Promises Essay

Tomas Shermer

Mr. Hertz

English 2

30 April 2013

Promises

        People who are enemies should try to get a better understanding of the others point of view. The film Promises by B.Z. Goldberg documents the lives of several Jewish and Palestinian children between the years of 1995 and 1998. The children of the film all offered their own perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace process. If enemies see each other’s point of view, then they will have a better chance of thinking of the conflicts they have with their enemy differently than before.  The film, Promises, identifies the social phenomenon of how groups of people, or nations who are in conflict develop stereotypes about the ‘’other’’ without really understanding or believing much about the “others” social beliefs or personal points of view.

        The fundamental problem between the Jews and the Palestinians is that both of their spiritual belief systems started in the same geographic part of the world.  Both the Jews and Muslims want Jerusalem as their capital.  They are both angry with each other because they have been fighting over this piece of land for thousands of years and both sides feel that they have sacrificed enough. The Jews think of Jerusalem as the “heart of their religion” because that was where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac. The Muslims feel that it is their sacred land because they believe their religion was born here and that Mohammed tied his horse to the Western Wall.  The central conflict is that both Jews and Muslims want the same piece of land.  This has led to many years of bloodshed and deep resentment. That is why B.Z. Goldberg decided to create a very risky film that had three Palestinians and four Jews meet to learn about each other in hope that they would be able to see each other less as enemies and more as human beings.  Goldberg specifically decided on using Palestinian and Jewish children because they are the people of the future.  He felt that he could improve the world, even a little bit, if he could bring these children together.

       The movie starts with an interview of a Palestinian boy named Faraj. He tells a very sad story of how a young friend from his town, who was involved in many protests, was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier after only throwing a rock at him. Faraj then says that he thinks that Jerusalem is  rightfully the Palestinians’.  He also says that he believes that the Israelis already stole part of their land and their next target is going to be Jerusalem.  B.Z. Goldberg then asks Faraj if it would be alright to have him and two Israeli twins talk with each other on the phone. Goldberg felt that this could be the first step to having the three of them meet.   Goldberg knew that both the twins and Faraj loved sports and he thought it might help them become friends if they had a good fun activity in common. Faraj ended up having a long chat with the twins on the phone whose names were Daniel and Yarko.  They all discovered that they loved pizza and they talked about which sports they loved to play.

        The next week Goldberg had a group of Palestinians: Faraj, a refugee girl Sanabel, and a Palestinian boy living in East Jerusalem, Mahmoud, meet up with Israelis.   The Israelis were Moishe, a Jewish boy in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem Shlomo, and Israeli twin boys Daniel and Yarko.   Goldberg brought them all together to play and discuss with each other their own viewpoints on how they think life should be. This might have been the most important part of the film because the children got a chance to spend a lot of time with each other.

        One of the most moving parts of the film was when the Palestinians children took the Israeli children on a tour around their neighborhood.  The Palestinian children taught the Israeli children that they live in a dangerous world by showing them doors in their neighborhood that had bullet holes in them.   The Israeli twins told how suicide bombers would blow up bombs on buses or in public areas.  The Israelis didn’t feel safe either as they always had to look out for bombers.  As they told each other how hard their lives were they each began to comprehend each other’s difficulty.   

        By the end of the movie the children and adults had discussed many things about the way they live and in what ways they could make their future better. Some of the kids got along really well and became friends.   They started writing each other letters every week about how their sports seasons were going and what life was like.   Years later, Faraj moved to the United States, was working at Wal-Mart, and was saving money for college.  All of the other kids stayed in their home towns.

        There has been a great amount of conflict over who is the rightful owner of Jerusalem, but as the film demonstrates if enemies have a chance to talk with each other they can learn from one another and begin to understand each others point of view. If they can understand each other it gives them at least a chance of reconciliation.  

Bibliography

• Promises. Director B.Z. Goldberg. Perfs. Moishe Bar Am, Raheli Bar Am, Faraj Adnan Hassan Husein, Mahmode Mazen. Cowboy Pictures, 2001. DVD
• Salamar, Julie. "The Promises Film Project." The Promises Film Project - Screenings and Tape Sales. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.promisesproject.org/nyt.html>.

• Varma, Sujit R. "Promises." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282864/>.
• Symon, Fiona. BBC News. BBC, 12 Apr. 2001. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/issues/1682594.stm>.
• "The Promises Film Project." The Promises Film Project - The Film. The Promises Film Project, 2003. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.promisesproject.org/film.html>.