For a year, Ranin Odeh from the Freedom Theatre in Jenin on the West Bank has been planning for the cultural exchange. But this weekend's conversation at the Book Fair had to be held via link, after she was denied a visa to Sweden.
Everyone at the Freedom Theatre wonders, why? Why do they think so badly about me and Palestinian artists? says Ranin Odeh.
The Freedom Theatre has since 2006 functioned as a cultural center in the refugee camp in Jenin, with activities for children and young people. Recently, the theatre was taken over by the Israeli military and forced to close. Nevertheless, the cultural workers are trying to create a new stage in a small venue.
It's such a difficult situation. But we struggle through everything to get out our art and our message. We want imagination and freedom. We want to work with children because they are not doing well here, says Ranin Odeh.
Change thoughts
Recently, tens of thousands of civilians have been forced away by the Israeli military from their homes in the Jenin refugee camp. Ranin Odeh tells that many contact her to help their children – this work is "her life's work".
The children see every day what happens in Gaza, and on the West Bank it's also bad. We can't go anywhere, it's like a prison, she says.
Odeh has just written a play about how a child experiences the mother's situation on the run. She is convinced that culture helps.
We talk about our history and our lives and create performances about it. We want to change how children think and get them to focus on something else. We want them to grow up and think about what they want and what they need in life, see the possibilities.
One minute
For such an isolated people, the cultural exchange is a longed-for dream, according to Ranin Odeh. But she does not understand the reactions of the outside world.
Why do they continue to kill Palestinians? This is my country, and Israel has taken it. I do not understand why the world is silent about Gaza and the West Bank. So many have been killed. Many children, it's so terrible.
Ranin Odeh addresses an appeal to the Swedish audience she is now not allowed to meet:
Can you devote one minute to thinking about us – and our children?
Ranin Odeh is affiliated with the Freedom Theatre in Jenin on the West Bank and has been to Sweden several times to talk about her work.
Odeh's visa application was rejected by the Swedish consulate in Jerusalem. She appealed to the Migration Court, which followed the consulate's line.
The rejections take into account the deteriorated situation on the West Bank, as well as argue that Ranin Odeh, as a single person without children of her own, would have a weaker connection in Jenin.
Ranin Odeh was invited by Unga Klara Theatre in Stockholm. She participates despite the entry ban in the seminar at the Book Fair on Sunday via link.
