Turkish theater group highlights Palestinian suffering with village tour play

By Suat Ozturk

ELAZIG, Türkiye (AA) - A theater group of young performers in eastern Türkiye is traveling to villages and neighborhoods to perform a 20-minute play depicting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

The performers from Elazig province produced “Occupation" to draw attention to Israeli attacks and raise awareness about the suffering of Palestinians.

The 11th venue of the play was the village of Kuyulu, where Mahmut Yildirim, the head of the workshop, told Anadolu that the group is trying to depict Israeli oppression through theater.

“We do not want the children, the elderly, and the women there to be oppressed. We thought about what we could do, and we prepared a theater play,” said Yildirim. “As theater performers, we are portraying what is happening in Gaza through the art we know best. Everyone should do what they can on this issue. We tried to show how innocent people, mothers, fathers, and children are suffering. We received positive feedback everywhere we went, and we will continue to address these issues.”

Can Enis Deniz, a performer in “Occupation," said everyone is aware of the suffering of the Palestinians, but the workshop wants to raise further awareness.

“We are trying to make people feel what is happening there. People in the city can access this kind of information more easily. Therefore, we are trying to reach the people in the villages.”

Damla Ates, a 30-year-old resident of the village, said the genocide happening in Palestine must be stopped.

“We hear that children and women are being killed in Palestine. These things are constantly shared, but having the theater performers come and make us feel those emotions affected us deeply,” said Ates. “One must not remain silent in a world where children are being killed. We were deeply moved by the theater. From now on, we will not buy products sold by Israel.”

Pinar Ates, a 41-year-old mother of two, said the play depicted the suffering of children in Israel’s attacks, expressing a desire for the oppression to end.

Israel has continued a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 39,100 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,200 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.