Artists rally in support of West Bank theater members detained since Dec. 13

The Freedom Theatre has endured extraordinary stress and privations since it was first founded in 1987 by an Israeli and Palestinian couple. Located in a refugee camp on the West Bank, it has gained international renown for original plays and creative workshops for Palestinian children and families.

But in 2011, its artistic director was shot by masked assailants. Juliano Mer-Khamis, an Israeli film director, was the adult son of the theaters' founders. Last year, the chair of its board, Bilal al-Saadi, was arrested by the Israeli army. He was detained for six months in what PEN America described as "a serious human rights violation."

Last summer, the theater was shelled by the Israeli military as part of a days-long campaign in the area, with extensive damages reported by the non-partisan Middle East Institute and documented by the theater. On Wednesday December 13, in the midst of one of the biggest raids on Jenin in decades, the Israeli army ransacked and vandalized the theater, according to its staff, and arrested artistic director Ahmed Tobasi and two of its members. Israel says it was conducting an operation searching for militants, who have been expanding their activities in Jenin for over a year.