I attended yet another conference organised by Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, this time under the umbrella of IPCRI. I looked at the program, saw the people, and thought I had walked into the land of the whackos. You know what I mean, the kind of people who are into eastern philosophy, and who believe that peace will come to the Middle East through magic tricks, yoga, reiki, tai-chi, meditation, and even laughter! Come on guys, give me a break, I thought, get off your clouds and come back down to earth.
But you know what? The big skeptic in me was totally captivated by what I saw. I went to two workshops, one about using magic for peace and the other on the power of laughter.
The first workshop was cool. The facilitators are magicians who believe that magic and politics share many things in common, and that magic can be a tool for peace. They taught us four practical tricks that each person could use in their own peace work. I was there with a bunch of Israelis from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and Palestinians from Gaza, Hebron, Nablus, and Bethlehem. And they loved it. Adored it. Everyone was so excited.
But then came the laughter workshop; and it has changed me. His name is Belachew Girma and he calls himself a laughter therapist. He is from Ethiopia. His story is one of tragedy, suffering, despair and rebirth. He lost his home in a fire, lost his businesses and property to the government, contracted HIV/AIDS, lost his wife to the virus, and then turned to violence and alcoholism. But one day he changed his mind. Decided to stop worrying and start living.
He read dozens of psychology books, found Jesus, and a new path. He believes in the power of laughter to melt fear, hatred, anger, despair, and suffering. So he just started laughing. And he kept laughing and laughing and laughing. His laugh is infectious, his aura is magical.
Just see for yourself.
The people in the room were ex-prisoners, ex-soldiers, people who have suffered from years of conflict, war, hatred, violence and anger. And they were all in fits of laughter. Together.
Belachew Girma changed something in the people in that room. Who knows how long the effects will last or what it will achieve in terms of concrete peace for the future, but the weight was lifted. His message was clear: you must stop feeding negative emotions and strengthen positive ones. You must forgive and forget. He showed us that laughter can transform emotions. Until today I did not know to what extent.
13 days to go...
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