Sign the letter at : change.org/jugglers4palestine
Translations: ES – FR – IT – DE – NL – HE – Ar – PT
Open letter:
Dear
• organising team of the European Juggling Convention 2025 (EJC’25 core team)
• European Juggling Association (EJA)
• members of the global juggling and circus community
We are writing to discuss the events that took place at this year’s European Juggling Convention (EJC), the lack of support for the Palestinian people, and the lack of freedom of speech and expression during the EJC.
We recognise the immense efforts of the EJC’25 core team and all the other volunteers to make the EJC possible and we want to thank everybody for the time, energy, and dedication they have put into this. We acknowledge the challenges of creating an open and peaceful EJC in times of war, genocide, and global instability.
Despite that, we strongly disagree with and oppose the choice of trying to silence debate, protests, critical statements, and solidarity related to the Palestinian cause. Staying silent and silencing debate, solidarity, and opposition during the genocide in Gaza, enables the oppressor and renders one complicit. By doing so, we don’t create an apolitical event as some are trying to claim.
The actions that were planned and/or taken individually and collectively didn’t disrupt the continuation of the convention or any of its events. They didn’t target individuals and were non-violent. Therefore, we strongly disagree with and oppose the repression of the actions and people who carried them out. Pressuring and expelling them is not the right response in the current geopolitical context. For those not present or fully informed, we have listed the events as accurately and completely as possible in this chronological overview.
The open meeting and debate on the final day of the EJC, that was organised last-minute under the pressure of the activism of some jugglers at the EJC, was a very good first step to dialogue. There was space for everyone to express themselves. There was a lot of listening. There were controversial and opposing opinions which were expressed in a respectful way. This kind of open and safe space for expression was and will be the base for further dialogue, debate, and peaceful coexistence at EJCs. But this was not enough for us. We wish this process to continue and to deepen.
Some Israeli attendees at the EJC are terrified of the sympathy, solidarity, symbols, flags, and chants from and for Palestine. They have been conditioned to associate them with terrorism and with death – even of loved ones – and these symbols provoke deep fear.
They expressed their concerns beforehand to the organisation. We agree on the main principle of providing safety against real threats. We don’t agree though that Palestinian symbols like their flag should be associated with terrorism, or a call for violence. These associations are the result of Israeli propaganda and should be debunked.
Because of the compulsory military service in Israel, an important proportion of the many Israeli jugglers attending EJC may have been or still be active in the Israeli army and potentially in the genocide happening in Gaza. Some may have committed war crimes. To us this idea is very disturbing and problematic. We want to draw attention to that. The EJC core team should discourage attendance for IDF soldiers who have committed war crimes by publishing a clear position on support for the Palestinian people.
On the other hand, many jugglers and participants of the EJC are shocked from watching the ongoing structural colonial violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and the genocide in Gaza. This genocide is often described as a live-streamed genocide and the most documented genocide in history. We demand that the safety concerns of Palestinians and Palestinian circus organisations are also taken into account, and that action is taken to support them and make them feel safe and welcome at the EJC as well.
The reality is that most Palestinian jugglers don’t have the privilege to come to Europe for an EJC. Palestinian jugglers, like all Palestinian people, face an existential threat. They are being occupied, starved, and killed everyday – along with their loved ones. Their concerns, aspirations, and creativity are oppressed in Palestine, and silenced at the EJC. Palestinians cannot afford to travel to an EJC because of the suffocation of the Palestinian economy through colonial politics and by the apartheid regime, oppressed by both individual illegal settlers and the state of Israel. Their freedom of movement is controlled and limited by the state of Israel. Palestinian circus artists and teachers are illegally detained in Israeli prisons without trials – as are their loved ones. Many are wounded and traumatised by the ongoing war and systematic violence from private militias and the state of Israel and its army (both in the West Bank and in Gaza). Many have been killed.
We want those people to be represented as well!
We find it important to speak out about this cause because of the structural complicity of our economic and political elites in Europe. As long as war and colonialism is a profitable industry, there will be war.
We claim our human rights of freedom of speech and expression and aspire to fulfill our moral duties as privileged citizens.
We want to take action on all levels to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, to speak out against inhumane structural violence, and try to contribute to change.
Therefore we demand the following:
– The EJC’25 core team, future EJC core teams, and the EJA should take a clear position against the oppression of the Palestinians and against the genocide happening in Gaza.
– The choices that were made before and during the convention to try to silence the debate and repress people in their rights should be – first internally and then publicly – evaluated by EJC’25 core team and the EJA, and should potentially be accompanied by compensating action(s).
– EJCs and EJA must facilitate or support the creation of an open space of freedom of speech in a safe environment even and especially when topics are sensitive and provoke deep emotions among many of us.
– Future EJCs or EJA shall not limit freedom of speech and expression by banning flags, clothing, workshops, or political statements and actions. There are sufficient laws to enable action in case of calls for violence, hate speech, or discrimination.
– We do not wish Israel to be celebrated or receive attention in shows and competitions, until Palestine is recognized as a free country by Israel and all colonization and war crimes have stopped. Individual artists and competitors are welcome, but they should not represent a country committing war crimes and genocide. We welcome a discussion of applying this principle to other nation states that are violating international law.
– We call on future EJC core teams to only call the police as a last resort and when really needed.
– We call on future EJCs to review the range of products sold at EJCs to boycott companies complicit in the environmental crisis, oppression, and genocides. At the least, alternatives should be provided, for example, to Coca-Cola in the bar.
– We call for a process to create a country contact for Palestine in the EJA just as other national (privileged) juggling communities have country contact persons.
– Future EJC core teams should try to increase the presence of artists, schools, and organisations coming from Palestine and other regions that are being systematically oppressed. They should be actively invited and financially supported to come so they have better representation.
We thank you for reading and look forward to seeing positive change in the world and in our circus and juggling event and communities.
We end by expressing our solidarity with Palestinian people and all oppressed people.
With love and rage
Jugglers for Palestine
Sign the letter at : change.org/jugglers4palestine
Pre-signed by:
* Clowns Without Borders Belgium
* Cirkus in Beweging: circus school, Leuven, Belgium
* Circus Zonder Handen: circus school, Brussels, Belgium
– Dr Thomas Herzmark, University of Göttingen, Germany, anthropologist, juggler, social circus practitioner, signatory of the Uppsala Declaration
– Florence Schroeder: juggler, director of YANA, board member of Maison des Jonglages in France
– Will Borrell: Juggler, Community Development Officer at Caravan International Circus Network
– Wes Peden: Juggler
– Darragh McLoughlin: juggler, artist, director of Squarehead Productions.
– Lieke De Vry
– Sara Noelle: juggler (performer and instructor), perfomers without borders volunteer, convention organizer for FLINTA* people
– Nina Illouz: juggler, artist, director of La Grue company
– Rob Thorburn: Circus artist and teacher, Circus Alba, Performers Without Borders, Play Festival Director
– Rachele Ferraro: Juggler and performer, joining every EJC since 2015, member of italian project “TG Juggling”
– Francisco Ciprian: video/performance juggling creator
– Jan Slangen: juggler, circus teacher, member and board member of Clowns Without Borders Belgium
– Davide Quagliotto “Geo”: juggler (performer and teacher), co-founder of “TG Juggling”, Italy EJA country representative
–Sofia Pollini: juggler, performer and teacher, organizer of FLINTA* convention
– Roos Kinnaer: juggler with a heart
– Liza van Brakel: circusartist
– McKenna Phillips: circus artist
– Oliver Ruthven: circus performer, support worker
– Natasha Patterson: Juggler
– Jason van lith: juggler
– Arttu Lahtinen: Juggler
– Onni Toivonen: Juggler
– Dani Paličková: juggler
– Emil Dahl: juggler
– Etienne Chauzy: juggler/diabolist
– Lucy Tan: juggler
– Marta Di Napoli: juggler
– Eve Zeghers
– Joe Fisher: juggler
– Francesco Gottardi: juggler with a heart
– Deniz Saganak: juggler
Sign the letter at : change.org/jugglers4palestine