Abdulrahman Asad Thaher, (, romanized: ÿAbd al-RaḥmÃÂn áºÂÃÂhir; born 31 December 1982) is a Palestinian-Jordanian actor, director, satirical screenwriter, journalist and human rights defender.
Abdulrahman Thaher was born in 1982 in the United Arab Emirates to a Palestinian family originally from Nablus, located in the northern West Bank of Palestine.
He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in 2007 at An-Najah National University and completed his studies in directing and acting. He has also written, directed, and performed in Fenjan Albalad, Sukaj, and In the Presence of Justice, which are known for their black comedy style.
Thaher has been the Production Department Manager at Wattan TV, Director of International Production at the Media Center of An-Najah National University, and Senior Producer at Smalink Media Production Company in Beirut. Thaher has produced television programs for Jordan's Roya TV and Al Araby Television Network in London.
He has faced prosecution and arrests.
Numerous Palestinian activists, human rights defenders, and journalists held protests against the Palestinian Authority's arrest of Thaher in August and September 2020. They demonstrated against the poor conditions of his detention and his declining health, gathering outside the court in Nablus and the Palestinian Prime Minister's office in Ramallah. Thaher's arrest sparked widespread discussion on social media and in Palestinian, Arab, and international media. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and various international human rights groups monitored the situation. At that time, the Palestinian Authority faced accusations of infringing on freedom of expression and fabricating charges against political activists and journalists. This pressure led to Thaher's conditional release in September 2020, but his trial continued under the Cybercrime Law.
In January 2022, a Nablus court sentenced Thaher to three months in prison for defaming the Palestinian Authority. The ruling sparked strong reactions from journalists and activists, leading to the intervention of international human rights organizations. They urged the Palestinian Authority to protect Thaher and other journalists, and called for an end to violations against the political opposition. As a result, the sentence was suspended while Thaher's legal team appealed the decision. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal ruled in Thaher's favor, acquitting him of all charges after two years of trials.
In October 2020, just a few weeks after Thaher was released from Palestinian Authority prisons, the IDF arrested him at his home in Nablus. They questioned him about his television work outside of Palestine. A month later, an Israeli court ruled to release him.
Thaher has produced and directed TV series and programs characterized by black comedy. Below is a list of Abdulrahman Thaher's most known works: