Jewish,
Palestinian imaginations make play, circus part of public peace process
15 March 2005
Most
people would say it isn't "play" or "a circus" -- this road
toward a cooperating Middle East community beyond war.
"Not so," would say these Jewish and Arab
youth and their adult mentors.
A play and a circus it is, in part -- the best,
helpful, creative part.
The new part.
More and more, the arts -- theatre, music, poetry,
dance, photography, film, even humor -- are unlocking people's hearts and
minds, helping us desire to connect.
Here are two courageous examples for you:
PLAY
- Peace Child Israel's "Roadblock"
CIRCUS
- The Jerusalem Circus
PLAY
- Peace Child Israel's "Roadblock"
Next Monday evening, March 21, 2005, at 19:30, Arab and Jewish teens will
perform "Roadblock."
The writer-performers are from from
the Maayan-Shacher and Qalansua
High Schools.
The
play opens at a press conference called by the Minister of Education to
announce a new joint Arab and Jewish school.
The
students cope with difficulties of language, cultural differences, and freedom
of speech leading crises and violence between them..
The
roadblock -- the separator between the Palestinian Authority and the State of
Israel -- takes on new meanings for the students.
At
the end, they decide what will become of the "roadblock."
This
premier performance is at Kibbutz Ein HaHoresh on "the old road" between Tel Aviv and
Haifa, turning right at the HaRoe intersection then
continuing three miles just after Kibbutz Givat Chaim.
Peace Child Israel has been a pre-eminent, sustained
relationship-builder among Palestinian and Jewish Israeli youth, after its
founding in 1988 to teach coexistence through theater and the arts.
Palestinian and Jewish Israeli teens model
democratic values and mutual respect to create original dramas about living
side by side.
Their plays, in Arabic and Hebrew, are performed
for family, friends and the larger public.
You must see their Web site at http://www.mideastweb.org/peacechild/
with its stunning photo album, thanks to the generosity and creativity of
Ami Isseroff ( ami-iss@013.net.il ).
There you can listen to "We Brought
Peace" -- PCI's original theme song in streaming audio, and read its
side-by-side Arabic and Hebrew lyrics at::
http://www.mideastweb.org/peacechild/pcsong.html
For more information, you can write to PCI's dedicated
Melisse Lewine-Boskovich,
at MLBAKB@bezeqint.net.
CIRCUS - The
Jerusalem Circus
The Jerusalem Circus Association is dedicated to the development of circus arts as a tool for dialogue and coexistence.
They say: "Learning circus arts can serve as
a fun way for youth from different social and economic backgrounds to come
together and meet in a safe and equal environment. We are committed to teaching
circus arts to young people from all sectors of Israeli society that they may
learn to work together for a common future."
SEE a 2001 MSNBC news video at http://traubman.igc.org/jerusalemcircus.asf
SEE their inspiring videos, photos, and news
reports at http://www.jerusalemcircus.org/
, put on the Web through the creativity of former circus magic instructor
Nathan Livni ( Nathan@jerusalemcircus.org ), now a
teacher in Sacramento, California, USA.
Elisheva Jortner
in Jerusalem can answer your questions in e-mail at
Elisheva@jerusalemcircus.org and ElishevaY@bezeqint.net .
Published
by Middle East Times -- Friday, 11 March 2005
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050311-045712-3061r
Jerusalem Circus symbolizes hope
By
Amelia Thomas
It is 7 pm, and in a long, neon-lit corridor of the
Denmark High School in Jerusalem's poor Katamon
neighborhood, Jamie, an 11-year-old boy, whizzes past on a unicycle. Through a
window to one side, colored clubs cascade into the air; behind them, a small
girl balances gracefully on top of a huge blue ball.
This is the Jerusalem Circus, a collection of around 16
children, aged between seven and 18, and they are hard at work. In the
school's roomy gymnasium, presided over by their expert Ukrainian circus
trainer, Slava, the kids are busy rehearsing for a
new show that will premiere in just three weeks time at this year's Jerusalem
Festival.
Four older boys hone their juggling skills,
while others practice tumbling on thick padded mats. One little girl, perched
high up on a trapeze, flips upside down to run through a series of moves. Older
children help the younger ones and all are laughing and joking with each
other and with their instructors. It is a picture of easy cooperation.
What makes the Jerusalem Circus unique, however, is
what lies behind this apparently effortless teamwork: Roughly half of the
children are Israeli Jews, while the other half are Israeli Arab and
Palestinian Muslim.
And the differences between the children do not end
with nationality. Some of the kids - on both sides - come from extremely
religious, conservative families, while others come from secular, liberal
homes. Some come from privileged backgrounds - their parents being doctors and
university lecturers - while the parents of others struggle to make ends meet.
Many do not even share a common language and a heady mixture of English, Arabic,
Hebrew, Russian and French fills the air.
Despite these differences the kids of the Jerusalem
Circus function as one large 'family', in many cases also bringing their
parents in on the act, to help with costumes, makeup and the all-important piles
of food to feed the hungry performers.
One mother, Annie, stands at the side of the gymnasium
watching the rehearsal in progress. Her eyes shine with delight.
"I'm the mother of the circus' youngest
member," she says proudly, pointing to the little girl balancing on the
ball. "She's now seven, but she first saw a Jerusalem Circus show aged
four, when they performed in Efrata. It was an
amazing feeling to see that you couldn't tell who was a Jew or who was an Arab.
There was no difference - they were just all very talented kids working
together." She turns to Elisheva Jortner, the circus' energetic founder, and the two grin at
each other.
"That show," explains Jortner,
"was in the middle of the intifada. Things were dreadful. People said it
was unrealistic for us to continue with an Israeli-Palestinian circus. There
were attacks happening all over Jerusalem, and people we knew - both Arabs and
Jews - had been killed. And yet," she says, "not one of the kids
missed a single rehearsal".
"And when we performed, the audience was full -
half with Arabs, half with Jews. A busload of people even came from Abu Ghosh [an Arab town near Jerusalem]. I cried the whole way
through," she admits with a smile.
"I can't describe the feeling of hope I got from
that performance," affirms Annie. "The feeling of poetry. The feeling
that everything is possible."
It has not, however, always been an easy ride for
the now five-year-old circus. Directly after the Efrata
show ended, for example, the circus members were informed that yet another
blast had rocked Jerusalem; this time, a relative of one of their members had
been killed.
And sometimes, other problems arise. Two of the core
members of the group, Aron and Moshe, have just
turned 18, and will soon be expected to go to the army. Everyone is unsure as
to how they'll cope. "What if you see me waiting when you're guarding one
of the checkpoints?" asks one Arab girl. "I'll run up and kiss you,
of course!" the soon-to-be soldier replies.
"The trouble with the circus kids," explains
Jortner, "is that they think that everyone's
friends with everyone - just like themselves. But it's not always the
case."
Currently, one of their star performers has been taken
away by her mother, who is citing political reasons for her decision. The girl
herself is devastated; the circus members and parents are desperately trying to
reason with the mother. After all, they say, the circus is nonpolitical:
everyone has an extremely strong sense of their own identity - whether
religious, atheist, Israeli, Palestinian or somewhere in between - but readily
accepts and embraces their cultural and political differences.
Despite the challenges they face, however, the
Jerusalem Circus continues, undaunted. Although they do not receive support
from any government or municipality, they still manage to hold onto an open
policy where everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances, can see or
participate in a show.
Recently their audiences have included underprivileged
bedouin children, battered wives with their children
and the terminally ill - all of whom were able to watch the show
free-of-charge. With the crucial support of the Abraham Fund - a nonprofit
pioneer in Arab-Jewish initiatives - they are just about able to stay on top of
the costs of mounting their performances.
In May of this year the Jerusalem Circus will be
performing in Berlin, in the president's garden as part of a celebration of
Israeli culture.
They are hoping, while there, to reach many of
Berlin's Muslim, Turkish children, to further their message of integration and
hope.
"Our ambition," she says dreamily as the
rehearsal comes to an end and the kids tidy away their equipment into a crammed
cupboard, "is to one day be able to buy our own real circus tent, to stand
in Jerusalem permanently as a symbol of togetherness. To show that circus
can be an alternative weapon, to help people change their minds. The only
problem we'll have then," she smiles, "is what color the tent's
stripes should be".