RAMALLAH, October 2, 2011 (WAFA) – The body of theatre director, Francois Abu Salem, was found Saturday night near a building under construction in the neighborhood of Tireh in Ramallah.
Police are conducting an investigation, including an autopsy of the body, to determine the cause of death.
Abu Salem, a 60 year old Palestinian who holds French citizenship, recently returned to live in his native city of Jerusalem after years spent in Paris, and continued his theatre work which he began in the seventies.
He is considered one of the leading founders of contemporary Palestinian theatre, having co-founded El-Hakawati Theatre Company, the origin of the Palestinian National Theatre today, in East Jerusalem.
Abu Salem directed theatre plays and movies, adapting plays by international writers, including Dario Fo and Bertolt Brecht, for a Palestinian audience.
He received the Palestine Prize for theatre from then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1998.
F.J.
