REPORT: SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom documents systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists, photographers, and artists in December 2025. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate recorded 99 violations across Palestinian territories, with 48 detention cases in the West Bank alone. Named arrests include writer Sari Arabi (Dec 25), Palestine TV reporter Ahmad Shawar and photographer Bashar Nazzal (Dec 4), and comedian Amer Zahr in Nazareth (Dec 27). Israeli police also raided Haifa's Nayruz Music Institute Christmas performance, arresting three participants.
Israeli intelligence forces raided Jerusalem’s Palestinian National Theatre, Al-Hakawati, during the children’s musical “Dreams Under the Olive Trees,” ordering families to evacuate within five minutes. The shutdown of a licensed, internationally funded cultural event has drawn condemnation from theatre groups, human-rights advocates and media outlets, who say it exemplifies the broader repression of Palestinian cultural life and children’s rights in Jerusalem.
Palestinian documentary filmmaker Abdallah Motan has been held in Israeli administrative detention since January 2025 without charges or trial. Known for his internationally recognized work, including Deferred Reclaim, Motan’s detention highlights the suppression of Palestinian cultural voices. Despite international calls for his release and solidarity screenings of his films, his status remains unconfirmed, raising urgent questions about freedom of expression and the rights of artists under occupation
