WEST BANK: Former member of Palestinian al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Rabie Turkman laid down his gun to join the Jenin Freedom drama troupe, but Israeli authorities aren't letting him travel abroad

Record ID: 560366

  • Title: WEST BANK: Former member of Palestinian al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Rabie Turkman laid down his gun to join the Jenin Freedom drama troupe, but Israeli authorities aren't letting him travel abroad
  • Date: 4th November 2009
  • Summary: JENIN REFUGEE CAMP (FILE- APRIL 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF COMPANY OF ACTORS PERFORMING ANIMAL FARM
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Entertainment,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA4I1UVUYVIZULMVLXZ6XQI1YG6
  • Story Text: Twenty-two-year-old Rabie Turkman is a former member of the Palestinian pro-Fatah al-Aqsa Brigades, but these days he's more comfortable with a troupe of actors than a troop of soldiers.
    Turkman was born in the northern West Bank city of Qabatia in 1987, the year the first Palestinian uprising -- or 'Intifada' -- began.
    At 16 he felt fighting was the only way to bring change to the Palestinian community, but these days he's expressing his frustrations on stage as a member of the Jenin Freedom Drama company.
    "I decided to be part of the resistance because I used to see the savagery the Israeli army and the occupation. When they used to raid into the cities and kill children, girls, take the women out of their houses, and keep the people in the streets. Anyone in the world, not only me as a Palestinian, anyone who sees the savagery of occupation, the killings and arrests would become patriotic, carry a rifle and fight for his freedom. When I carried my gun I was 16 years old, I didn't carry it because I wanted to die, but because I wanted to fight for my freedom, for my country, because I wanted to live. I want to live in freedom like anyone in the world," Turkman told Reuters Television.
    Turkman fought against Israeli troops in the 2002 Israeli offensive in Jenin which came at the height of the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. Some 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers died during the campaign that flattened an entire neighbourhood.
    For years, the actor was a wanted man and lived in hiding, but in 2006, Turkman was given amnesty by Israel as part of a goodwill gesture towards President Mahmoud Abbas.
    Now he can be found regularly treading the boards in a small theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp.
    "I left the resistance fighters and started a different kind of resistance. I moved from armed resistance to cultural resistance. I believe the theatre is a form of cultural resistance. I performed in a play called 'Animal Farm' and was in a performance called 'Fragments of Palestine'," Turkman said.
    'Fragments of Palestine' is a play about the current situation in the Occupied Territories with various issues represented during a wedding day.
    As one of the play's lead actors, he had hoped to go on tour with the performance in Germany. However he believes his past associations with the al-Aqsa Brigades put an end to that dream.
    "Despite the fact that I am committed to peace, to freedom, to the Freedom Theatre and to acting, and to studying drama, and even though I performed in a play called 'Fragments of Palestine,' they (Israeli authorities) still prevented me from travelling," said Turkman.
    The Jenin Freedom Theatre aims to help young Palestinians make a future for themselves and has a small drama school. It holds workshops in such fields as acting and theatre production, dance and movement, multimedia activities, and computer and IT skills.
    Turkman had hoped that the theatre group would provide him with a clean slate, but when he tried to cross Allenby bridge from the West Bank into Jordon, Israel's Civil Administration Operations Branch which controls West Bank checkpoints and crossings would not let him pass.
    With no other way out to the rest of the world, Turkman was forced to stay behind.
    "They (Israeli authorities) prevented me from travelling to Germany with my colleagues to perform 'Fragments of Palestine'. Am I not allowed to live because I am Palestinian? Am I denied travel because I am Palestinian? Should I be buried because I am Palestinian? Even with my freedom, they wouldn't allow me to travel to show the suffering of my people and they denied me the freedom to show it to the other societies in Europe. They denied me travel because I am Palestinian, that is the only reason I am not allowed to travel," he said.
    Despite his setback, Turkman is continuing to perform in plays in Jenin and took on the role of one of the horses in George Orwell's play about authoritarian oppression, 'Animal Farm'.
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