“THIS is real political theatre, performed out of both the terrible and inspiring experience of a struggle for freedom and justice. “They are living proof that telling stories and entertaining audiences are powerful acts of resistance to oppression. Do go and see them, they have news for us. This little theatre could change the world,” says playwright Howard Brenton about the Freedom Theatre.

The community-based theatre in the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine has just started touring its production of The Siege in Britain and Benton’s endorsement of a company whose activities have become a flagship of Palestinian culture globally reflects the international acclaim it’s gained in recent years. Freedom Theatre was born in the refugee camp in 2006, with the aim of creating a political and artistic movement of theatre and filmmakers who could fight oppression through art and use cultural resistance as a tool for justice. But that courageous determination to fight Israeli occupation through art has come at a heavy price. 

Since its foundation, the theatre has had its building attacked, it has been targeted with death threats and  some of its members have been interrogated and imprisoned. One of its board members, Mustafa Sheta, was arrested on March 19 as part of the ongoing harassment campaign by the zionist state.

In 2011 the theatre’s artistic director Juliano Mer Khamis was murdered, a crime which is still unsolved. Despite this, the theatre has managed to tour its work internationally as well as open many productions in the Jenin camp itself.

Its production of The Siege has been developed and devised by the theatre’s actors, a unique ensemble who have lived under occupation their whole lives. Written and co-directed by Nabil Al-Raee with Zoe Lafferty, it is set in April 2002, when members of the Palestinian resistance sought sanctuary inside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity — one of the world’s holiest sites — as the Israeli army closed in with helicopters, hundreds of tanks and snipers. Along with the fighters were some 200 priests, nuns and civilians.

The siege lasted for 39 days, paralysing the centre of Bethlehem and keeping tens of thousands under curfew. At the same time, the refugee camp in Jenin came under attack from Israeli forces during their “Defensive Shield” operation which saw large areas of the camp demolished and dozens killed. 

Performed by a cast of 10, The Siege tells the story of the besieged who, in appalling conditions, face starvation and death. As the world watches, the fighters are faced with the question of whether to struggle to the end or to surrender. But no matter what they choose, they will have to leave their families and their homeland behind forever.

It’s a potent reminder of those grim events and the ongoing Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice. Unsurprisingly, it’s already come under fire from the Daily Mail and the Board of Deputies of British Jews despite its backing from a raft of public and charitable organisations ranging from the EU to Arts Council England. 

In response leading performers have signed a letter of protest, in which they castigate the Mail and its claim that British taxpayers are funding a “pro-terrorist” play. “Neither the Daily Mail nor the Board of Deputies has seen Freedom Theatre’s play The Siege, yet both somehow feel qualified to suggest that it is ‘promoting terrorism’,” they state. 

“Not for the first time, Palestinian voices are in danger of being drowned out by a vociferous pro-Israel lobby that smears all Palestinians as terrorists and anti-semites. 

“This lobby wants us to believe that theatre-goers in the UK cannot be trusted to hear these voices and make their own judgements.”Quite, and yet another reason to attend what promises to be one of the theatre events of the year. 

• Full details of  The Siege tour, which takes in  Salford, Colchester, London, Hastings, Frome, Plymouth, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Glasgow are available at thefreedomtheatreukfriends.com