Flying Dreams: Solidarity with Children in Gaza

Kids are not little people. Kids may be small, but only in regard to their bodies, not their minds. Little people have little minds, while kids’ minds are expanding so fast that we sometimes try to slow them down. Kids are scared of the dark, quicksand, the Bermuda Triangle, bombs and tanks. Little people are scared of words, music, dreams … and kites.

You see, kites are scary.

Kites terrify little people with their menacing tails, their strings leading up into the sky, and the fact that they inexplicably fly, without asking anyone’s permission.

Little people think kites are weapons.

And, like a stopped clock twice a day, they are correct.

Because kites are weapons. Weapons of joy, of beauty, of dignity, of freedom. They may be deterred¹, but can never lose, for kites are invincible.

So we asked kids to teach us how to make a kite.

Kids that are true masters of kite making and kite flying: Jamila, Ghina, Alma, Majdal, Iktimal, Na’ama, Karim, Islam, Abdelkarim, Mohammad Al-Hindi and Mohammad Al-Ustaz.

(Names that instantly took us back to another continent, to another place where kites (and sometimes only kites) paint smiles over children’s faces. Jamini and Dru, Vishal, Patel, and Mia.)

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Matija and his crew² organised the whole event, connecting artists and kids from Gaza with artists and kids from Slovenia. There was a dance performance choreographed by one artist here and one artist down there, one dancing in the studio, the other among the rubble. There were singers and performers from both countries, doing their art simultaneously, with a live feed coming to Ljubljana from Gaza, and from Ljubljana to Gaza. Two places, two groups of artists, two groups of kids, and a digital bridge holding it all together.

And there were us with our chaotic pile of kite-making materials.

We were nervous: when the live feed started and the true kite masters saw what we were doing, would they laugh at us? Would they politely say “very interesting” while rolling their eyes? Would they discover that the supposed kite experts from Slovenia are just faking it?

Then the feed started and … there were just kids making kites. And here were kids making kites. And all was well.

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Except that damn few things were well.

Here, kids can make a kite and then run around a green park, their kite dancing on the wind high above them. They can trip over the string, fall into the grass, get up again, and keep running. They can shout, laugh, and argue about whose kite is flying highest.

There, not so much³.

But the live feed was transmitting images of kids making kites, and for a fistful of precious moments the kids of Gaza and the kids of Ljubljana were creating and consuming joy in unison.

The kites were done and we all held our breath, because kids here started to run across the park with their kites dancing above them, but kids there really really couldn’t do that.

But kites are magic weapons, and magic happened.

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The unstoppable joy of kids here went up the kite strings, high above this wretched Earth. Kite strings are strings of hope; they carry a message, and they know exactly where to deliver it.

To a tent among the rubble. To bright minds and beautiful hearts inside.

To Jamila, Ghina, Alma, Majdal, Iktimal, Na’ama, Karim, Islam, Abdelkarim, and both Mohammads.

To all the kids of Gaza.

To all the kids of the world.

And the sky painted us a wispy, smiling dragon⁴.

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Kids of Gaza, what you see in these photos is your joy. These kites are your kites. Kids of Ljubljana are just safeguarding them; one day you will come and pick them up, and you will all run together across the meadow, and the kites will fly higher and higher.

One day, soon.

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Thank you, جميلة الفيري (Jamila Al-Ferey); غنى دهمان (Ghina Dahman), ألما حشيش (Alma Hashish), مجدل الهندي (Majdal Al-Hindi), اكتمال حشيش (Iktimal Hashish), نعمة الخطيب (Na’ama Al-Khatib), إسلام حشيش (Islam Hashish), عبد الكريم الهندي (Abdelkarim Al-Hindi), محمد الهندي (Mohammad Al-Hindi), كريم الهندي ( Karim Al-Hindi), and محمد الأستاذ (Mohammad Al-Ustaz). You are the best.

And thank you, all the kids of Ljubljana who came to the workshop and made a kite with kids of Gaza.

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1. A certain defence minister issued a warning: all necessary tools will be used to deter launches of kites ↩︎
2. The kids were the stars of the event, so we put them in the limelight. However, the intrepid and beautiful hearts who made the event deserve to be mentioned, thanked, and praised: Matija Solce, Yousef Al-Hindi, Hupa Brajdič collective, Float 2 Gaza and Floating Castle festival, Brane Solce and Sanja Fidler, Gaza Dragons band, Žigan Krajnčan, Irena Preda, Ana Vipotnik, Tjaša Koprivec Vuga, Jaber Almassri, Larisa Kazic, Janez Zalaznik, Urška Centa, Kristijan Kranjčan, Mohammad Obaid, Tines Špik, and others. ↩︎
3. Nobody ever banned flying kites. There was just that warning about using all necessary tools to deter launches of kites. But kids are well aware of the meaning of the ugly, military phrase all necessary tools. They live in neighbourhoods visited by these necessary tools. So they know: a kite flies up, something flies in. The warning is clear, right? The launches of kites will be deterred. ↩︎
4. Slovene uses the same word for both kite and dragon: zmaj. ↩︎