<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Thousands expected for funeral of slain&nbsp;director]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img src='https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/123808_345x230.jpg' alt='' /></p>
<p>April 5, 2011</p>
<p>RAMALLAH (Ma&#8217;an) &#8212; Jenin Freedom Theater Director Juliano Mer-Khamis  will be buried on Tuesday, with thousands expected to turn out for the  funeral processions, set to take place in Jenin, Haifa and Ramallah.</p>
<p>Hours  after the artist was gunned down in his car outside of the theater in  the Jenin refugee camp, some 50 Palestinian artists and actors gathered  in Ramallah&#8217;s central square to protest against the killing. They held  up signs saying Mer-Khamis&#8217;s murder was &#8220;a loss for Palestine.&#8221;</p>
<p>Theater  students released a statement on Tuesday morning, saying &#8220;Juliano, your  mother’s children have passed away, your mother Arna has passed away  and so did you &#8211; but your children are going to stay, following your  path on the way to the freedom battle, and we will go on with your  revolution’s promise, the Jasmine revolution.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Revolutionary  message will not pass away. It will come storming the yellow sands and  the mountains covered by almond trees, blowing the jasmine revolution  out of the freedom fighter’s hands, from here, from the Freedom  Theater’s stage, where men were and are made to be free and engaged in  the cultural revolutionary battle for Freedom.</p>
<p>&#8220;In thousands of  silences only one violin is playing, and in thousands of silences only  one voice is raising up,  it’s the freedom fighters’s voices, to whom  you taught how to carry the cultural gun on their shoulders.&#8221;</p>
<p>The statement was signed, &#8220;Juliano&#8217;s Children.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mer-Khamis  was the son of Arna Mer, an Israeli Jewish activist who founded the  first theater in the camp, the Stones Theater, which opened during the  First Intifadah in the late 1980s, and closed during the Second  Intifadah. In 2006, Mer-Khamis, whose father was a Palestinian from  Nazareth, opened the Freedom Theater after filming the documentary,  Arna&#8217;s Children, which cataloged his mother&#8217;s struggle to open and  maintain the project.</p>
<p><strong> Condemnations continue, killing called &#8216;cowardly&#8217;</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;Through  their cowardly act they have robbed us of a leading light in  Palestinian theatre, an advocate of peace, and a true friend to all  people of good will,&#8221; a spokesman from the British Foreign and  Commonwealth office said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Juliano was a good friend of the  Consulate and an inspiration for people well beyond the Palestinian  territories. He was a brave man who stood for tolerance and free  expression. Those responsible for his death could not be more different  than him. Through their cowardly act they have robbed us of a leading  light in Palestinian theatre, an advocate of peace, and a true friend to  all people of good will. We sincerely hope that those responsible will  be caught  and held accountable for this heinous act.&#8221;</p>
<p>A group of  popular committees organizing weekly protests against Israel&#8217;s  separation wall, issued a statement &#8220;expressing our deep sadness&#8221; over  the death, calling the act &#8220;part of the escalation exercised by the  Israeli occupation,&#8221; blaming the tense political situation, &#8220;it is what  permits such horrific acts.&#8221;</p>
<p>The statement said the groups &#8220;hold  the Israeli occupation responsible&#8221; for the death. It continued, saying  &#8220;We are not against Jews in the world. We are against the occupation  and our goal to live in freedom and dignity like the rest of the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>The groups continued, saying that they believed the &#8220;killing of Juliano only serves Israeli interests.&#8221;</p>
<p>Palestinian  investigators were instructed by West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad  to work around the clock to locate the gunmen. Initial reports were  unclear as to whether one or two armed individuals carried out the  attack.</p>
<p>Freedom Theater officials said Mer-Khamis was in his car  with his son and the child&#8217;s nanny when he was stopped, and shot  through the windshield.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are shocked and saddened by Juliano  Mer-Khamis&#8217; murder, not only was he a unique and talented actor and  director, he was also a symbol of coexistence and peace,&#8221; spokesman for  UN Mideast peace envoy Robert Serry said.</p>
<p>Richard Miron  continued, saying &#8220;Our thoughts are with his family and all those he  touched through his life,&#8221; the spokesman said, adding that Serry had met  with Mer-Khamis during one of his visits to Jenin and the theater.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375691">Source</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>Related </strong></h2>
<p><strong>SPECIAL TOPIC | <a href="http://wp.me/P16sn9-5kQ">JULIANO MER-KHAMIS | ARNA’S CHILDREN</a></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In honor of his life and work  the film <strong><a href="http://wp.me/p16sn9-5k4">Arna’s Children</a></strong>, a documentary about Mer-Khamis’ mother and her struggle to fight Israeli and Palestinian injustice from the stage.</p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/123808_345x230.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>