A Selection of Films about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict The website of the Palestine Film Foundation offers synopses of more than 150 Palestinian films, as well as information about film festivals and other events. In addition to the films reviewed by the Palestine Film Foundation, other recommended films from Palestine and the region include the following: “With God on Our Side takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God's chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel's security as a whole. This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn't favour one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.” (From www.withgodonourside.com) The Iron Wall. “After 1967 and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the aim of the settlement movement became clear - create facts on the ground and make the creation of a Palestinian state impossible. Thirty-nine years of occupation and the policy started showing results. There are now more than 200 settlements and outposts scattered throughout the West Bank blocking the geographic possibility of a contiguous Palestinian territory. “The Iron Wall” documentary exposes this phenomenon and follows the timeline, size, population of the settlements, and its impact on the peace process. This film also touches on the latest project to make the settlements a permanent fact on the ground - the wall that Israel is building in the West Bank and its impact on the Palestinian peoples. Palestinians and Israelis began the peace process based on a very simple principle: land for peace. Settlements destroy that principle and create a land with no peace.” (From www.theironwall.ps) This film can be viewed online at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4866316426876380615 “The Lemon Tree tells the story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemon tree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.” (From www.imdb.com/title/tt1172963/) “West Bank Story is a musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands in the West Bank... David, an Israeli soldier, falls in love with the beautiful Palestinian cashier, Fatima, despite the animosity between their families’ dueling restaurants. Can the couple’s love withstand a 2,000 year old conflict and their families’ desire to control the future of the chic pea in the Middle East?” (From www.westbankstory.com) Knowledge is the Beginning. “World-renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian writer and activist Edward Said generated both controversy and admiration when they founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999. Bringing together young Arabs and Jews from Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and Syria to perform and live side by side, it is an extraordinary expression of its aim to further peaceful co-existence in the Middle East. This Emmy-nominated documentary follows this unique musical collaboration from its inception.” (From www.knowledge-is-the-beginning.com) 1 “Walled Horizons is narrated by and features Roger Waters (founding member of the rock band Pink Floyd), who visits the Wall in the Palestinian territories and comments on his observations as a musician and a songwriter who has written on walls. The film explores how Palestinians in urban and rural areas have been impacted by the Wall’s construction since the International Court of Justices Advisory Opinion in 2004, which declared the Wall’s route in the West Bank illegal. Several senior Israeli security officials are interviewed in the film, two of whom were directly responsible for planning the Wall route and who explain the Israeli position for constructing it. The film was produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jerusalem.” (From the website of OCHA) ““Encounter Point” is an 85-minute feature documentary film that follows a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict.” (From www.encounterpoint.com) The Inner Tour is a documentary about the days when Israel permitted Palestinians to go on bus tours of Israel. See www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=innertour. “Occupied Minds is the story of two journalists, Jamal Dajani, a Palestinian-American, and David Michaelis, an Israeli citizen, who journey to Jerusalem, their mutual birthplace, to explore new solutions and offer unique insights into the divisive Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” (From www.linktv.org/programs/occupied) To Die in Jerusalem. “After two 17-year old girls - one an Israeli, the other a Palestinian suicide bomber - die in a Jerusalem market, their mothers confront each other, revealing a microcosm of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the complexity of reconciliation.” This film features Pastor Mitri Raheb from Bethlehem. (From www.todieinjerusalem.com) “Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois.” (From www.amreeka.com) Closed Zone, is an animated short film (2 minutes) directed by Yoni Goodman, at www.closedzone.com. The Syrian Bride at http://www.syrianbride.com/english.html. 2.