How Clowns Came to Make the Kids Laugh in Palestine
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
The experience of being in Palestine and playing for the audience of all ages, was beautiful, touching and at times a revelation. Our expedition from Clowns in Rebeldia, organized by Ivan Prado, had around 12 groups from Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Scotland, mostly solo performers or duos (including among others David Cebrian, Mandarinaclown,and Pablo Munoz). We were sent out to various situations – hospitals, street, culture centres, young and old people’s homes. I was partnered with an Argentino magician-clown, Marcelo Gonzales, who lives in Barcelona. In general the situation there is one of extreme poverty and the people ‘second class’ citizens. Not only from lack of money and facilities, but almost every single person in Palestine has lost someone dear from their family and indeed some have even lost all of their relatives. The reaction to the arrival of clowns therefore is one of immense joy. The longing to laugh, to release the smile, to see someone else in pain and chaos ( as the clown inevitably is) must have been an welcome relief for such traumatized kids .
On one session I made a journey with some local kids dressed as my security man character which I thought might be the wrong character to visit a village hoping to hustle an audience, since they are often invaded by uniformed soldiers…but the reaction was the opposite: adults came running out of shops , some in awe, grinning and shouting to see this new arrival of ridicule. Kids arrived from all corners running and continued to circulate and crowd me: little girls in rags, dangling babies off their arm, older brothers arm in arm with friends, the younger ones dirty and flashing toothless grins lingering behind. That day I picked up a following of some fifty kids and like the Pied Piper marched to the awaiting stage in a garden of a culture club. Smiles everywhere greeted us in each venue and an infectious joy spread through villages, the crumples of shacks or the bomb sites, wherever it was, the Palestinians so happy and proud that we had been imported for THEM to laugh at.
The shows were sometimes chaotic as often happens when kids are desperate to have things that they just don’t have access to – balloons, costumes, funny props, musical instruments and so on. Also the survival of the fittest is the norm, the ones who learned to be assertive often get away with it, and the quieter, more timid of them missing out. (In Chapas, Mexico any gifts to the Indigenous community is taken by the Head man and then distributed evenly so that every child is guaranteed a toy or a present. Here in Palestine it was first come first serve) The amount of want and need in Palestine is overwhelming and a few things of mine of course went missing as can happen anywhere.
At times some of the performers reported a punch or a kick aimed at them by one or two of the kids. Some angry revenge maybe for the clowns not being here before or just a sad traumatic release…) I personally didn’t experience this but the years of hurt and pain inflicted on these kids can be seen in every eye, the readiness for unwelcome visitor (like the Israeli soldiers) evident in their alertness to sound.
Jerusalem is a mix of contradictions and confusions. Not the most easy of places to feel at home. The shows went well, especially in Bethlehem. Christian Palestine is also under duress not only Muslim I discovered. Crossing Israeli checkpoints to get there is an often an alienating experience. I personally saw no evidence of so called Palestinian terrorist activity, the only weaponry I saw in Palestine was of plastic in toy shops or on posters of Palestinian ‘martyrs’…. indeed the biggest threat for me was the sinister presence at such checkpoints of Israeli soldiers with state of the art automatic weapons, fingers trickily nervous on the triggers, and even more so when those army agents board a bus to harrass any Palestinian traveler. Interestingly enough those army agents of the Israeli military (that I witnessed) were pretty and sexy Israeli women whose age could not have been more than 20. Was this another bizarre way of disempowering Muslim men I wonder? It sure seemed that way to me.
The experience in Nablus was the most profound. There we were based at the Human Supporters Association – under the director Wajdi Yaeesh, an eloquent and highly educated mentor for a wonderful crew of many dedicated youth volunteers. Wajdi was our festival co-ordinator in Nablus, and worked overtime to ensure all the places were well organised and that we were always in safety. There, after the shows, we presented workshops, ate huge dinners, danced and sang Palestinian songs, watched their sketches in process and made many new friends. (see the video here here)
Video from Ernest Pancho
The first morning in Nablus they gave us a tour of the events and tragedies of their experiences with their guardians, the Israelis. Some of the stories were horrendous – midnight raids in Nablus occur sometimes with shooting in the air, sometimes with a casualty. Tales of mortally wounded children being refused paramedic aid are abundant, and the Israelis even poisoned the city water system a few years back. Every family has a someone if not many missing from their lives due to the first or second intifada or the occupation.
In general the Palestinian race I found to be soft and loving beings with a creativity and industry that is far removed from their reputation of being wild animals on the prowl, explosives strapped to their chests.
I also found them to be extremely optimistic, happily generous and full of the verve and joie de vivre that I found to be remarkable for the torture and insult which is inflicted on them day by day. Performing for them was an experience that was intense (especially for the hospital clowns), exhausting and saddening. A terrible example of human injustice. Clowns and the love they carry are vital to their continuing cause of freedom. I heartily recommend every clown to visit and perform there as the clown/street artist will find himself fully appreciated in every way possible.
The world needs empowering, its children especially. Empower Network is making strides in the business world which are different. Empowering people Clowns empower too. Watch the video below and see if you like the idea of blogging – I think it’s great!! Blogging for change….
Photos by Carlos Cazurro & AZza Aizayed