Tag Archives: Middle East

Release Mustafa Sheta, General Manager of The Freedom Theatre!

December 11, 2024Newsartists at risk, Freedom Theatre Jenin, Middle East, personal caseTatjana Azman

The organization Swedish Friends of The Freedom Theatre has sent a letter to the Swedish government requesting that Israel be admonished to release theatre producer Mustafa Sheta from custody immediately.

Palestinian Mustafa Sheta, general manager and producer for The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine, was abducted from his home in Jenin by Israeli soldiers on December 13^th, 2023. He has been incarcerated since that date without a trial or sentencing. Recently, his incarceration has been prolonged for four months. He is imprisoned in complete isolation and has had one single contact with a witness who has reported that Sheta is living under extremely difficult conditions.

The Freedom Theatre in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank is a theatre and an active cultural center that has been conducting artistic and cultural activities for children, youth groups and adults for many years. It was founded with Swedish assistance and, for many years, received financial support from Sweden.

Release Mustafa Sheta

Detainees and Disappeared: Art Documents and Archives Speak

September 4, 2024News, PublicationMiddle East, Publication, SyriaACAR

The archive project Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution presented a new book in Lebanon in September: Detainees and Disappeared: Art Documents and Archives Speak.

This book documents the problems of imprisonment and disappearance of people from the fields of art and culture between 2011 and 2020 in Syria on two levels. On one level, it traces the imprisonment, abduction, or killing under torture of artists and intellectuals who used their art to oppose the Syrian regime and all forms of oppression. This was particularly evident in the early years of the Syrian revolution. On the second level, various artistic works are presented that deal with those who were arrested or abducted for oppositional activities.

The book is available in Arabic from Antoine Publishers.

Afghanistan Cultural Fund

July 15, 2024NewsAfghanistan, funding, Middle EastACAR

The new established Afghanistan Cultural Fund (ACF) aims to support Afghan cultural workers, especially women. The fund provides assistance to Afghan artists both within the country and in the diaspora, enabling them to continue their creative work, protect cultural heritage, and preserve artistic expressions despite all adversities.

The ACF is a project by the Goethe Institute, Germany, supported by the Open Society Fund.

For more information and application follow this link.

Residencies for Palestinian Artists

July 15, 2024NewsMiddle East, residenciesACAR

The programme aims to support Palestinian artists residing in Jerusalem or the West Bank or originally from Gaza and living abroad, of various disciplines, generations, and origins, helping them develop research and creation projects in contemporary arts. A second call for applications is now open for 3 to 6-month residencies in France to be carried out at French cultural institutions venues and will take place between January 2025 and December 2025.

Submission of applications until August 20th, 2024. The selection process will be coordinated by the French Institute of Jerusalem, in collaboration with the program partners.

More information and application via this link.

2023 Annual Report on Humans Rights in Iran

March 23, 2024News, PublicationIran, Middle East, newsACAR

The Annual Report, issued by the Human Rights Activists in Iran network (HRAI), counts in the field of cultural rights violations a 114% increase in citizen arrests compared to the previous year. 17 reports have been recorded. They included the arrest of 15 individuals and 10 cases of employment prohibition. 4 individuals were sentenced to 24 months of suspended imprisonment, with 12 months of these sentences issued by appellate courts. The highest number of violations in this category occurred in August and September.

In the category of freedom of thought and expression, reports of citizen arrests increased by 86%, and the issuance of prison sentences by the judiciary increased by 68% compared to the previous year.

The report has grown to 20 chapters on different fields of human rights, such as ethnic and religious rights, education, work and trade unions, children, women, gender, and sexual minorities. Additionally, the cases are arranged by months and regions.

Source: HRANA

Iran: Mohammad Sadeghi and Mehdi Etemad – Further Arrests of Theatre Artists

August 3, 2023News, Personal CaseIran, Middle East, personal caseACAR

After several moments of absence, the Morality Police is back on the streets in Iran. Sunday, July 16 security forces attacked the home of the actor and woman rights defender Mohammad Sadeghi and arrested him because he posted a video expressing his anger over the detention of yet another woman in morality police hands due to her inappropriate hijab. Sadeghi shared his arresting live on Instagram.

The actor Mehdi Etemad Saeed was arrested by security forces on June 9, 2023, in Tehran and is still detained in legal ambiguity. He was reportedly denied access to legal representation and has been charged with “promoting impurity and indecency.” Etemad Saeed’s whereabouts are still unknown.

Sources: HRANA.org, Iran International, Twitter