Additional Information:
Many people have asked me why I decided to
get involved in this project – what was the impetus? I suppose I would
say that it was when I came across the previously referenced quote by Poland’s
most celebrated foreign correspondent. A master of literary reportage,
Kapuściński spent his life reporting on Asia, Latin America, Iran and
Africa; his passion for attempting to understand the broader world in
all its multiplicity has served as an inspiration to me. That I was
fortunate enough to have met him at the beginning of this project has
helped me stay the course, particularly since he died this year.
Why David Grossman and Elias Khoury is often another question? The answer is simple: Despite their differences, both men have written extensively on the need to acknowledge the 'other,' even if the 'other' is your enemy. Their writing (journalism, essays, novels, plays and children’s stories) has frequently focused on the importance of “seeing the enemy from within.” As David Grossman has often been quoted, “How can I expect the 'other' to understand my fears and anxieties, if I don’t attempt to understand theirs?” And as Elias Khoury says in this film regarding the impact of the conflict, “When you hurt the 'other', you hurt yourself because the 'other' is a part of you…”
One of the things in which I’m particularly interested is what the film reveals about the power of empathy – of our ability to see and identify ourselves in the stories of the other – as a key stepping stone, perhaps for writing a new story – one that leaves the door open for peace. Meanwhile, I would like to think that this project has been produced in the spirit of non-partisanship. Rather than focusing on the past, the film focuses on the present, in its insistence that it is essential to end the occupation by working towards a peaceful resolution to the issues that underlie the conflict. In this way, the film hopes to reach as broad an audience as possible.
In addition to traditional public television audiences, this film is aimed at the more than 5 million American Jews living in the US and the 4 million plus Arab-Americans primarily from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. Increasingly, these communities are expressing their unease over the desperate state of the conflict and the threat of the larger Middle East spillover. As a result, in addition to its broadcast airing and any theatrical screenings, the film will also have a parallel life including comprehensive pre- and post-broadcast outreach opportunities targeted to audiences through a website, screenings, and video modules that can be integrated into teaching curriculums and community partnerships with schools and universities, local and national organizations that raise awareness levels as to the need for increased dialogue and co-existence /contact between these (inter-faith) communities as a means of developing respect and empathy for the other -- key components of non-violent communication and conflict resolution.
Finally, the film hopes to concentrate on the terrible human toll the conflict is exacting with particular emphasis placed on the children (Palestinian and Israeli) already so severely wounded by psychic scars. That Grossman, Khoury and generations before them had to sacrifice their lives to this war is profoundly sad. With that in mind, the film asks: Must these children also be forced to spend their whole lives in war, continually defining themselves in terms of the conflict? Just imagine the myriad of possibilities available to them if they don’t have to waste their precious energy on this already decades-old tragedy.
Broadcast date: Not available at this time