As a child, Zakariya Zubeidi belonged to a theatre group for children; that was run by an Israeli woman. This theatre was focused on promoting coexistence between the Jewish and Arab populations. While growing up, Zubeidi became a gunman during the years of combat between both the Israelis and Palestinians.
In his home town, Zubeidi had risen to become the head of the militant group known as the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. He was wanted by Israel for allegedly organizing roadside shootings and suicide bombing attacks on Israelis. Zubeidi narrowly escaped capture and death attempts on him.
Previously in October, Zubeidi signed up for an Israeli amnesty and laid down his weapons. Now, Zubeidi will focus on theatre where he plans to open up the “Freedom Theater” in the Jenin refugee camp. The refugee camp is home to at least 16,000 people.
“We want to take the Palestinian cause to the people through theater,” Zubeidi said on Wednesday.
The Freedom Theater is a 300-seat hall that is funded by private donations. So far, all the theater players are boys. Currently, the Muslim parents in the camp are deeply conservative will not approve letting their daughters be physically close to the boys. For that reason, the Freedom Theater does not have any female players yet.
“I used to do this work before the uprising,” Zubeidi explains.
However, he has not severed links with his past. He has an assault rifle and pistol stashed away after a request of the Palestinian Authority under obligation to disarm militants under a peace plan backed by the United States.
The reason he keeps his weapons stashed is that he still does not trust the amnesty agreement and still fears for his life.
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