Mimes join forces for peace

TEL AVIV - The first international pantomime festival is scheduled to take place next week in the Arab-Israeli town of Shfaram (Shafa-Amer), featuring local Arab and Jewish mimes and guest performers from France, Italy, Bulgaria, Argentina, and Britain.

Event organizers say they hope the event will bring Jews and Arabs closer together.

“It is important people from all over the country come to Shfaram in order to turn the festival’s days into a celebration of peace, tranquility and genuine co-existence,” festival’s organizer Walid Yassin says.

'Reach out without words'

“This is not only a challenge for us, but for Israelis, too," Yassin added. “We reach out without words, because words may do harm. We hope the other side willingly listens to this idea. We want the festival to become a tradition, one that functions as a meeting place for artists from different nationalities and religions,” he says.

“We want the region to get back a little of the humanity that used to connect the country’s people and others around the Mediterranean,” Yassin says.

The festival will go on for three days (April 14 through April 16) in the Upper Galilee Arab town of Shfaram, as well as other locations in the region.