The Freedom Theatre

Inside the Jenin refugee camp, the Freedom Theatre runs a drama school, a film school, and a regular programme of plays. It grew out of the Stone Theatre founded by Arna Mer-Khamis during the First Intifada and has produced some of the most internationally recognised Palestinian theatre of the past two decades, including a celebrated Arabic adaptation of Animal Farm.

The building itself is unremarkable, but it is one of the few places in the camp regularly open to outside visitors. Performances are sporadic — call ahead — but the theatre also runs short tours and welcomes drop-ins during working hours. A small bookshop and café sit at the entrance.

things to do sight
A story
The theatre's founder Juliano Mer-Khamis — son of an Israeli Jewish mother and a Palestinian Christian father — was shot dead outside the building in April 2011. The killing was never solved, and the theatre has carried on under his collaborators ever since.