‘Gas bombs were falling as we rehearsed a play in the West Bank. I said “Can we shut the door at least?”’

Playwright Khawla Ibraheem, who is from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, talks about showing the ‘normal’ side of life under fire in her touring play A Knock on the Roof ‘We are part of a global scene’: Khawla Ibraheem. Photo: Marcus Middleton In 2017, Khawla Ibraheem, a young theatre artist staying in Jerusalem, left the house where she was staying each morning and crossed the bustling Old City to get to El Hakawati, Palestine’s National Theatre. Plays staged there often explore the region’s history, and Ibraheem, who is Syrian-Palestinian, felt a special connection to the venue.

Her arrival there each day also came as a relief, having navigated the Old City. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.