This blog chronicles my six week stay in Bethlehem in the Palestinian West Bank.   As part of my sabbatical, I am working with the faculty and students at Dar al-Kalima College, a new two-year Christian institution focusing on training in the arts, multimedia, communication, and tourism.  I am not teaching any classes, but I am helping students with their English, advising the English faculty, editing documents in English, and doing whatever else is needed.

Dar al-Kalima is part of a larger organization called the International Center of Bethlehem (ICB), an ecumenical institution rooted in the Lutheran tradition.  The ICB focuses on children, youth, and women.  It has built a school, a Health and Wellness Center, and now a college.

Dear readers, in case you weren’t paying attention, I did say ICB is a Lutheran organization, even though it is located in Palestine.  Everybody knows that Palestine is an Arab region and Arabs are all Muslims, right?  What are Lutherans doing in the middle of Palestine? Perhaps more important, what kind of hot dishes can they make in Palestine?  Do they combine falafels with Campbell’s mushroom soup and throw in some hummus for good measure?

I admit I was a little startled when I first heard about Palestinian Lutherans, and not only because the idea of a falafel hot dish sounds dreadful.  (It is always startling when the little boxes in my head that categorize the world neatly get upset.)  They first came to my attention a few years ago when Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima, spoke to students and faculty at Concordia University - St. Paul, about the history and identity of Palestinian Christians.  He explores these ideas more fully in his book I Am A Palestinian Christian (Augburg Fortress Publishers, 1995), which I highly recommend.

Palestinian Christianity dates all the way back to the founding of Christianity in the first century.  Most Palestinian Christians are not converts from Islam, but remnants from the ancient Christian community which became the dominant religion in Palestine by the fourth century.  These Palestinians have remained in the area and in their faith despite thirteen centuries of Islamic rule and fifty years of Israeli rule.  A variety of Christian denominations co-exist in this area, included Greek Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Coptic Orthdox, Syrian  Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and a number of Protestant denominations.  The Protestant denominations are an outgrowth of missionary efforts in the 19^th century, including German Lutheran missions. Today, Christians are a small minority in Palestine, maybe 4% of the population.  Their numbers have been declining rapidly over the past few decades because of the difficulties of living under Israeli occupation.

Rev. Raheb is the pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.  This church was started in 1854 by German missionaries.  Today, it is one of the six Lutheran Churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Palestine.  The congregation has about 200 Palestinian Christian members, as well as a smattering of international members.  I attended their services this past Sunday.  The church, built in 1886-1893, is beautiful. The inside of it feels bright and airy because of the light-colored stone walls, high arched ceilings, and stained glass windows (complete with renditions of German-looking Biblical figures.)  The service followed the standard Lutheran liturgy but, not surprisingly, was conducted in Arabic.  Christmas Lutheran is used to receiving international visitors, though, and they provided a bulletin in English so that we foreigners could know what was going on.  (When I entered the church, I saw a blond woman in the front pew who looked like she could be from Minnesota.  I talked to her later at the coffee hour and it turns out she was in fact from Minnesota. They are everywhere!)

I am happy to note that Rev. Raheb recently won a prestigious German Media award for his peace-making efforts in Israel-Palestine.  I was told that this award usually goes to heads of state and is quite an honor.  I copied the following excerpt from an ELCA blog:

http://blogs.elca.org/peacenotwalls/post/pastor-mitri-raheb-receives-german-media-award-we-need-bridges-not-walls-25

Pastor Mitri Raheb receives German media award: “We need bridges not walls”

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Julie Brenton Rowe

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ELCJHL Pastor Mitri Raheb, Director of DIYAR Consortium, was recently awarded the 2011 “Deutscher Medienpreis” (German Media Prize) for his organizations' efforts for peace.

The Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of Bethlehem’s Christmas Lutheran Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), received the 2011 “Deutscher Medienpreis” (German Media Prize) to recognize his individual and the Palestinian Lutheran church’s peace efforts. Pastor Raheb is also Director of DIYAR Consortium, which operates an international cultural center, a health and wellness center and a college. He is among four recipients of the prestigious prize to be awarded in Baden-Baden, Germany.

In his speech receiving the award, Pastor Raheb said:

We said, firstly, that the Holy land does not need walls but bridges. That is why we called our centre “Dar annadwa”, Centre for International Encounter. Martin Buber, the Jewish philosopher, whose thinking is very significant for me, was right when he wrote, “All true life is encounter.” The “thou” of the other person gets a face and a name through encounter. Dialogue can only be true dialogue if it is a dialogue between people with equal rights, if the “thou” and the “I” stand face to face. If each person can have their narrative, their history and identity, but also listen to the narratives of the others. A monopoly of truth, of certainty or the role of the victim are not part of genuine dialogue.

Then we said we must not just become peace chatterers. In a context where so many destructive factors are created every day and, at the same time, there is constant talk about peace processes, we must work continuously to create spaces for life: spaces where people can breathe, where children in refugee camps can make music; where women from distant villages can learn a profession in artistic handwork; where Christian and Muslim children attend school together, where young men who cannot find jobs on the labour market receive further training; where people in leadership receive political education; where young Palestinian women play football and compete at the world level, where senior citizens can lead a life in fullness and where Jewish and Palestinian academics and activists together seek a better future. What we put into practice with them is the belief that the sky and not the wall should be the limit of our thinking and creativity. That may sound good but in our region (and not only there) it is very dangerous. It is dangerous to think; demands for freedom of opinion are not welcome and challenging myths frequently costs one one’s life. But life is only genuine if it is lived in freedom.

--March 20, 2012

Start Clowning Around!

***Note:   When I refer to people I meet here, I will not use their real names, as a general rule, in order to protect their privacy.  However, I make exceptions for prominent figures such as Mitri Raheb.***

Last week, I meant a Theatre Instructor I will call Ahmed.   We chatted for a while about the state of theatre in the Bethlehem area.  He said that in the past few years there has been a burgeoning in the arts scene.  The area now has four theatres for a population of about 70,000.  More significant is that people are starting to see that theatre can be more than simple entertainment; it can be a non-violent means of resistance to the Israeli occupation.  That is one of Ahmed’s goals in teaching students in Dar al-Kalima’s theatre program; rather than turning to violence out of despair, he wants young people to use artistic expression instead.

He told me that around twenty years ago, during the Intifada, he dressed up as clown to entertain the children after a night of violence.  He wanted to help keep their spirits up during a dreadful period. Although the children enjoyed it, the adults in general did not approve.  They thought it was not right to be “clowning around” when the political situation was so grave.  Ahmed believed, that it was precisely because of the political situation that clowning was needed.

He told me that people are slowly coming around now, though, to the belief in the power of the arts for transformation, for enlightenment, and for keeping one’s humanity intact in the midst of darkness.  On the other hand, he said that in some ways, the Palestinian situation is worse than 20 years ago.  He believes that people’s religious beliefs have hardened and become more fundamentalist and intolerant—for both Christians and Muslims.  He tries as a teacher to help open students’ minds to seeing other perspectives besides their own, but it can be a challenge.  Sometimes art can do this when overt religious and political rhetoric cannot.

I was curious about the role of clowning in Palestinian Resistance, so I did some googling.  I found this article below.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/20/palestinian_clowns_are_everywhere/

From: Coffee House

Palestinian clowns are everywhere

By Sam Bahour - December 20, 2011, 3:12PM

Some Palestinians refuse to just sit still and accept their fate as a permanently, militarily occupied people. One would think by now that Palestinians would have received the message loud and clear - the world couldn't care less about their fate. But no, these Palestinians just refuse to sit still. They continue to defy their reality and can be seen across the Holy Land - jumping, climbing, swinging, falling, tripping, singing, twirling, juggling, cycling, tight roping, and the like. Their nerve! To think they can attempt to live a normal life when the powers that be are spending billions, literally, to cause a collapse of Palestinian society.

And who is it exactly I speak of? Palestinian clowns. No, I'm not taking a swing at the political leadership, at least not here. I'm talking about the real thing: circus clowns, like in clowns that make you laugh and make you forget that the boot of occupation is pressing on your neck.

I can understand your confusion. Clowns and circus do not usually appear in the same sentence with Palestine. You are probably much more attuned to how Palestinians have been labeled over the years by some Israelis and their marionettes - everything from terrorists, crocodiles, 'beasts walking on two legs,' grasshoppers, cockroaches, slaves, 'a community of woodcutters and waiters,' the 'penniless population,' 'not worth a Jewish fingernail,' all the way to the most recent classification of being an 'invented people.'

As many are bent on dehumanizing Palestinians, systematically and with contempt, others are mending the wounds of a people who have been purposely stripped of their well-being in one of the world's most unjust chapters of history. One group tending to that process of mending the deep wounds that 44 years of military occupation continue to inflict is the Palestinian Circus School (PCS), based in Birzeit, Palestine.

Yes, you read correctly. There is a Palestinian Circus School in Palestine! However, as I have learned while working closely with this professional team of circus artists, this is not what we all think of when we first think of circus. There are no elephants here, only Palestinian children engaged in a form of art and expression that uses their body to tell a story which can make audiences laugh, cry, or both.

Although the school recently moved from Ramallah to its newly donated headquarters in Birzeit (thanks to Dr. Hanna Nasir), its activities are spread across the West Bank, and Gaza will be added as soon as possible. The School operates local circus clubs and gives performances in various cities, villages and refugee camps.

The Palestinian Circus School is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2006 and registered with the Palestinian Authority since February 2007. You can read more and view some videos of their work at: www.palcircus.ps.

My consulting firm, which mainly serves the private sector, was commissioned by a unique donor, the Drosos Foundation, to assist the Palestinian Circus School in developing a five-year business plan which we successfully completed. Drosos has a rock solid motto of being 'committed to enabling disadvantaged people to live a life of dignity.' It is rare I would choose to write about one of my work assignments; however, what I witnessed over several months sparked an interest that I want to share. I also want to appeal to you to support their efforts. Likewise, Palestine is flooded with donor agencies, and most want to drive Palestinians' development agenda, so when I worked with a funding agency that was sincere about supporting Palestinians by providing resources, but didn't stand in the way of indigenous planning, I felt this was one of those cases that is the exception and also deserves to be shared.

Contemporary circus (or nouveau cirque as it was originally known in French-speaking countries) is a genre of performing art developed in the late 20th century, in which a story or theme is conveyed through traditional circus skills. It may all look like a game to the untrained eye, but this is serious business. At its heart, this style of circus is a societal change agent. The Circus School teaches young Palestinians the circus pedagogy to stimulate and develop their physical, mental, artistic, emotional, social and cognitive abilities. The circus then employs these skills in bringing smiles to the faces of children throughout Palestine, especially in marginalized areas.

If you spend any time in any part of Palestine, or even in Palestinian refugee communities outside of Palestine, you will quickly notice that the ultimate weight of this conflict is falling on the shoulders of our youngsters--shoulders that should never have to carry the weight of a military occupation! These young minds continue to be systematically damaged, but society is not standing still.

The Palestinian Circus School puts smiles on children's faces as well as using the platform of circus to link to a global circus arts community. Circus schools and troupes worldwide are acting in solidarity with Palestinians by exchanging trainers, performances and experiences. It's serious business with serious results. Maybe that's why, last year, Israeli authorities denied entry to Mr. Ivan Prado, the most famous clown in Spain, who was coming to perform to Palestinian audiences.

Robert Sugarman, author of The Many Worlds of Circus, described the impact of circus best when he wrote, "By turning you upside down, we teach you to stand on your own two feet. By dropping objects we teach you to catch them. By having you walk all over someone, we teach you to take care of them. By having you clown around, we teach you to take yourself seriously." The children of Palestine have had their lives turned upside down. Help us bring a smile to their faces and build confidence in their futures to make their lives worth living.

So, as you prepare to bring in a new year, I appeal for your generous support to the Palestinian Circus School in any way you can. You will not be disappointed. There are three places donations can be made:

- IndieGoGo Campaign to raise $25,000 to kick off fundraising for erecting a movable training hanger, which will be located adjacent to the newly donated headquarters. This new addition will house the high circus equipment, which are now placed outside in the cold under the open sky. This campaign just started and will run through February 20, 2012 at: http://igg.me/p/52303.

- Alternatively, donations to the Palestinian Circus School in the U.S. can be made through The Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA is a tax-exempt 501(c) 3 organization, so your gift is tax-deductible) www.mecaforpeace.org/partners/palestinian-circus-school.

- Of course, direct donations and/or student scholarships can be made via the School's website at home.palcircus.ps/en/1/1/3.

Happy Holidays.