News

February 14, 2009

Dear All:
On this the deeply irritating day of fake love; Valentines Day, I write to you all in an attempt to begin to explain the journey to the Mideast and what I found.

I found beauty and I found the trouble, the deep, deep trouble blocking the process that I so naively believed, when dreaming of the peace camp and when creating the documentary, that I could ameliorate.

I understand even more than before, that the job is bigger than the little peace camp and the little documentary, BUT I remain committed to carrying on in some manner, to help connect these amazing young women and other people and these ideas of building bridges between a yawning and growing divide... and to hope that one person at a time is the way to truly make a difference.

We filmed every day. And worked long hours. Some descriptions of what we filmed:

Haneen who lives in the West Bank has de-friended all her Israeli friends from Facebook. Amit takes Haneen's de-friend personally, though Haneen insists it is not personal it is just that she cannot practice her coexistence right now. She promises to go back to it. Shir is sad that she failed to keep in touch properly, with Bessan. (So are all the other girls for that matter). Hawad is emboldened by the loss of Bessan and has committed to use her ability to speak all 3 languages to help bridge the gap further.

Getting Haneen out of the West Bank was unbelievably problematic. I was never able to get her the permit she needed to come to Jerusalem and In the end we all met in Beit Jalla, which posed a last minute problem because we discovered that the girls with Israeli passports needed a permit, which we had no time to find and so after much discussion, they decided to risk trouble and potential arrest by the IDF and they went. This event enlightened them to the daily-same struggle for people like Haneen and Bessan who live behind a fences and walls and rules and laws that prevent their ease of travel.

We drove to Erez crossing and saw the blimp that hovers over the area, the blimp that must have watched Bessan and her family night and day, spying and telling stories. It was an eery sight. We saw the indescribable wall in Bethlehem and Ramallah and other roads and towns, that divides families and people from their work and entering into Israel. And when you see it, well when I saw it, I was struck by the idea that a wall that tall cannot make a good neighbor... it is hard for me to believe it does. {These are some snapshots but we filmed much more}.

I went to the to see Shatha, Bessan's sister. I called her Jr. Bessan at camp because they looked and acted so alike.
I visited with Izzeldin several times and discovered that he wishes for me to come to Gaza to see more of their lives there, and to interview Bessan's college friends and other family members who knew her whole life. He has inspired me to create a document that will, as he says: honor all the poor and suffering in Gaza, through Bessan's sad ending.

It is hard to know which way to make this project work. But Herb, my friend and editor and I will create a proper plan.
I need to go back and film more, not just because of Izzeldin's wishes but because there is so much more to speak of.

Movies have been made about the wall and the occupation and terrorism and the IDF, so I am avoiding repeating those themes, though they enter into each and every conversation.

I have to start writing for grants and finding money to go back and finish up.

I appreciate your help and your notes and your hopeful thoughts in the journey to create this new part.

The true search is: how to inspire transformation... and create hope in a rather absurd and hopeless environment.
Not giving up... just tired.

Debra

More updates on the website soon.

Below a picture of our friend, Bessan
.