Theaterhaus Schauspiel: Ich werde nicht hassen/I shall not hate

In the organizer's words:

"It's time we sat down and finally talked to each other" is one of the key sentences in the play "I will not hate" by Izzeldin Abuelaish. With the revival of this production, which premiered at the Theaterhaus in 2014, we are trying to do our part to live up to this.

The suffering of people on both sides makes us look towards the Middle East with horror. We strongly condemn Hamas' barbaric attack on Israel. There is also no place in our society for any form of anti-Semitism. And yet the victims of the conflict on both sides are people who are suffering from the consequences of terror and the ensuing war. Therefore, only humanism can be the guiding principle for settling the conflict. And as the Israeli author Hagai Dagan wrote in the taz newspaper on March 13: "The order of the day is to swallow the tears, to proceed intelligently, rationally, decisively and with a cool head." This urgent appeal is directed at all those involved in this bloody conflict.

"I will not hate," says Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish. After three of his daughters and his niece were killed by an Israeli attack in Gaza in 2009.

"On January 16, 2009 at 4:45 p.m., Israeli tank shells were fired into my daughters' bedroom," says the Palestinian gynecologist. "Bessan, Aya and Mayar were killed instantly, along with their cousin Noor. Because the Israeli military had banned journalists from entering Gaza, I gave a telephone interview to an Israeli TV reporter every day. Minutes after the attack, I called him at the station and he broadcast our phone call. The news went around the world in a flash."

Izzeldin Abuelaish talks about everyday life in Gaza, about waiting at the Israeli checkpoints, about family life between hope and despair and about the deadly attack. But above all, he fights tirelessly for understanding and reconciliation with Israel: "Hatred makes you blind and leads to irrational thinking and behavior. Peace is humanity. Peace means respect. Peace is an open dialog. More necessary today than ever."

Ernst Konarek's production was awarded the Monica Bleibtreu Prize in the "Best Contemporary Drama" category at the 5th Hamburg Private Theater Festival in 2015.

Izzeldin Abuelaish was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, 2011 and 2013.


It plays: Mohammad-Ali Behboudi as Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish

Director: Ernst Konarek
Costume design: Gudrun Schretzmeier
Dramaturgy: Silvia Armbruster
Video: Peter Schmidt Peter Schmidt
Assistant director: Brigitte Luik
Assistant set designer: David Fitzgerald
Set construction: Marc Dobmaier, Max Hochreiter
Technology: Martin Hartnagel, Gunnar Hälsig Costume design: Christin Lange
Performance rights: Felix Bloch Erben GmbH & Co. KG Berlin

Price information:

Advance booking: 20,- / reduced: 15,- €