Update, May 3: Immediately after we shared the following Letter yesterday on Facebook — today followed by an English translation — the private company suppressed the Dance Insider’s Facebook account, after more than 10 years. Facebook’s banning of the Dance Insider for sharing a simple letter of thanks from the students of the Freedom Theatre in the Jenin refugee camp to the growing numbers of students on campuses around the world protesting Israel’s war on Gaza and calling for their universities to divest from businesses implicated in the war and break ties with Israeli universities came a day after the U.S. Congress passed a bill widening the federal definition of anti-Semitism, prompting Jerry Nadler, the most senior Jewish member of Congress, to warn, as Democracy Now reported, “This bill threatens to chill constitutionally protected speech. Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute discrimination. The bill sweeps too broadly.” In Paris, meanwhile, six students at the prestigous Political Science University responded to the school administrator’s refusal to even discuss the possibility of severing ties to four Israeli universities by going on a hunger strike. — Paul Ben-Itzak
(First posted on the web site of the Jewish Union for Peace in Paris and, like the image above, on the website of the Friends of the Freedom Theatre of Jenin in the Palestinian territories illegally Occupied by Israel since 1967. To translate into English, click the Google translation button at the right. To listen to a Democracy Now interview with Freedom Theater artistic director Ahmed Tobasi, including on how the theater was raided and he jailed and beaten by the Israeli military after they raided the theater, click here. )
Les étudiants DU THÉÂTRE DE LA LIBERTÉ,
aux étudiants DES ÎLOTS DE LIBÉRATION
AUX ÉTUDIANTS DE LA RÉSILIENCE ET DU COURAGE
Au cœur de l’adversité, là où les ténèbres de l’injustice s’étendent, vos voix s’élèvent comme des signaux d’espoir, perçant l’obscurité avec une détermination inébranlable.
À chaque pas, à chaque mot prononcé, vous incarnez l’esprit de solidarité et de défi.
Vous êtes les architectes du changement, les défenseurs de la vérité et les gardiens de la liberté dans votre pays.
Des couloirs des universités aux rues emplies de chants, vos actions font écho à la résilience d’un peuple qui aspire à la justice et à la libération.
Votre solidarité ne connaît pas de limites, elle traverse les frontières et surmonte les clivages, unissant les cœurs dans une lutte commune pour la dignité et l’égalité.
En tant qu’étudiants palestiniens, se formant au rythme des défis du Théâtre de la Liberté dans le camp de réfugiés de Jénine, nous sommes émus par votre soutien inébranlable à notre cause.
Votre solidarité transcende les distances, donne vie à nos espoirs et à nos rêves d’un avenir meilleur.
Ensemble, nous nous dressons contre l’oppression, l’injustice et les forces qui cherchent à nous faire taire.
Avec chaque manifestation, chaque acte de solidarité, nous affirmons notre humanité partagée et notre engagement à construire un monde où la justice prévaut.
Merci, chers étudiants, pour votre détermination, votre générosité et votre soutien indéfectible.
Ensemble, nous avançons, sans nous décourager, vers un avenir où régneront la liberté et la paix.
Avec gratitude et en solidarité,
LES ÉLÈVES DU THÉÂTRE DE LA LIBERTÉ
CAMP DE RÉFUGIÉS DE JÉNINE, PALESTINE
English version (translated by Paul Ben-Itzak):
From the students of the Freedom Theater
To the students in the Iles of Liberation
To the Students of Resilience and Courage
In the heart of adversity, there where the shadows of injustice are spreading, you lift your voices like signals of hope, piercing the obscurity with an unshakeable determination.
With each step, with each word pronounced, you embody the spirit of solidarity and defiance.
You are the architects of change, the defenders of truth and the guardians of liberty in your countries.
From the hallways of the universities to the streets filled with chants, your actions echo the resilience of a people who aspire to justice and liberation.
Your solidarity knows no limits, it crosses frontiers and rises above the cleavages, uniting hearts in a common fight for dignity and equality.
As Palestinian students, training ourselves to the rhythm of the challenges of the Freedom Theater in the Jenin refugee camp, we are moved by your unshakeable support for our noble cause.
Your solidarity transcends distances, gives life to our hopes and our dreams of a better future.
Together, we stand up against oppression, injustice, and the forces which search to silence us.
With every demonstration, with every act of solidarity, we affirm our shared humanity and our commitment to building a world where justice triumphs.
Merci, dear students, for your determination, your generosity, and your unwavering support.
Together, we’ll move forward, without being discouraged, towards a future where freedom and peace reign.
With gratitude and in solidarity,
The students of the Freedom Theater of the Refugee camp of Jenin, Palestine
The Dance Insider & Paris Arts Voyager 