The many lines of an occupation

Lines on maps representing lines on the ground.  Lines on the ground made real by concrete, wire, cameras, check points and guns.

Monday; three shows and many crossings of these lines.

First show in a kindergarden in Shufat camp – inside East Jerusalem but outside (the Palestinian side) the dividing line.  From the school playground you can see the no mans land where the wall will be constructed.  Once completed it will stop the Israeli headteacher from coming to work.  No one knows what will happen to the school; no one wants to think about what will happen when Shufat is cut off from the rest of the world.

Second show was in Anata a suburb of East Jerusalem behind an already constructed section of the wall.  Along with an Israeli only road the wall surrounds Anata.  We wanted to make a show in the play ground of the local school which was cut in half by the construction of the wall, and was the site of the fatal shooting of a very young local girl by the Israeli Defence Force.  Unfortunately because of high tensions the local council couldn’t guarantee security and we made the show in the community centre a stones throw away.

Third show was in the French Cultural Centre – in East Jerusalem but inside (the Israeli side) of the wall.  Jerusalem used to be the cultural centre of Palestine; now due to constant hassle from the Israeli authorities many people have left for Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron or Jericho.  Now muslim (East) Jerusalem is devoid of cultural activity – once there used to be three cinemas, now there are none.  This lack of entertainment was brought home to us when over two times the expected number of people turned up for our show!

Crowd incursion:

The rest of the week we will be in and around Salfit just North of Ramallah.  We have 9 shows arranged in 9 different locations over 4 days!  Watch this space for more news and stories.

Jenin

Driving north the hills become greener with small crops of trees here and there.  We passed along broken roads and through small villages.  Donkeys and horses shared the highway with ancient vehicles over loaded with people and produce.  The hills in the North of the West Bank are beautiful dressed with the pink of cherry blossom and dark green of olive.  We were heading to Jenin and to work with The Freedom Theatre and a new circus group called Street Circus – 4 days of shows and workshops (Fun with a parachute) - our most extended visit yet.

Jenin is split in two; Jenin city and Jenin camp (dating back to 1953).  The theatre is located in the camp – a network of narrow winding lanes navigating around haphazard concrete houses across the hill side.  Images of young men (either drawn stylized or photos) holding large guns – martyrs – are all most the only images on the streets.  Some are lit up almost as shrines, others are faded posters on shop front shutters.  The imagery is pervasive; for it to be normal is as far alien to me as anything else I have ever seen.  But yet for the residents normal is what the martyr has become.

On a walk into the city centre the martyr images continue, but the roads become worse not better; the telltale marks of tank tracks break and cover the tarmac.  These are the product of an Israeli offensive which turned Jenin into a war zone.  Now taxis and pedestrians have to navigate the terrible road conditions made worse by the winter rain and mud.

During our second night in the camp we were woken by the sound of gun firein the distance.  After a while it came closer and I started to become concerned, then a grenade exploded and I was now fully awake and damn worried.  Gun fire faded into the distance and eventually I fell asleep; my consequent dreams were disturbing.  As this kind of Israeli incursion is fairly common one can only imagine the stress caused to the residents and their children.

3 shows and 5 workshops later, it was our last day in Jenin.  We were in the city centre buy felafels for lunch when we saw a procession coming towards us.  Thankfully it was a joyful (if a little muted) march to celebrate the agreement between Fatah and Hamas in Mecca.  At the front of the procession one man was dancing holding a model of the al-Aqsa mosque.  Not wanting to get caught up in the march we made a quick get away.  Back at the theatre I was checking the internet for news regarding recent developments in Jerusalem and building work near the mosque.  Up appears a picture of the mosque on the screen.  Over my shoulder a couple of kids recognised it and indicated to me that this building was theirs and how important it was to them.  Such is the passions that are being stirred in the Middle East.

Oh little town…

Bethlehem.  Even for those without a Christian upbringing it brings forth images of a rustic birth setting with shepards and kings in attendance.  The reality now, in case you hadn’t guessed, is rather different.  Bethlehem is in Palestine and is the location for a number of refuge camps started in 1948.  Since then the camps have grown and made Bethlehem into a large town, subsumed into the massive Jerusalem conurbation spread across many hills.

Entry to and out of Bethlehem from Israel is regulated with re-entry especially difficult – controlled as it is by turnstiles, x-ray machines and metal detectors.  A inhumane process, and to suffer it very day must be humiliating.  The one of suggestion puts off many tourists on which Bethlehem’s economy used to rest.  Today wandering around Manger square the touts out number the tourists and the fantastic tourist centre looks like a white elephant.

We weren’t there, however, to see the sights; we were there to work with the children of Diesha camp (which number as many as 8,000!).  Diesha camp crowds rough concrete houses up winding lanes paying no heed to the conveniencece of automobiles let alone planning permission.  This was the first time we had visited a camp and the atmosphere is starkly different.  Speaking with the people there is a distinct sense of dislocation and a bitterness of swapping olive groves with the concrete jungle.

Our first show was an interesting one; a combination of our show and the local circus.  In a wind swept playground with looming skies, it was chaotic but full of fun and energy.  Th crowd tripled in size during the performance and only the bitter cold could stop the show from going on and on, such was the enthusiasm of the local circus.

The next day we went to a community centre funded by Germany (all facilities and amenities are funded by one country or the other) on the top of the hill.  Waiting for us were a bunch of special needs kids.  Th show we did was punctuated with spontaneous crowd participation.  At one point, where I drop the juggling knives (one purpose I must add), a boy jumped up and, as quick as a flash, grabbed a knife, swinging for my knee before Sheila could come to the rescue.  Afterwards we had a very enthusiastic games session with a parachute and ball games.  Then lunch and time to teach juggling to the young people who help in the centre, followed by another show to 50 local kids.  Best day yet

——————————————————-

Half way through.  Time for a short break, time for the Dead Sea, time for some luck.  Or was it?

Finding nowhere suitable to stay (full or hideously overpriced) I was heading to sleep on the beach, when a car stopped and a young lady leaned out and invited me to stay in her flat while she was away for the weekend!  Turns out she was mad about the circus and seeing my juggling clubs strapped to my bag, she opened her house to me.  What trust, what kindness.  Quiet typical for the Israeli’s I have had the pleasure to meet on this trip.

Time to swim in waterfall pools, time to swim (float) in the Dead Sea (very oily and decidedly weird) and time to lounge in natural hot springs.  Lovely.

Next day, I did what I love best; I climbed a mountain.  From 400 metres below sea level (the dead sea) to 300 above. From that vantage point you could see the desert plateux with it’s undulating scene.  Warm weather and sun seeking.  2 hours up the road and it is bitterly cold and raining in Jerusalem.

Onwards to Nablus and Jenin.

Cross cultural circus and avoiding the draft

Heading north we found ourselves in rural Israel: cow land.  Located in a village built on Kibbutz principals is the Israeli Circus School by the Australian David Berry.  Based in an old cinema the school has great facilities with a huge stage, aerial rig, trampoline and tight rope.  We were visiting to thank David for his formal invite for the circus to visit Israel and to see what cross cultural projects they have been working on.

Working in the arts in Israel is not easy; there is chronic underfunding.  50% of the school’s income is from its services and 50% comes from overseas funding.  This story of lack of state funding was repeated when we visited the Lajun Theatre in Narazeth.  The theatre was set up to perform Arabic cultural shows in bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) medium.  They take these shows to Jewish schools in the area to foster cross cultural understanding and appreciation.  Its such a shame that the Israeli state dosn’t appreciate the true value of such work.

During our time at the circus we got to know some of the pupils and teachers.  As young people high in their minds is military service; either impending draft, friends serving or their own experiences.  Although it is a requirement it is possible to avoid joining and completing social service instead.  This is done by claiming to be ‘crazy’ – or in other words a pacifist.  Twenty years ago it wasn’t so easy; I met someone who attempted suicide outside Jerusalem hospital to avoid the draft.  Avoiding the draft isn’t without it’s drawbacks; working for the civil service is impossible and it is likely that employment in many nationalist organisations will be closed to you.  There is also the issue of peer pressure – as one girl who was considering her options put it: ‘but all my friends are going.  If I don’t go I won’t be with them.’  There is certainly a lot of pressure on very young (18 when they join) Israeli Jews to conform, and once they have, the military have 3 years to indoctrinate them into ‘proper’ Israeli citizens.  However there is no compulsion for Israeli Christians or Muslims to join the military; building a religious divide within the nation and the military.

Perversely it is compulsary for Israeli Druze to join the military, which leads to its own tensions between religious communities.  Some say this was borne from the Druze community as seeing the new Israeli state as a salvation from Muslim oppression.  However nowadays, perhaps from the realisation that the Israeli state is not treating them equally, as many as 30-40% avoid the draft.  One project that the Circus school has done in cross cultural work was creating a performance of Aladdin with a Druze community circus in Maghar.  It was a trilingual show with performers from the Jewish and Druze communities.  Circus is a great means to develop high level trust; something much needed in a country where there is much inter community distrust.

We went to visit Maghar to work with their cirucs and put on a show.  It was fantastic to have extended time working with a small group of very enthusiastic and talented young people.  We worked on a number of theatre games and worked on circus skills.  There is certainly a lot of potential here and I can’t wait to return to see have far they have developed.  Yet again we were hosted with great kindness and warmth by Adnan and his family; we are all putting on weight with th quantity and quality of food provided.

The forgotten village of Kiwana

Just outside Hebron there is a tiny forgotten village off the main road and up a dirt track.  Suzana arranged for us to visit there to put on a show and play with the kids.  So setting off early in the morning we cross the Israeli check point into the West Bank and Palestine proper.  Tailing back the other way were a queue of cars, bus, vans and trucks waiting for the say so of the Israeli army to enter East Jerusalem.  We entered an area of hills dotted with rocks and olive trees between which small boys drove goats.  Up and down the countryside we went, passing King Herod’s summer palace high on a hill; you can’t go too far without stumbling over a historical site.

From Hebron we had to pass two more Israeli army checkpoints and made several phone calls for instructions before we finally arrived at the village – to be greeted by 80 children from the village.  The conditions there were extremely basic with erratic water supply and electricity from a generator.  However on the hill side over looking the village you could see Settler compounds.  20 children from the school live outside the village in caves a few kilometers away passed the Settlement.  Each day these children have to be escorted by the the Israeli army because of the risk of attack from the Settlers.

We did the show which was a load of fun with plenty of heckling and laughter from the children.  And we set about trying to organise some games for them to play when two Israeli humvees drove through the village.  Suddenly the spell was broken and tension and stress could be seen on the children’s faces.

There is no peace for the people of this village; the more outspoken of the villagers claim to be hassled day and night.  This has not escaped the notice of the Israeli and international peace community.  Our show was organised by an Israeli group of peace activists who also arrange for Internationals to stay in the village to observe any human rights issues from the Settlers and Israeli Army.

As we were leaving we asked to use the toilet and we were taken to the home of one of the children.  And despite their poverty (they had no furniture) we couldn’t leave without a cup of tea and plenty of warm smiles.  Annie and Kiwana local

East Jerusalem – The Wall and the tails of two schools, but the same story

Jerusalem is an unequally divided city – West and East. The West is controlled by the Israeli authorities – it is historical, prosperous, full of amenities, but tense. The East is neither under Israeli or Palestinian authority; it is effectively left to rot. Rather it is controlled by the Israeli army – restricting entry and exit, populated by Palestinians. For most it is an open prison dominated by The Wall, which snakes across the landscape.

We first see The Wall walking down the East Jerusalem suburb of Bethany’s main street which has been renamed by locals as ‘The Road to Nowhere’. So called because it cuts across it, stopping traffic and trade. Now a detour of 50 minutes (dependant on favourable check point conditions) for a journey that use to take 2 minutes. It separates families, communities and lives. It stops access to shops, hospitals, education, clubs, religious sites, cinemas and culture.

We took the opportunity by the wall to make our mark of dissent using the artistic tool of the weak – the spray can. The Wall and The Circus Many thousands will use this huge canvas to vent their anger until it will eventually fall. It was very eerie to hear street life coming through the cracks of the walls.

The Wall is omnipresent in East Jerusalem – it is visible from our host Suzana I. Zorko’s house A view of The Wall (her organisation is called Children of Bethany). As is land which has been cleared of houses to make way for the monstrous progress of The Wall. Suzana and her family have been fantastic to us – welcoming us into their home with such kindness and warmth. I for one will be sad to leave. Suzana has been arranging shows and workshops for us this week and we hope to work with her again before we leave.

Our first ever show was on the 15th Jan at an all boys school. It was a poor school with only limited facilities and resources. As we pulled up in the van a hoard of excited boys greated us with whoops and cheers. Our copious luggage was carried by many small hands. As the boys lined up on one side of the playground and we prepared on the other we realised it would be a tough audience.

Afterwards the boys crowed round and we showed them some tricks and they, in return, showed us theirs. One boy walked on his hands for 20 seconds. The boys obviously enjoyed the show, as it is uncommon for them to see strangers – let alone strange strangers doing magic, juggling and comedy. It is difficult to comprehend how disadvantaged these boys our by being limited to their ghetto home.

The next day we visited a girl’s othordox Russian school. They were a much more receptive audiece and the rough edges of our show had been smoothed. It was a good school with high fees, but despite their relative affluence the disadvantages of lack of opportunities and opportunities are the same. The girls see little more than their school and home; even the rough streets of their Bethany are off limits. We are a breath of fresh air and some fun to lift the stress of their daily lives.

Dahab to Jerusalem

Takes 15 hours.  That is if you have about 150kg of luggage for 5 people, get stuck at the border for 5 hours going through security,  and miss you direct bus.  But hey ho.  We got here; tired, sore but excited.

The first Israeli I met was certainly an interesting one – a music producer and part time Shaman.  He certainly was a mine of esoteric knowledge.  He did, however, tell me about an interesting new psychiatric syndrome – Jerusalem syndrome.  Apparently tourists arrive in Jerusalem and are overwhelmed by the holiness of the place and find that they are incapable of leaving.  They spend their time on the streets or in cheap hostals praying and/or preaching.  He did suggest that if you had a well developed sense of humour your pretty immune – so that has us clowns covered then. honk honk.

 Walking around the old city the past catches up and over takes you.  Wandering through narrow covered markets an array of produce is on offer – assaulting you eyes (bright kitche and brighter sweets), your ears (vegetable vendors shouting their wares) and nose (spices, kebabs, sheshas, drains galore).  Not to mention religious paraphernalia, materials, electrical goods and the ilke.  Everywhere you turn there is either a religious site, and Jews, Christians and Muslims intermingle.  However ever present is (in)security – barbed wire, metal detectors (to get the the Western ‘Wailing’ Wall) and the guns of the security forces.  Just now on the way to the internet cafe I saw a young boy with fake gun in hand pretending to shoot shop keepers – the suggestion of potential violence is never far away.

Tomorrow is our first show in the West Bank.  Time enough to go over the running order, work out workshops for the children and calm last minute nerves.  Now the work, and fun, start. 

Project Circus2Palestine is (almost) underway

I’ve landed comfortably in Egypt – Dahab, Sinai to be precise.  The plan is to chill and wait here for the other members of the circus to arrive.  Its a chance for me to wind down after a hectic festive season.  To work on some skills for the show and to prepare for the forthcoming tour.

I only just managed to meet British Ariway’s luggage limit (no chance for an increase – thanks a lot you misely BA) what with my performing equipment and stuff for the kids.  Oddballs in Camden were fantastic and donated:

22 juggling balls
6 juggling clubs
6 juggling rings
2 frisbees
1 flowerstick
1 go-pedal
2 spinning plates
4 diabolos
5 sets of poi

So many thanks to Nathan for sorting that out for me.  Also Angie made me up 10 colourful hula-hoops to spread the hula craze to Palestine as well.

Excitement is building and its hard for me not to go around telling everybody what I’m upto.  But I must take things one at a time and enjoy this opportunity for winter sun and little chats with Egyptians – it is my first time here after all.  Dahab must be one of the most touristy places I’ve ever been, but they do it nicely with a very pleasant walk way along the coast, plenty of comfortable restaurants and bars and not too much blarring music.  But its difficult to escape the fact that most people come here for the diving, not the Egyptian culture.

Footage from India

I wanted to test out my new computer (a marvelous MacBook) so I threw this video together of Jonny and I at the source of the Ganges

Research moves to foreign fields

The mammoth task that is writing a business plan still continues, but on the horizon are more exciting subjects. But let me please first linger on the business plan, because it is so vital to Performers Without Borders’ (PWB) success. Basically, we have decided that we don’t want to be a charity; the bureaucracy can be stifling to innovation and making clear, quick decisions. Rather we want to be, using the current political buzz word, a social enterprise. This means, however, to ensure that the integrity of the project continues we need to draft our governing document carefully to ensure the stakeholders (those who we want to help and those who want to help us) get the maximum benefit. For example, a social enterprise invests all profit back in the community. But all this needs to be done in legal talk, its therefore hard to get advice. However I’m meeting a top consultant soon who should be able to point me in the right direction. So back to the exciting stuff…

On the 11th of December Jonny flies out to India to visit potential communities for our forthcoming project. For two months he’ll be riding one of the world’s largest and busiest rail networks taking journeys of up to 40 hours in cramped dirty conditions, eating greasy train food. So I wouldn’t feel too jealous that he is missing the worst of the London winter and replacing it with the majestic scenery and glorious colours of the Indian countryside. And, and, he’ll probably be the first proper juggler the kids will have seen – a fantastic thing. His work is really important because it is decides who needs the most help and who we can help the best. So hopefully he’ll send some updates and I can let you know.

But I can’t be too jealous of Jonny cause I’m going to Palestine in January! Its a real shock for me as I thought I’d never go, then two weeks ago I meet Ruth from Circus2Iraq. She talked about their latest project in Palestine and said ‘why don’t you come?’ That little sentence played on my mind, sure it would be fantastic to spread a little fun and laughter in the troubled land but what about PWB? Until I realised the value of me working teaching kids in Palestine to the success of PWB – to make the work of PWB the best we can. It seemed to fit perfectly with The Plan, and the question was now ‘why shouldn’t I go?’