Jerusalem in the Modern Arab Theatre “Selected Models”

Abstract

This paper aims at introducing a reading in selected models of the Modern Arab Theatre, which tackled the city of Jerusalem in the past and present. The selected models are namely: "Martyrdom on the Al-Aqsa Gates” by the Iraqi author Qasem Mohammed, “The Way to Holy Jerusalem” by the Jordanian author Ibrahim Al Sa’afeen, and “without an Address” by the Jordanian author Mufleh Al Adwan. The focus comes to reiterate the value of the city and Al Aqsa Mosque historically and symbolically and its status for Arabs and Muslims. It also sheds light on how playwrights are affected by the suffering of Jerusalem and its people, and how keen they are to appropriate their plays to the painful reality and the harsh calamities that hit Jerusalem in implicature sometimes and explicitly at other times. The reason is that they seek the utilization of inspiring words aiming at the termination of the occupation of Jerusalem and liberating it.