[The following press release was issued by The Freedom Bus on 19 September 2012.]
Inspired by civil rights Freedom Riders, West Bank Freedom Bus sets off to visit region’s most besieged areas, promoting cultural resistance
From 23 Sept - 1 Oct 2012, The Freedom Bus, an initiative of the Freedom Theatre, will embark on a historic and groundbreaking ride through the West Bank. Led by Palestinians, and supported by international allies, this project aims give voice to life under occupation. It comes amidst widespread social unrest in the West Bank.
The ride is inspired by the Freedom Rides of 1961 in the USA, which saw civil rights activists travel through Southern states challenging segregation, and the Australian Freedom Rides of 1964 and ’65, which raised the issue of indigenous rights. Embracing this radical inheritance, the Freedom Bus will promote cultural resistance using concerts, university seminars, Playback theatre performances, community visits, hip hop, and giant puppet shows.
The Freedom Bus uses Playback Theatre to give voice to life under occupation; the actors make theatre pieces based on real-life stories of Palestinians they meet on the ride. The Freedom Bus will visit some of the most besieged areas of the West Bank, including Nabi Saleh, where there are weekly protests against the confiscation of Palestinian land, and villagers suffer military violence from the Israeli army, Faquaa, where residents are denied access to water resources that irrigate Israeli fields on the other side of the dividing fence and At-Tuwani, where villagers non-violently resist harassment from settlers and the Israeli army by continuing to work their land.
The ride will embark despite challenges over the last year; including continual harassment from the Israeli army following the assassination of the Freedom Theatre founder Juliano Mer Khamis and the ongoing imprisonment without charge of co-founder Zakaria Zubeidi. However, the Palestinian actors, activists, photographers, musicians and bloggers taking part in the Freedom Ride are determined to spread their unique brand of cultural activism throughout the West Bank.
Judith Butler, author, philosopher and supporter of the ride, said, “The Freedom Bus ride represents the aspirations of the Palestinian people to be freed from an illegal occupation, to exercise rights of self-determination, and to demand justice after decades of oppression. The Freedom Bus ride represents as well the freedom of movement and a movement for freedom.”
Details and background information:
- The Freedom Bus: uses interactive theatre and cultural activism to bear witness, raise awareness and build alliances throughout occupied Palestine and beyond.
- The Freedom Bus is coordinated by The Freedom Theatre: a Palestinian theatre and multimedia center based in Jenin Refugee Camp. A range of other Palestinian community-based organizations and associations are involved in Freedom Bus initiative.