*EPF403 04/11/2002
American Film Captures Children's Voices in Mideast Conflict
("Promises" attracts crowds in Washington) (700)

By Laura J. Brown
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A film that played to sold-out theaters in Washington April 4-10 tells the story of the Middle East crisis from a new perspective: the eyes of children. "Promises," filmed by Israeli-American B.Z. Goldberg, offers the candid comments of children on both sides of the conflict and shows what meaningful interaction can occur when youngsters are allowed to cross cultural barriers and checkpoints to meet one another.

Following the film on its opening night at Visions Cinema in Washington April 4, a panel of representatives from local non-profit organizations talked about the film and invited audience members to share their views. Leslie Adelson from Seeds of Peace, a non-profit organization that brings together Israeli and Palestinian youth each summer at a camp in Maine, said the film succeeds in "getting youngsters who have grown up on a diet of prejudice, fear and hatred to even begin to listen to the other side."

"This film hits you with a lot all at once," said Moussa Hamad, a sophomore at George Mason University who watched the film for the first time. "This is definitely the time to be showing something like this, when we need to be given hope."

Nominated for a prestigious Oscar Academy award last month for Best Documentary and winner for Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival, "Promises" is the work of Goldberg and his fellow directors Justine Shapiro and Carlos Bolado from 1997 to 2000. The trio decided to travel to Jerusalem and the West Bank shortly after the Oslo accord because, as Goldberg says in the film, "no one was asking the children what they thought of the peace process."

Goldberg, who speaks fluent Hebrew and conversational Arabic, appears throughout the film eliciting the views of the youngsters and describing their daily lives and environments. At times he probes the deep-seated feelings of hostility and bitterness on both sides.

In the film, a Israeli boy named Moishe from the West Bank settlement of Beit-el says of the Palestinians, "They think it's their land, but we know it's ours." A Palestinian boy named Mahmoud who lives in Jerusalem observes a Jewish festival, saying, "They're celebrating as if this is their land, but it's ours."

Despite this legacy of mistrust, some of the children in the film agree to meet one another, with Goldberg serving as translator and intermediary. Israeli twins named Yarko and Daniel, seventh-graders from a secular family, travel to the Deheishe refugee camp, just 20 minutes away but separated by military checkpoints and a vast cultural divide. At the camp, the twins and their Arab counterparts Faraj and Sanabel are able to engage in a playful wrestling match and discuss feelings of anger and fear of the other.

While the film did not offer any long-term answers to the Middle East conflict, many viewers in Washington gleaned from it a hopeful message.

"You saw the sentiment of the children at the end, how anxious they were for more talking to occur," said James Covey, a high school student. "That's what needs to be worked on. If you can create the connections between ordinary people, it will be much easier for the leaders to build on."

Alan Lipman, executive director of Georgetown University Center for the Study of Violence, agreed. "I was most struck by how much, in spite of the environment and history of hatred, how much these kids wanted to get together," he said. "Somehow that overrode everything they had heard and everything that had been drummed into them at some point."

Shamil Idriss, who helped organize the screening and discussion, said he was pleased with the large turnout. Idriss is the chief operating officer at Search for Common Ground, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to conflict resolution and based in both Washington and Brussels.

"That you are all here tonight says you care about the situation [in the Middle East]," he said. "In light of the horrific week in the region, that may seem like a small thing, but it's a start."

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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