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents were displaced since the beginning of Operation Iron Wall in January 2025 and the site of the Freedom Theatre was not accessible. Mustafa himself was released from Israeli prison after over a year of unjust detainment and resumed his duties at the theatre in this challenging moment.
He spoke with us about the escalating repression of Palestinian cultural workers, conditions in the refugee camps, the role of artistic storytelling under occupation, and the ongoing activities of the theatre as they continued staging artistic productions and imaginative performances around the world. This recording of the webinar is free and open to the public, but you can contribute to the Green Olive Collective at this link to sustain our work to challenge the violence of occupation and advocate for a democratic future.
