Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Maan News: "Palestinian magician wants to walk through Israel's Apartheid wall"

What would be magic with a Palestinian flavor? Pulling a rabbit out of a keffiyeh? I know! Magic with a victimhood theme!
[...] A handsome and slightly boastful thirty-six-year-old, Elias Hzayneh from Bethlehem studied English literature at Bethlehem University. Five years ago Elias got married and has a two month old baby girl. While on a trip to Spain he was introduced to a magician who organizes conferences about magic. Since childhood Elias says he was crazy about magic.

His biggest dream is to use magic to both overcome and combat the effects of occupation . . .

When I asked him about Israel's Apartheid wall, he gazed into space for a moment and then answered: "Before three years I was about to start a project which is building a collage to teach magic and make workshops and conferences about magic but the construction of the wall ruined my plans so I traveled and left my dream behind the wall."

"I am always invited to conferences about magic in Jerusalem but I don’t have permit and so I can't cross the checkpoints so I am prevented from performing in Jerusalem and other parts behind the checkpoints," he added.

He said that people in Bethlehem left their business and came to watch his show at Al-Selizyan sports club in Bethlehem; he thinks that people here are frustrated and they lack cultural activities . . .

Can magic overcome oppression? Elias thinks so. "I am preparing to penetrate the Apartheid wall of Palestine the same as David Copperfield when he penetrated the wall of China."
Maybe he should make a daring escape from the tower of self-pity.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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