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Valantina Abu Oqsa is a Palestinian actress, theater director, poet and playwright.
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Early life
She was born in Ma'lea village, in the Upper Galilee, north of Palestine, on December 3, 1967. She lives in Haifa with her husband and children.
Career
Valantina is a member of the Managing Committee of the Tenth International Women Playwrights Conference (WPIC) in Cape Town. In 1986, she started her career in theater with Al Hakawati theater Group in Jerusalem after a year and a half of studying theater in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. At the theater, she is an editor, writer, director and producer. She participated in theatrical productions in Palestine, and performed in many cities in Europe, the United States and Arab countries, in several languages. She is one of the co-founders of the Palestinian theater League in Jerusalem.
On April 9, 2002, during the Battle of Jenin, a group of Palestinian activists tried to deliver supplies and medicine to the Jenin Refugee Camp. Valantina was among them and was shot in the left arm by an Israeli soldier, and as a result completely lost the use of her left elbow. She became known as the "Struggler artist" to Palestinians.
Actress
Writer and director
Theater festivals
Poetry
Valantina has written poetry since 1981. Her first poem was published in 1984, in Al Etihad. She had ten of her poems published in various Palestinian newspapers and in 1999 she published her first poetry book, فالنتينا أبو عُقصة.