Young Gazans juggle their jobs with circus performances
The only circus school in Gaza is popular with patrons, and performers say they've gained confidence and friends from the experience.
BEIT LAHIA, Gaza Strip — A street cleaner during the day and a circus acrobat at night — this is the life of 25-year-old Youssef Khoder.
It's not unusual for young Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to work in public sanitation. What is odd, however, is for young men to work as circus acrobats. Temporary jobs are based on six- or three-month contracts provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees or civil society institutions for the unemployed.
Khoder seems satisfied with both his jobs. “Today, I took the broom and started performing some acrobatic moves with it, which made my [sanitation] colleagues laugh,” he told Al-Monitor.
He has little regard for how Gazan society views him, in either job. “I love my job as a street cleaner. I live off this job. But I am also thankful that I have the work of the circus in my life, as it has rid me of negative energy and made me interact with people in a positive way,” he said.
