An intense, transformative journey came to an end today, on Land Day, as this year’s Freedom Ride in occupied Palestine finished.
The original plan was to spend the two last days of the Freedom Ride in Jerusalem. A symbolic and actual defiance of the enforced separation between Palestinians in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. However, realities on the ground came in the way.
Despite several attempts, the Palestinian members of the Freedom Ride, including The Freedom Theatre’s staff, students and actors, were denied permits and thus could not cross the checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. The international members of the Freedom Ride were put in a dilemma – should they continue or stay? In the end half the group stayed behind to in Ramallah and the other continued into East Jerusalem. In the evening the two groups carried out parallel playback theatre events, sharing stories of isolation, marginalisation and the difficulties of having to separate from the Freedom Riders who were not granted permission to enter their own capital. There were also accounts about solidarity between people from around the world with Palestine and how that inspires and gives hope.
Read updates from the 2015 Freedom Ride on the blog.
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