The people of Gaza learnt to dress their wounds with hope long before October 7. After every bombardment, when the dust has settled, they greet each other in the streets with affirmations of a better future – of peace, of reconstruction, of freedom. For many, the only way to persevere is to look upon rubble and see an image of what it will look like when their home is restored to its former glory.
And perhaps the brightest smile in Gaza belongs to Alaa Meqdad. He's a disabled dwarf and father of two, and when he walks the streets to see what food may be available for his family each day, he's greeted by adults and children alike, who look upon him as both a local celebrity and a friend.
That's because Meqdad, better known as Aloosh the Clown, has made it his purpose to bring joy.
Even amid the war, he continues his mission. The Clown of Gaza, the vital debut feature of emerging Palestinian filmmaker and fellow Gaza resident Abdulrahman Sabbah, documents Aloosh the Clown's life during wartime, as he brings laughter to children wherever he finds them, whether along the beach or in a hospital bed.
Perhaps Meqdad is so adept at staying positive even under the weight of immense pain because, long before the war, he was in personal turmoil due to his condition.
“The children beat me, throwing stones at me, insulting me,” Meqdad says in the film of his own childhood. But he pushed on at his parents' behest, until one day his positive attitude brought him love instead of derision.
Since October 7, many stories about Gaza have been released, most of which were filmed or take place before the war began. Once Upon a Time in Gaza, for instance, takes place in the 2000s, while Yalla Parkour ends just before the conflict began.
From Ground Zero, the Oscar-shortlisted collection of 22 short films about Gaza, released last year, and is one of the rare films that shows the Palestinian experience in Gaza amid the war. The Clown of Gaza is a direct outgrowth of that project, the first release of the Ground Zero+ initiative, filmed in 2024 and 2025.
There is, as there must be, unimaginable pain and devastation on display in The Clown of Gaza. In between scenes of Meqdad triumphantly bringing his family fresh tomatoes and searching for brightly coloured fabrics from which he can make clothing suitable for a clown, he recounts moments of the war.
Meqdad remembers, at one point, as people fled the strikes in the north of Gaza, walking alongside a man pushing his mother in a wheelchair. Snipers killed the man. All Meqdad could think was, who will push the mother? As he looked around, he realised no one could take the chance – because they likely would be shot by the same sniper if they did.
"So I kept walking," Meqdad says. "I just kept walking."
The worst days, he says, often come right after his most successful performances.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
“The hardest thing is to play with a child who then dies the following day. You see the joy in the parents' eyes as the next day they tell you that she loved you very much – that she was happy with you,” Meqdad says.
Sometimes, in an act of remembrance, parents announce the death by sharing a photo of the last time their child was happy. Sometimes, those photos are of them next to their favourite clown.
All Meqdad can do, he says, is carry on, and be there for the children who remain. Because even in the darkest moments, someone has to show them how to keep smiling.
The Clown of Gaza premiered this week at the Amman International Film Festival
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The years Ramadan fell in May
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E261hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E400Nm%20at%201%2C750-4%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10.5L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C999%20(VX%20Luxury)%3B%20from%20Dh149%2C999%20(VX%20Black%20Gold)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
CREW
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERajesh%20A%20Krishnan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETabu%2C%20Kareena%20Kapoor%20Khan%2C%20Kriti%20Sanon%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
