By Mustafa Sheta | General Manager of The Freedom Theatre
When we launched Sustain The Freedom Theatre in Jenin in March 2026, we were not asking for support for one performance alone. We were asking people to help protect a cultural space, sustain a Palestinian artistic team, and preserve a place where children, young people, artists, and families in Jenin can continue to meet, create, and tell their own stories. By the end of June, 175 donations had raised $17,225. Each contribution affirmed that The Freedom Theatre and the space it represents must continue.
Throughout the campaign period, The Freedom Theatre continued operating primarily from its Academy of Performing Arts in Jenin city, which remains our main working space while regular access to our historic theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp is not possible. The Academy hosted children and youth activities, artistic training, rehearsals, production meetings, and public cultural events. From April 13 to May 31, our Contemporary Folklore programme invited young participants to explore Palestinian memory, movement, music, and performance, not as heritage fixed in the past, but as living material they could reinterpret and make their own. Our professional artistic work also continued: The Martyrs Return to Ramallah premiered in May and was presented again in June, while Gaza: Eyewitnesses brought testimony, film, artistic expression, and public discussion to our Academy on June 23.
These activities show what sustaining The Freedom Theatre means in practice. It means maintaining a working team, keeping a cultural space open, protecting opportunities for children and artists, developing new Palestinian work, and documenting a reality that is too often silenced. At the time of this report, the first GlobalGiving disbursement was still being processed through an alternative international transfer route, so the campaign funds had not yet been spent during the reporting period. Our work continued through existing resources and the support of our partners. Once received, the funds will support essential staff, rent and utilities, children and youth activities, artistic development, production, documentation, and communications.
To every person who contributed or shared this campaign: thank you. Your solidarity gives our team greater stability and tells the young people and artists around us that their voices matter. In Jenin, keeping a theatre alive is about more than preserving an institution. It is about protecting imagination, memory, cultural expression, and the right of Palestinians to tell their own stories. The stage continues because you stood with us.
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