‘Promotion of Creative Palestinians’ dance performance seen as threat to Israeli security July 7, 2009
PNN
Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh
El Funoun Dance Company
By order of the Israeli Acting Internal Security Minister Israeli police on Sunday prevented a folklore and creative dance evening from convening in East Jerusalem.
The Israelis said they were cancelling the performance under the pretext that it was sponsored by the Palestinian Authority as part of the Palestine International Festival and that the decision was under the concern of Israeli security.
The police surrounded the Palestinian National Theater in East Jerusalem, Hakawati, this evening. The stage manager was handed a notice banning the performance that was minutes away from beginning.
The notice from Israeli Internal Security read roughly that the occupying administration had learned that the Hakawati Theater was performing a production sponsored by the Palestinian Authority under the title ‘Promotion of Creative Palestinians.’ The Israeli notice went on to say that this event is without a permit required by a law of item three in an agreement regarding the West Bank and Gaza which gives the Israelis power to prevent the performance in the theater or anywhere else within what are being deemed Israeli boundaries.
East Jerusalem is not legally part of the Israeli state yet the ability to stop grave violations of international law, such as settlement activity here, is increasingly difficult.
The Palestine International Festival began on 2 July and has an expected run through the eighth of the month. Performances are scheduled in Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem, as well as in Jerusalem. The events are under the umbrella of the “Jerusalem is the Capital of Arab Culture” year-long project that has faced major harassment by Israeli forces.
The stage manager at Hakawati told PNN today that troupes set to perform today were both Palestinian and German. “The real reason behind the closure is unclear because there have been other similar events here that have not been prevented.”
Other performers did not arrive at the theater at all because band members were banned from travel to enter Jerusalem.
In the square opposite the National Theater tonight young men and women sang patriotic songs and wore shirts with slogans: Long live Jerusalem, Long live Palestine.”
LINK: http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6029
For information on the Palestine International Festival:
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2823&ed=171&edid=171
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