Despite what is said, positive news from Israel\/Palestine is like a ray of light breaking through the darkness.<\/p>\n
By Andrea Gagliarducci<\/p>\n
A small flower can spring up even in the desert, and one has definitely sprung up in hills of the Northern Galilee. This is the so-called \u201cmiddle ground,\u201d an area emcompassing Israel, Lebanon and Syria where, in the space of a few kilometres there are kibbutzim<\/em>, moshavim<\/em>, Arab Christian villages, Muslims, Circassians and Druse. And it is here that Angelica Edna Cal\u00f2 Livn\u00e9 works. An Italian Jew, born in Rome, Angelica (Edna) emigrated to Israel 30 years ago. After her degree in Social Theatre and a Masters in Integrating the Arts in Education, she had the idea of using theatre to promote peace. So she founded the Arcobaleno-Rainbow Theatre Group, made up entirely of young people, half of whom Jewish and half Arab. Their latest success, entitled Anne in the Sky<\/em>, is based on the story of Anne Frank, something which has been in Edna\u2019s heart for most of her life. Before that there was a mime-opera called Beresheet<\/em> (containing just five spoken sentences) which shows how conflict comes about.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many colors, one rainbow<\/strong><\/p>\n Edna firmly believes that her theatre group can help promote peace despite all the differences and difficulties. \u201cThe idea of the Arcobaleno-Rainbow Theatre Group,\u201d Edna explains, \u201cis that the spectrum contains many colors, each different from the other. And yet its beauty lies precisely in the fact that all these different colours appear harmoniously together.\u201d<\/p>\n Edna always wanted to use theatre for education and she has managed to put together young people from completely different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. \u201cAt one time,\u201d says Edna, \u201cI was teaching in five different schools, and I decided to open a theatre school. Lots of young people joined, but we didn\u2019t have any Arabs. On the kibbutz<\/em> where I live there was a young Palestinian lad who worked in the kitchen. One day he saw me pinning up a poster for the school. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d he asked. \u201cI\u2019m pinning up this poster. Why don\u2019t you come to my theatre? Come on, don\u2019t worry, anyone can act.\u201d I convinced him to come. Now half the students are Arabs and half Jews. When you see them together there are no obvious cultural or religious differences. And yet they lead completely different lives, with different languages, traditions and religions. There are even differences among the Jews themselves, \u201csaid Edna.<\/p>\n \u201cWe meet once a week for three hours,\u201d she says, \u201cBut the first half hour is always taken up with kisses and hugs and bringing each other up to date with what has gone on over the last week.\u201d The basic idea behind Angelica\u2019s theatre school is very simple: \u201cEvery religion, every human being, every tradition has its own wonderful world. But because they don\u2019t know one another there is fear of the unknown and mistrust, and this creates conflict,\u201d she says. \u201cSomehow, through education, we have to bring young people together and let them get to know each other, so that they can pass their experience on to their people.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Removing the masks<\/strong><\/p>\n The first show is entitled Beresheet<\/em>, \u2018In the beginning,\u2019 taken from the opening words of the Bible. Edna explains: \u201cTo start with they are all dressed the same and are wearing masks. But after a while we discover that, underneath the outer costume, some are wearing orange suits. Very soon those in the orange suits are fighting those in the purple suits. Eventually, after suffering and deaths, two characters detach themselves from the group. They start to get to know one another, but the group turn theirs backs on them. At a certain point a child arrives on the scene, without a mask (he is Or, my youngest son) and dressed all in white, as if to say \u2018Do it for us children.\u2019 Then they all remove their masks, something which is not normally done in theatre. It is something we decided together. In fact the young people said to me: \u2018We want to take our masks off.\u2019 And I said to them: \u2018You can\u2019t, it\u2019s a theatrical convention.\u2019 They replied: \u2018Perhaps if we break the convention something will happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And, in fact, something happened. \u201cOur show has a prophetic quality. There is a moment when the orange suits make a barrier. Then the purple suits make a barrier behind them, like the wall we built in reply to the wall of suicide bombers. Four years ago, when we first staged the show, the color orange had no particular significance, but now it has become the color of the Gaza disengagement plan.\u201d<\/p>\n The reactions of the public to the Rainbow Theatre Group\u2019s show are amazing. \u201cAt the end of the show, many in the audience are left speechless. They just don\u2019t know what to say,\u201d explained Angelica, \u201cAt a certain point, the young people sit down on the stage and conduct a dialogue with the audience. I act as interpreter. What they say is just what they feel and no one can make a judgement of it, because it is a show which speaks for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bread for Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n Another point of encounter between Palestinians and Jews is the \u201cFeast of Bread.\u201d The idea came about through the friendship between Samar, a Christian from Palestine, and Edna. \u201cSamar had opened a bakery in the Palestinian zone and she was always saying to me: \u2018One day I want to bake bread with Israeli women.\u2019 I lowered my head,\u201d admits Edna, \u201cBut one day I said to her: \u2018I will bring you some Israeli women.\u2019 In fact, I brought her fifty. Samar had got everything ready, and there was even a Palestinian Scout band to welcome us. I also decided to write an article about the event. I opened the Torah to look for inspiration and eventually found a sentence in Leviticus: \u2018And you will eat and be satisfied. The sword will pass no more through your land, and you will distribute the bread of peace.\u2019 I copied it and sent it to Shalom<\/em> (a Jewish weekly published in Rome). It was February and this thing began to circulate on the Internet. It gained official backing from the European Parliament and was given the go ahead in Italy. And on Wednesday 1 June 2005 the first Feast of Bread took place in Italy, which was later repeated in Rome, Milan and Naples.<\/p>\n Never short of new ideas, Edna has now started a radio program run by young people for young people, entitled All for Peace<\/em>, which is broadcast throughout the whole of Israel from Ramallah to Jerusalem. Who knows what she will come up with next.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Arcobaleno-Rainbow Theatre has a website at:\u00a0 \u00a0www.masksoff.org<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 www.beresheetlashalom.org<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n