BICOM

Juliano Mer-Khamis, a well known Israeli actor and campaigner on behalf of the Palestinians, was gunned down yesterday outside the Freedom Theater in Jenin, which he helped to establish. The theater was situated in the Jenin Refugee Camp adjoining the northern West Bank City. Mer-Khamis, 52, who was born in Nazareth, was the son of a Jewish mother and a Christian Arab father. Five masked men, according to media reports, waited for him outside the theatre, and shot him when he arrived. The Freedom Theater was jointly opened in 2006 by Mer-Khamis and Zakaria Zbeide, a former leading activist in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of the Fatah movement. It was viewed by many as a symbol of hope in the refugee camp, which was the scene of heavy fighting during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. However, the project also attracted controversy. There is a strong current of Palestinian opinion in the West Bank opposed to any joint activity with Israelis, which is seen as a sign of ‘normalisation.’ Also, the theatre’s choice of repertoire attracted controversy. Its promotion of co-educational activities was seen as in contravention of the Islamic moral code prevailing in the refugee camp. A production of ‘Animal Farm’ was also criticised because actors played the part of pigs, an impure animal according to Islam. The killing of Mer-Khamis was condemned by the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, and the Israeli and PA authorities are engaged in seeking to apprehend those responsible.