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TechnoratiClowning Around in Israel
You had to see it to believe it: Hunter “Patch” Adams,
MD, fully decked out in his clown outfit, and a retired Israeli
military general standing together in an enormous pair of red silk
underwear. Patch calls it his “underwear security,” a play upon
“undercover security.” It’s an ingenious device which encourages
egotistical disarmament. You can’t climb into Patch’s underwear if you
are overly-defended.
“Being part of the fun” wasn’t a thought that occurred to me when I signed up for the CodePink humanitarian delegation to the Gaza Strip. Since our particular delegation was to enter Gaza by way of Israel, I suspected our chances of getting in were slim. Indeed we were denied permission and entry on three separate occasions. I had recently seen the pictures of Gaza taken by two previous CodePink delegations who had entered through Egypt. These pictures showed the massive destruction of homes, schools, ambulances, hospitals and factories. They also showed horrific human injury and death, not to mention the rotting carcasses of livestock and animals. So, what came to mind when I thought of Gaza was “death, destruction, starvation, crisis, etc.”
It was Nasser Ibrahim, the Director of the Palestinian-Israeli Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour (West Bank) who provided a way for me to see the necessity of the work of clowning, with its love of joy and of fun, in the context of a disaster. According to Ibrahim, political resistance is an “effort to hold on to your humanity. It is the work of being human.”
Ibrahim’s insight certainly came to life during our three attempted crossings into Gaza. During our first attempt, we were joined by “Kassamba,” an Israeli anarchist band whose name roughly translates into “sound rockets,” and a troupe of clowns. Kassamba, Patch and the Israeli clowns had all of us dancing, laughing and smiling in an area that was filled with miles of fences, guard towers, military vehicles and M-16’s. When our passports were returned to us and our entry denied, Patch took the passports and started a game of poker with them just underneath the checkpoint booth, a move that had the Israeli guards looking on in amazement and amusement. When Patch reached out his hand to one of the guards, the guard reached back and clasped Patch’s hand with a strong grip. In this case, the hand that clasped the other had to first release his hand from a gun. “Score, humanity!” at least for this moment.
Our second and third efforts to cross were enriched by balloons, kites and flowers as well as by a three-hundred person strong demonstration by Gazans just across the crossing from us. Our kites and balloons embodied our soaring spirits and the desire to connect with the people of Gaza. Our flowers were placed in the fence of the Erez crossing along with handwritten notes. Prior to placing our notes in the fence, we were able to speak with a few of the Gazans who had made it through the crossing and who were on their way to the hospital. Be they elderly women or small children held by their mothers, the pallor of sickness was quite evident, particularly in the sweltering heat of the day. Most were suffering from heart ailments and were in need of serious medical attention. In order to get out of Gaza, where medical supplies are in short shrift and hospitals are barely functioning, they had to wade through an onerous bureaucratic permit process only to wait—if they were among the fortunate few—for hours before being allowed out. The festive atmosphere we had created in this desolate and inhuman space brought forth smiles and hugs from our Gazan friends. “Score, humanity! Once again.”
Though the gates to Gaza were not opened for us, the gates around my heart were opened. Far from being dispirited, I know that the roots of my peacemaking practice are stronger and more deeply rooted than ever before. Once again the words of Nasser Ibrahim came to mind: “Never give up!” I will not give up; I have only just begun.
16 Comments so far
Show AllFeed a starving person, they call you a Saint.
Ask why they're starving, they persecute you as a Communist.
If he isn't pushing for the large issues, then all he's doing is providing the Zionists with propaganda.
If you think the work/play that Patch promotes is unimportant,you have not looked into the faces of the children,young and old,who have had the great good fortune to be in his presence. Thanks Patch. Thanks CODE PINK
"Pedestrian28 June 14th, 2009 12:32 pm
As a former student of the woman who wrote this article, I can tell you that she most certainly DOES know the situation going on in Gaza. ... She and her fellow activists are simply engaging in nonviolence, which is preferable considering that violence has done nothing good for that region (or any place for that matter). While we can both agree that most of this country has no clue as to what goes on in Gaza thanks to our brain dead mainstream media, I have to correct you that the author of this article does indeed know what she's talking about."
I KNOW very well what she and the other activists she's with did. I learned to READ long ago and she clearly enough describes what they did, in this article of hers.
My somewhat criticism of the article and therefore what the author wrote is clearly stated in my prior post in this CD page, and what this is is about how much more difficult it is for Palestinians in need of emergency medical care to get into Israel for treatment in Israeli hospitals; considerably more difficult than what the above article, which reveals nothing new for information on this topic, says.
Let's do a little comparative study, shall we. I'll commence with quoting what the above article says.
Quote: "Most were suffering from heart ailments and were in need of serious medical attention. In order to get out of Gaza, where medical supplies are in short shrift and hospitals are barely functioning, they had to wade through an onerous bureaucratic permit process only to wait—if they were among the fortunate few—for hours before being allowed out."
NOW compare that to what video I provided links for says. It, again, is a very important investigative report by the team at the Guardian, UK, and tells us of much worse than only the bureaucratic process Anna Brown wrote of in her article.
Like I previously said, the Guardian report is the first time that I've read or heard of Palestinians in need of emergency medical treatment in Israeli hospitals being required to become collaborators with the Israeli government against the Palestinian resistance in Palestine; this agreement and therefore treason needing to be reached before these Palestinians are allowed to enter Israel for the needed medical treatment.
What Anna Brown describes is a reality that's very, very well and broadly known; it's been reported many times over many enough years by many different people, including Americans, so there's nothing of new information from her article on this particular topic, above.
Their activism is like I said; "funny and welcome". Do you have a problem with my saying this, too?
Funny and welcome is the activism described in the above article, however there's one thing that the author says and that I'll add a bit of new information about.
The author of the above article doesn't seem to realise how extremely difficult it is for Palestinians requiring emergency medical care, like for life-or-death cases, to be accepted by the Israeli government for treatment in Israeli hospitals while Palestinian hospitals have been rendered ... extremely clobbered. And more than passports are required these days, before Israel will allow Palestinians needing even care of the greatest urgency into Israel for treatment.
The following video report from a team at the Guardian, UK, certainly presents new education for me. This is the first that I've heard or read of what the following report says.
"Gaza: No Right to Life. Collaborate or Die." (7:48)
posted by Mundo20071, June 11, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAGCObIS7yw
The text for the above video provides a link to the original article, which is the following; and it also has an embedded original copy of the video.
"Gaza: No right to life
With the lack of medical services in Gaza, critically ill patients must travel into Israel for treatment. Many are asked to collaborate with Israeli intelligence services before they receive aid. It has been alleged that if they refuse to become informers they are refused medical treatment. Inigo Gilmore reports"
by Inigo Gilmore, Guy Grandjean, Mustafa Khalili and Michael Tait, June 11, 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jun/11/gaza-israel
The above-quoted text with the title of the Guardian article is all there is for text in this Guardian report page. The report is the video piece.
And I got this through the copy at Uruknet.info, btw.
As a former student of the woman who wrote this article, I can tell you that she most certainly DOES know the situation going on in Gaza. It was in her class that I learned about what the Palestinians go through on a daily basis. She and her fellow activists are simply engaging in nonviolence, which is preferable considering that violence has done nothing good for that region (or any place for that matter). While we can both agree that most of this country has no clue as to what goes on in Gaza thanks to our brain dead mainstream media, I have to correct you that the author of this article does indeed know what she's talking about.
Matangicita and Sioux Rose, well spoken, you speak for me as well. My memoir is called "Send in the Clown," as I've been a clown-in-disguise all my life and don't apologize for it.
Sioux Rose
JERRY: You sound like a wise and humble man, no easy combination these days! If only the fool can tell the king/kingdom the truth, then you are in esteemed company. I plan to call mine, "Yoga on the Rocks."
Cheer-up folks, things will get worse.
♫ ...Quick send in the clowns,
Don't bother, they're here... ♬
· Yr Obd't Servant
this article about clowns is reprehensible
i don't even know how to respond to its insipid and .......i'm stuck at the sheer self-centered myopia
weirdly appropriate i guess because the writer is a clown, the president is a clown, the congress is a clown convention
i guess the left has been reduced to clownish behavior - it is the one thing we do well
by the way: the serial killer john wayne gacy was a clown too
i do know this: the murderers in the zion government and the idf are - for sure - not clowning around
Patch Adams brings humanitarian aid to places of great suffering and division, and has been doing so for over 30 years. What you call "clownish behaviour" makes explicit the shared humanity of the oppressed AND the oppressor. Do YOU have a better idea for making that connection?
PATCH ADAMS is a beloved doctor whose inspired work/play as a clown for nearly thirty years has brought light, love and laughter into many a dark situation--children who are terminally ill and others suffering severe illnesses or injuries, such as our own vets, and so much more.
Despite what the people of Gaza have been going through they have been able to laugh at times with or without Patch Adams, but I'm sure he has contributed greatly to the human connection that always gives hope and sometimes breaks down barriers that seem insurmountable.
He took time to write me a wonderful letter in 1986 when I was actively involved in a major project for peace which I had initiated in 1984. He was so encouraging and kind.
In the archives of CD is an essay Patch wrote about LOVE. Worth finding and reading.
peace, cm
ahem. patch adams is no john wayne gacy. there's a range of clowning from the insipid and insulting by the least humorous among us to the more inspired/inspiring work of charlie chaplin as the little dictator or even swami beyondananda's state of the universe dispatches, for that matter. don't be so quick to condemn creative approaches that may open rather than close off hearts and minds. i know there are clown phobias based on who knows what, but sometimes humor can be healing, build solidarity and melt an icy heart.
reprehensible???? torture is reprehensible. violent piracy is reprehensible. soldering shut the shop doors of palestinian shops is reprehensible. bulldozing over homes and lives is reprehensible. colonizing indigenous lands for private gain is reprehensible, but engaging in play that brings comic relief? come on.
BEWARE OF THE ZIONIST FAKE LEFTIST SITE REVLEFT.COM WHICH IS A ZIONIST-CIA LEFT-GATEKEEPER SITE FUNDED BY AIPAC AND CIA !!
beware of the website Revleft.com which is supposed to be a forum and board about socialism and leftist ideology. But it’s not really about socialism and left ideology. That site is a left-gatekeeper, fake-leftist site which is funded by The World Bank, AIPAC and corporate lobbies
The website revleft.com is very dangerous to the world socialist movements. They are set up by capitalists and by Israel. The members of Revleft are a bunch of retarded liberal kids with an anti-capitalist fetish. They spend a lot more time getting into mischief like doing drugs and going to rock concerts than actually fighting capitalism. Revleft was set up by the ruling classes in order to discredit genuine left-wing organizations.
Sioux Rose
When conventional methods don't work, never underestimate the power of the use of unexpected/creative approaches.
I recently viewed the film "Sophie's Choice" after many years and the Concentration Camp scene juxtaposed with the happy home life of the camp's Nazi director was unbelievable. So hard to take in. It made me wonder how human beings can create such a disconnect between themselves and others. It is that same dissociative process that enables too many Israelis to treat their Palestinian neighbors with such an absence of basic regard. How this disease to the human psyche continues to cause so much suffering is something I spend long hours pondering. In my view the old, patriarchal religious teachings form its core. As soon as one group sees itself as the ONLY ones living by their alleged God's rules, they are able to castigate "other." And when persons are led to believe that the cruel treatment of others is ordained by God's will, then the conscience is bypassed and all manner of evil directly follows.
Of course there are usually economic reasons behind the various campaigns of carnage. These very conveniently make use of ethnic, religious, racial or nationalistic delineations to up the ante on the passion FOR aggression. The result becomes the legacy of war and conflict. Until new beliefs are circulated, ones that tie us all to the same circle of life, the capacity to kill other or treat them with savage disregard will continue in spite of politically-directed diplomatic initiatives.
Ray Berthiaume
Yes, I remain stunned that the good Catholics and Lutherans with their bishops could have religion as usual in the face of their deadly anti-semitism, anti-gypsy, anti-gay policies during the reign of the leader they elected. Evidently the true gospel of the man from Nazareth was not being preached or lived.