Rami Hwayel, arrested Freedom Theater actor playing Pozo in Waiting for Godot (Freedom Theater)

The Israeli government has continued it’s attack on the Freedom Theatre in the Jenin refugee camp even after the killing of it’s founder Juliano Mer-Khamis months ago. Rami is the third person from the Freedom Theatre to be kidnapped by Israeli soldiers in the last month.

Existence Is Resistance demands the immediate release of Rami Hwayel as well as Freedom Theatres board members Adnan Naghnaghiye and Bilal Saadi who were kidnapped a couple of weeks ago. The assault on this institution must stop.

Please contact the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC — 202.364.5500 — and ask to speak to Ambassador Michael Oren. Ask him why the IDF is attacking cultural institutions in the West Bank and detaining acting students and demand the release of these three men.

Please also contact those directly responsible for this kidnapping:

Contact:

Military Attorney General:

Avichai Mandelblit, Chief Military Attorney

Military postal code 9605, IDF

Israel

Fax: 011-972-3-569-43-70

_________________________________

Mr. Ehud Barak

Minister of Defence

37 Kaplan Street

Tel Aviv 61909, Israel

Email: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il

Fax: ++972-3-696-27-57 / ++972-3-691-69-40 / ++972-3-691-79-15

Press Release from the Freedom Theatre:

6 August 2011

Acting student at The Freedom Theatre taken by the Israeli army

Today at approximately 15:00 hrs one of the third-year graduating students at The Freedom Theatre was taken by the Israeli army at the Shave Shomeron checkpoint between the Palestinian cities Jenin and Nablus. The student’s name is Rami Awni Hwayel, age 20. He was travelling from Ramallah to Jenin together with his fellow students.

Batool Taleb, one of the female acting students who was in the car with Rami describes what happened: “When they got to our car, they took all our IDs and when they saw Rami’s ID they told him to get out of the car. Once he was out they immediately handcuffed and blindfolded him and put him in the army jeep.”

The students had been rehearsing for their final graduation project directed by the Israeli-American Director Udi Aloni in Ramallah.

“This is devastating, Rami is playing the main role in ‘Waiting for Godot’ and doing an amazing job, he’s so dedicated to the work. He just left rehearsals today for the weekend to see his family for Ramadan. It’s terrible, we want our Pozzo back!”, says Udi Aloni.

Rami is the third member of The Freedom Theatre that has been taken by the Israeli army recently. On the 27th of July at 3:00 in the morning the Head Technician Adnan Naghnaghiye and the Chairperson Bilal Saadi were captured by a large group of Israeli soldiers.

The consequences of these actions only result in more damage to The Freedom Theatre. The theatre once again calls on its friends and supporters around the world to act in order to stop this outrageous harassment by the Israeli army against a cultural establishment.

For more information please contact:

Jacob Gough, acting General manager at +972 (0)595348391, jacob@thefreedomtheatre.org

Jonatan Stanczak, co-founder of The Freedom Theatre at +46 (0)707908296 jonatan@thefreedomtheatre.org