No Performance: The El Hakawati theater was supposed to host a children?s theater festival. Image by Haaretz

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch has blocked a Palestinian children’s theater festival from opening in East Jerusalem this Saturday night on the claim that the event was “under the auspices of or sponsored by the Palestinian Authority.”

According to Aharonovitch, the holding of such an event associated with the PA in Israel contradicts an Israeli law passed as part of the Oslo peace process. Aharonovitch’s order bars this event from taking place not only in Jerusalem but anywhere else in Israel proper.

The festival was scheduled to feature performances at the El Hakawati Palestinian national theater in East Jerusalem, but Aharonovitch’s order closes the theater for eight days beginning on the scheduled first day of the festival, which has been held annually for 18 years.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Preparations for this year’s event began about four months ago, and the festival has been promoted over the past two weeks. Most of the shows, including puppet theater, were to be performed by Israeli Arabs. Foreign troupes from Norway, France and Turkey were also on the program.

Read more at Haaretz.com.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount