STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF MAHMOUD AL-SADI, YOUTH TRAINER AT THE FREEDOM THEATRE In the early hours of this morning 17-year-old, Mahmoud Al-Sadi was shot and murdered by the Israeli….
STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF MAHMOUD AL-SADI, YOUTH TRAINER AT THE FREEDOM THEATRE
In the early hours of this morning 17-year-old, Mahmoud Al-Sadi was shot and murdered by the Israeli army.
Mahmoud was part of The Freedom Theatre family. A skilled and passionate trainer for our Child and Youth Program, he bought his unique character to this work, bringing hope and a new way of seeing the world to young people. Mahmoud had a promising future ahead of him, and we were excited to see where his work in theatre would lead him.
We are in shock at his murder, in a situation that is all too familiar. The funeral will take place today, and as another family from Jenin Refugee Camp buries their child, we are left to ask again, when will these crimes end?
THE FREEDOM THEATRE
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP PALESTINE
MAHMOUD WHO WE KNOW AND KNOWS US…
“With every attack, we wonder what the terrifying occupation machine will carry, what tools to undermine us and what will be the outcome of this day’s invasion … How many martyrs, wounded, and arrested will there be, and what will they demolish?… We inquire as if it’s normal because we are used to pain, sadness and tragedy. We check our souls to see if they remain healthy or if they were exposed to a fragment that penetrated them and changed our essence.
But today is different, we lost the one we knew and who knew us. We loved him as he loved us and as he loved the camp’s alleyways. That mischievous passionate boy… Loved without limits by his family, a friend to all.
Mahmoud Al-Sadi , 17 years old, was going to finish high school this year and maybe join the university, or maybe he would continue the drama education program at the theatre.
On the streets of Jenin camp, on the road leading to The Freedom Theatre, there will be a heavy silence in the absence of Mahmoud and what this loss will leave on his peers, his colleagues and his friends from his High School.”
Mustafa Sheta, Producer at The Freedom Theatre
THE BOY WITH THE GOLDEN HEART IS GONE
“I know your face, as a child, soft without a beard, even as you grew up trying in every way to show that you’re a man. Naughty, causing chaos, I knew that even when you pretended to be indifferent, your heart was big enough to embrace the whole camp, its streets and its homes.
This is what hurts me the most, that the boy with a golden heart is gone. Believe me, the news of your martyrdom hurt my body and brings me to tears.
I think of you coming to the stage, and joining the workshops to have fun and play. I know you loved to be at the theatre, even as you carried a cigarette to prove you’re a man and pretended you were indifferent.
You are a man with a big heart and a child full of caring. You are a sweet, naughty, innocent, quiet, hard-working, strong and respectful friend.
May God be with you Mahmoud. I thank you for passing through my life and being my student. I am proud of you and I will always remember
your kind heart.”
RANIN ODEH, CHILD & YOUTH COORDINATOR, THE FREEDOM THEATRE