Earlier this month, Israeli ground and air forces invaded Jenin and its refugee camp in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. They killed thirteen people, including five children, and displaced thousands, giving rise to heart-wrenching images that recalled the experience of forcible displacement from decades ago.

The attack was the biggest against a Palestinian city in the West Bank for more than two decades. Israeli forces cut off electricity and water, targeted journalists, blocked ambulances, and bulldozed neighborhoods. More than a hundred Palestinians were injured in addition to those killed. In the aftermath, the Palestinian Performing Arts Network (PPAN) called for urgent international pressure to end Israel’s killing of Palestinians and to hold it accountable.

The Freedom Theater in Jenin, a member of PPAN, was directly affected by the onslaught, with the road leading to its premises bulldozed. Capturing the Palestinian mood of defiance in the face of intensified attack, the theater’s artistic director Ahmed Tobasi said: “We will keep this theater open. There is invasion and killing here, but there is also a theater in Jenin camp.”