Meet two medical clowns who help young patients, including Syrian refugees. cope with their illnesses while doing their part to make peace in the Middle East.
“I call it clowning at the service of medicine,” says Shoshi, a Jewish-Israeli medical clown at Ziv Medical Center in northern Israel.
The patients are diverse – not only Israeli Jews and Arabs, but also Syrian refugees who fled to Israel, an enemy state, where they are given free life-saving treatment.
Many have been taught to hate Jews and Christians, but Johnny, a Christian Israeli-Arab clown, helps them overcome their fears and prejudices.
“It’s a very beautiful thing when you see Jews, Christians and Muslims playing together in the hospital,” Johnny says. “We begin to make peace in the hospital.”