Clowning around in Nablus, Spanish group hopes to bring joy (Feature)

By Jeff Abramowitz and Laura Villena Diaz Nov 26, 2010, 2:06 GMT

Nablus, West Bank - Palestinians in the West Bank often do not have much to laugh about, but that will change if three Spanish clowns have their way.

Assisted by an organizer and a cameraman, Oscar, Javi and Ale are running a workshop in Nablus, the spearhead of four set to be held in the Palestinian territories between 2010 and 2011.

With Palestinian children, youth and women, they intend laying the groundwork for the 'big event' - The 2011 Palestinian Clown Festival.

The workshops are organised by the Galacian 'Pallasos en rebelda' (Clowns in Rebellion) organization, and workshops deal with clowning, juggling and laughter therapy.

'The clown is a figure open to everything. It is the symbol of the person that is always good because he is accepting what is happening. Sometimes he is serious or disappointed but he is not ashamed of showing his frustrations and in the end he overcomes them,' Oscar says.

Each workshop teaches agility, rhythm, coordination and communication skills. Games and songs accompanied by phrases invented on the fly, create an atmosphere only for clowns.

Palestinian tradition does however complicate some of the proceedings. In the dance movement exercises at the Nablus workshop, the 20-strong group, aged 18-23 years, separated automatically into men and women. The women said they could not dance with the men, and asked that the game be changed.

At the end of the exercise, the participants receive a red clown nose which they need to use in an 'eye communication' exercise, creating a link with another person through a look.

'The magic is in the look. In learning to communicate what we feel and creating a link with other people using our eyes,' Oscar says, aware that many of the participants have communication problems.

'What we saw in the workshops is that the Palestinian society is under big repression and that the children suffer from a lack of affection,' say Javi and Ale.

'People here have children because they are in a demographic war with Israel but then the families do not give the children the attention that they need. We have found children and youths who do not have, and do not know, joy.'

'Children in the old city of Nablus suffer from traumas because of the Israeli occupation,' psychologist Ali Nobami says.

'Some of them have nightmares remembering the Israeli incursions in their houses during the night. Others saw their parents die with their own eyes. Most of them live in a tense and difficult atmosphere and end up developing aggressive behaviour and social problems.'

'These kind of workshops fill them with energy and give them back the joy. What we see afterwards is a different attitude, the children and the youth are more social and active in the society,' he notes.

'I been doing the same thing every day for 20 years and and went months without laughing,' a Palestinian woman exclaims, still excited after a workshop.

Others approach the workshop with a depressing degree of realism.

Javi recounts how a child in Silwan, East Jerusalem, replied 'sad' when asked how he was.

'Today we'll laugh,' Javi said.

'Yes,' replied the child. 'but tomorrow I'll be sad again.'

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