{"id":207783,"date":"2016-08-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T19:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=207783"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:23:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:23:58","slug":"auto-insert-207783","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-207783\/","title":{"rendered":"UN International Media Seminar on Peace in Middle East (Pretoria,South Africa, 31 Aug. – 2 Sept. 2016) – Opening session, Panels I-II – Press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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31 AUGUST 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PAL\/2202-PI\/2180<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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AM & PM Meetings<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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International Media Seminar on Peace in Middle East Opens in Pretoria<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PRETORIA, 31 August \u2014 The 2016 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East opened in Pretoria today, with well-known film-makers, journalists, politicians, academics and other experts exploring new ways to narrate the complex and evolving story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The three-day seminar will tackle a variety of issues, with a special focus on visual media and film technologies. \u00a0Organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information, in cooperation with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa and the Embassy of Sweden, the Seminar\u2019s first day featured two panel discussions on \u201cprospects for a political solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u201d and on \u201cthe Israel-Palestine story in documentaries and film\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a video message to participants, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Organization counted on the media to explain to the world that durable peace in the Middle East would only be achieved through a negotiated, just and comprehensive two-State solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For a quarter century, he said, the annual media seminars had promoted dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, bringing together journalists and others to discuss how local and international media could fairly cover the Middle East.\u00a0 They had stressed the need to avoid \u201cfanning the flames\u201d of hatred and violence and instead, build bridges of understanding and respect. \u00a0\u201cThe lives and aspirations of millions of people are at stake,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, in opening remarks read by Margaret Novicki, Acting Director of the Department of Public Information\u2019s Strategic Communications Division, said the annual seminars aimed at achieving two goals:\u00a0 to debate media-related narratives of the Israel-Palestine story and to raise awareness about the question of Palestine.\u00a0 It had become an annual occasion to enhance dialogue, advance peace and promote tolerance and understanding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Over the next three days, she said, participants would have the opportunity to discuss media trends connected to the situation and the region.\u00a0 \u201cIf you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy,\u201d she said, quoting former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. \u00a0\u201cThen he becomes your partner.\u201d\u00a0 In that spirit, she looked forward to hearing from participants and encouraged them to engage with the panellists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a similar vein, Ebrahim Saley, Deputy Director General of Global Governance, Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, said the 2016 Seminar was the first to be held in a sub-Saharan African country. \u00a0In highlighting the collapse of the peace process and the grave humanitarian situation, he reminded participants of the need to do more to ensure that peace prevailed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Indeed, he said, it had been seven decades that the region\u2019s people had endured insecurity and violence, stressing that civil society, journalists and Governments bore a collective responsibility to ensure that the defunct peace process did not remain the \u201cproverbial tear in the eye of the international community\u201d. \u00a0The media, especially, must be the \u201chonest eyes and fair ears\u201d of the international community on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As the world prepared to commemorate 50\u00a0years of Israeli occupation, he recalled General Assembly resolution\u00a02202A\u00a0(XXI) of\u00a01966, which had activated the international campaign to end racial discrimination in South Africa. \u00a0\u201cToday, we are able to meet here in a democratic, free South Africa,\u201d he said.\u00a0 The father of that nation, Nelson Mandela, had cautioned that South Africans could not truly be free if Palestinians were not truly free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Karin Hernmarck Ahliny, Charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires of the Embassy of Sweden, stressed that \u201cnarratives have power\u201d. \u00a0The two-State solution was at risk amid violence, settlement expansion and the demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure. \u00a0She called for unimpeded access to Gaza and respect for international humanitarian law, pressing the international community to create new dynamics to end the occupation.\u00a0 The Security Council must uphold its resolutions and the Charter of the United Nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf the international community is serious about its commitment to the two-State solution, there is important work to do,\u201d she said, expressing hope that the Seminar would assist in that endeavour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Also speaking in the opening segment today was Momar Diop, Ambassador of Senegal to South Africa, who delivered a statement on behalf of Fod\u00e9 Seck, Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations and Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. \u00a0\u201cWe particularly rely on the multiplying effects of the media\u201d in giving a human face to Palestinians\u2019 daily struggles against 50\u00a0years of foreign occupation and denial of their rights, he said.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to show young Israelis and Palestinians that the international community has not forgotten them\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 2016 International Media Seminar will reconvene at 9:30\u00a0a.m. on Thursday, 1\u00a0September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening Remarks<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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EBRAHIM SALEY, Deputy Director General of Global Governance, Department of International Relations and Cooperation of\u00a0South Africa<\/u>, said it was an honour to host the 2016 Seminar, as it was the first time the meeting was being held in a sub-Saharan African country. \u00a0South Africa supported its goal to heighten awareness of the situation on the ground in Palestine and to discuss new ways for civil society and the media to help to foster honest and fair dialogue. \u00a0The Seminar brought together various civil society, journalists and Governments, who bore the collective responsibility to ensure that the defunct peace process did not remain the \u201cproverbial tear in the eye of the international community\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For its part, he said, the United Nations had played important role in reminding the world of the goal of Palestinians realizing a legitimate and independent State, free of occupation. \u00a0In highlighting the collapse of the peace process and the grave humanitarian situation, especially for the people of Gaza, the annual seminar was a pivotal reminder of the need to do more to ensure that peace and security prevailed in the Middle East. \u00a0Indeed, it had been seven decades that the region\u2019s people had endured insecurity and violence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In that context, he said, the media had a responsibility to bring the \u201chonest eyes and fair ears\u201d of the international community on the ground. \u00a0Through the media, the world had a glimpse of the conditions affecting both sides of the conflict. \u00a0The seminar offered an opportunity to address the challenges faced by the media, often enduring harassment simply for doing their jobs. \u00a0It could be argued that the world suffered from a general sense of helplessness in addressing the question of Palestine and peace in the Middle East, especially amid the brutal war in the region. \u00a0With the rise of terrorist groups and resultant humanitarian disasters caused by them, the question of Palestine had almost been averted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As the world prepared to commemorate 50\u00a0years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, he said, the annual seminars aimed at sensitizing public opinion on the question of Palestine and on efforts \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 to address the situation on the ground.\u00a0 South Africa had benefited from the United Nations role against apartheid, notably with its resolution endorsing a statement that had called for an international campaign against apartheid through a three-tiered approach:\u00a0 pressuring the Government to end oppressive policies; assisting apartheid victims; and mandating the Secretary-General to disseminate reliable information to sensitize world public opinion about the Government\u2019s discriminatory policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Among other things, he said, that resolution had established a committee against apartheid and a centre.\u00a0 Indeed, the entire United Nations system had geared towards an international campaign to end racial discrimination through the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist society.\u00a0 Among its techniques was to organize scores of international conferences and seminars throughout the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cToday, we are able to meet here in a democratic, free South Africa,\u201d he said. \u00a0He recalled that the father of that society, Nelson Mandela, had said South Africans could not truly be free if Palestinians were not truly free.\u00a0 That idea had compelled the world to support initiatives aimed at bringing the focus back to the unresolved conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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KARIN HERNMARCK AHLINY, Charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires of the Embassy of\u00a0Sweden<\/u>, stressing that \u201cnarratives have power\u201d, said the seminar aimed at framing a narrative that was conducive to peace.\u00a0 The year 2017 would mark 50\u00a0years of the occupation of Palestine and everyone was aware of the urgency of the current situation. \u00a0The two-State solution was seriously at risk amid violence, settlement expansion and the demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure.\u00a0 She called for changes that would increase economic opportunities and empower Palestinian institutions, stressing that all acts of violence against civilians were despicable.\u00a0 Only by addressing the underlying causes of the conflict would people in Israel and Palestine be able to live in dignity.\u00a0 \u201cThis is in the interest of both parties,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The situation in Gaza was critical, she continued, stressing that, in the coming years, the lack of drinking water would be irreversible.\u00a0 Gaza\u2019s isolation must end and new construction must be fast-tracked.\u00a0 She called for unimpeded access to Gaza and respect for international humanitarian law.\u00a0 To save the two-State solution, the international community must move from words to action and create new dynamics to end the occupation.\u00a0 Sweden supported the French initiative to hold an international peace conference and was encouraged by increased public activity in that context. \u00a0For its part, the Security Council had a central role to play by upholding its resolutions and the Charter of the United Nations. \u00a0\u201cIf the international community is serious about its commitment to the two-State solution, there is important work to do,\u201d she said, expressing hope that the seminar would assist in that endeavour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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MARGARET NOVICKI, Acting Director of the Strategic Communications Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information, speaking on behalf of Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said that, for a quarter century, the seminar had worked to achieve two goals:\u00a0 to debate media-related narratives of the Israel-Palestine story and to raise awareness about the question of Palestine.\u00a0 It had become an annual occasion to enhance dialogue, advance peace and promote tolerance and understanding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the coming days, she said, participants would have the opportunity to engage in discussions on the recent media trends connected to the situation and the region, she said.\u00a0 The Department had put together a rich programme that would tackle a variety of issues with a special focus on visual media and film technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Politicians and diplomats would explore the prospects for a political solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, she said, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.\u00a0 Well-known film\u2011makers would review the Israel-Palestine story as expressed through documentaries, while comedians and writers would help participants understand the role of political satire in peacemaking.\u00a0 Virtual reality practitioners would take them to a new frontier of storytelling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The seminar would also feature a screening of the animated documentary,\u00a0The Wanted 18<\/i>. \u00a0Participants would hear from impressive speakers from the Middle East, South Africa and around the world:\u00a0 politicians, journalists, film-makers, comedians, experts and academics.\u00a0 \u201cIf you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy,\u201d she said, quoting former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. \u00a0\u201cThen he becomes your partner.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Panel I<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Participants started the day with a panel discussion titled \u201cprospects for a political solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u201d.\u00a0 Moderated by Ebrahim Ebrahim, Parliamentary Counsellor to the President of South Africa, it featured presentations by: \u00a0Leila Shahid, former Palestinian Ambassador to the European Union; Steven Friedman, Director, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Johannesburg; and advocate Doctor Mashabane, Chief Director, United Nations Political, Peace and Security Unit in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr.\u00a0EBRAHIM opened the discussion recalling that South Africa had worked to resolve apartheid through dialogue, negotiation and reconciliation. \u00a0South Africans had a story to tell and could share their experience with countries that were in racial and ethnic conflict. \u00a0The Government had appointed special envoys to understand how South Africa could best share its experience, citing their meetings with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and others in Cuba during peace talks. \u00a0They also shared South Africa\u2019s experience with parties in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, he said, underlining that South Africa had one of the freest media on the continent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms.\u00a0SHAHID said that, for Palestinians, South Africa\u2019s struggle for independence, democracy, good governance and equity was a reason for hope, as they had seen how long and painful the process had been.\u00a0 \u201cPalestine is not a conflict,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cWe are not equals. \u00a0Maybe we thought we were, but we were wrong.\u00a0 We are under occupation.\u201d \u00a0The meaning of their struggle in public opinion, as addressed by the media, amounted to more than only kilometres along a border.\u00a0 Palestinians were a population fighting an army.\u00a0 Media had an important role in finding new ways of talking about Palestine and Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For its part, she said, the United Nations was perceived as talking too diplomatically, whether about the media or the concepts of liberation and decolonization.\u00a0 A new vocabulary was needed.\u00a0 Media was the most direct way to the heart, and thus, essential for Palestine, which was not in a conflict situation like others around the world. \u00a0What was important was coexistence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Oslo Process, she said, had failed because it had not been implemented. \u00a0While the mutual recognition and the step-by-step approach it offered to State\u2011building was a \u201ckosher\u201d or \u201chalal\u201d solution, it had failed because five Israeli Governments, since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, had carried out an \u201costrich\u201d policy. \u00a0And while the Palestinian Authority had seen there was no implementation, it had never demanded that Israel respected its commitment.\u00a0 Peace prospects had disappeared amid new agendas about the result.\u00a0 In the fight against terrorism, Israel was seen as one of the good guys. \u00a0As such, a new narrative was needed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She went on to describe the gap in Palestine between the elite and the population, with the media being an active part of civil society that spoke about reality. \u00a0Palestinians had lived in better conditions before the Oslo Process had divided their land in to areas\u00a0A, B and\u00a0C, the aim of which had been to fragment the land and undermine civil society.\u00a0 Families between Nablus and Hebron had not seen each other in 20\u00a0years. \u00a0\u201cWe have regressed\u201d in a dangerous political, anthropological and sociological sense, she said.\u00a0 Israel had created facts on the ground under the cover of the Oslo Process. \u00a0She advocated implementation of the more than 400\u00a0United Nations resolutions, questioning their worth if they remained disrespected. \u00a0Implementation required courage, political will and accountability. \u00a0As long as sanctions were not taken against Israel, the occupation would continue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr.\u00a0FRIEDMAN said the discussion of peace and conflict resolution had become ritualized, with speeches about peace and compromise, despite that the conditions needed to make them possible were nowhere in sight. \u00a0People had often gathered annually to decry the absence of peace at institutions that had failed to create the necessary conditions.\u00a0 One reason there was no real peace process was that there was no neutral party in the conflict. \u00a0One side had operated with impunity, and given that, he questioned whether it was reasonable to expect the other side to negotiate. \u00a0It had become compulsory to announce that the outcome must be a two-State solution.\u00a0 Negotiations had been pre-empted by an idea that there was only one possible outcome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said relations between the parties were the furthest from those needed for good faith negotiations than had been seen in 70\u00a0years.\u00a0 The more Israel\u2019s impunity continued, the more Israeli politics had shifted in ways that made resolution impossible.\u00a0 Today, senior Israelis talked about the birth of Israeli fascism. \u00a0Those expressing concern were members of the old military and security establishment who were being marginalized and removed.\u00a0 Even the limited ability to address Palestinian demands, which had existed, was being removed by an establishment that was not interested in compromise.\u00a0 The reason why political conditions in Israel were moving against prospects for negotiations was due to a new balance of power in which Israel \u201ccould do anything and get away with it\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Moreover, he said, academics, lay people and politicians in Western countries held the view was that everyone was entitled to rights, \u201cas long as that human being was not Palestinian\u201d. \u00a0In France, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, attempts to criminalize the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement were a gross violation of the basic tenets of liberal democracy, including freedom of speech.\u00a0 \u201cLiberal democracies do not ban peaceful expression of speech,\u201d he said. \u00a0The claim that support for the Palestinian cause was anti-Semitic was false\u00a0\u2014 the equivalent to saying the fight against apartheid was anti-white.\u00a0 He advocated shifting the balance of power by ending Israel\u2019s impunity.\u00a0 The international community must become an honest broker, committed not to supporting one side against another, but rather, taking an even-handed approach to fostering open-ended negotiation between the parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. MASHABANE also drew attention to ritualism at the United Nations, recalling that the Palestinian question was as old as the Organization itself.\u00a0 Many had called on the United Nations to be the centre of gravity in resolving the Palestinian question. \u00a0However, the balance of power had had a direct impact on the Organization.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Israeli-Palestinian question also was intertwined with United States domestic politics and not much would happen between now and December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the United Nations, he said, the Palestinian question was addressed by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the General Assembly Fourth Committee (Special, Political and Decolonization) and the Security Council, among others. \u00a0\u201cThe United Nations has been reduced to a talk shop,\u201d he said. \u00a0The Non-Aligned Movement also had a committee on Palestine, of which South Africa was a member.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said the lack of action was not due to a lack of international consensus. \u00a0United Nations resolutions had formed an international customary law which had been routinely violated with impunity by one State.\u00a0 In Security Council consultations, the Secretariat often displayed a map of conflict areas, except in discussions on Palestine, during which nothing was displayed to outline borders. \u00a0While South Africa supported a two-State solution, the reality was that it would soon be difficult to talk about a two-State solution for reasons that were based on ground conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Taken together, he said, those actions spoke to a broader effort to reduce the viability of a Palestinian State in favour of an Israeli Jewish one that could not be characterized as democratic.\u00a0 Linking the Palestinian question to regional security was also an issue, as the latter would not be solved without first tackling the former.\u00a0 It was important for the media to pick up on issues such as the Gaza blockade, as they brought to light violations of international law and the United Nations Charter itself.\u00a0 While he supported initiatives, including by France, that aimed at reviving the peace process, he said rarely heard were words such as \u201chere and now\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When the floor was then opened for discussion, a participant from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in South Africa said that while Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions efforts should be commended, it was unfair to burden civil society with such a movement. \u00a0Countries must do a better job of aligning their policies with their international legal obligations. \u00a0Settlement-building must be a starting point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms.\u00a0SHAHID said she could not agree more.\u00a0 Under country obligations, settlements could not be treated as Israeli sovereignty, which was how a new approach by the European Union \u2014 embodied in the 2020\u00a0guidelines for investment in innovation and technology \u2014 had been reached.\u00a0 Under those legal obligations, the European Union could not fund projects beyond those taking place within recognized borders, which stopped at the Green Line. \u00a0Beyond that was the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority. \u00a0That approach had posed a huge problem for Israel, which viewed it as sabotaging its peacemaking attempts.\u00a0 She applauded international non-governmental organizations, among others, for \u201clifting the veil\u201d on the problem, noting that today, 17\u00a0of the Union\u2019s 28\u00a0countries had implemented their market origin obligations, which stated that settlement products could not be imported without a tax.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The session ended with a behind-the-scenes look at the production of\u00a0My Mother\u2019s Wing<\/i>, a virtual reality film presented by Kristin Gutenkunst, Project Manager at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign, which had produced the documentary in Gaza. \u00a0The video had been shown in United Nations workshops for young people who, motivated by the cause, had organized themselves to do fundraising. \u00a0The United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) also had tested the film in 40\u00a0countries and found that it had doubled the effectiveness of its own fundraising efforts. \u00a0Her office was working to make the film more widely available to the public and partnering with organizations around the world towards that end.\u00a0 \u201cEducation is a building block for creating empathy,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Panel II<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The seminar held a second panel discussion on \u201cthe Israel-Palestine story in documentaries and films\u201d.\u00a0 Moderated by Kaha Imnadze, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Committee on Information, it featured presentations by: \u00a0Emma Alpert, Public Engagement Manager, Just Vision; Imad Burnat, film director of\u00a05 Broken Cameras<\/i>; Sello Motsei, filmmaker; Majd Nassar of the\u00a0The Wanted 18<\/i>; and Tamar Yarom, film director of\u00a0To See if I\u2019m Smiling<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms. ALPERT said Just Vision had created strategic media and outreach campaigns that aimed at changing the narrative around the Israeli-Palestinian issue. \u00a0It had been founded in\u00a02003 after interviewing hundreds of people who felt their efforts had been invisible.\u00a0 \u201cThe stories that typically make headlines tell a more top-down narrative\u201d of political stagnation, failed negotiations or escalation of violence and extremism, she said. \u00a0Those working at the grass-roots level to change their communities were often left out of the coverage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For 12\u00a0years, Just Vision had documented those stories through feature-length and short documentaries, one of which was hand delivered to United States President Barak Obama.\u00a0 Among other efforts, it had created an Arabic graphic novel about a 15-year-old woman who led a women\u2019s contingent in the resistance movement.\u00a0 It also had established a Hebrew language platform \u2014 Global Call \u2014 to highlight Israeli media stories about the occupation and movements to increase equality within Israeli society.\u00a0 Research had shown that much of the media coverage around the film\u00a0Budrus<\/i>, which chronicled non-violent protests against the Israeli wall, had been written through a lens of law and order, with the protests construed as a movement that was disrupting peace and therefore must be squashed. \u00a0It also had shown that 91\u00a0per\u00a0cent of the coverage had adopted at least one of the key messages intended to be at the centre of the conversation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. BURNAT said the word \u201cconflict\u201d was a mistaken one, as Palestinians had no military or other armed forces. \u00a0He had lived his entire life under occupation. \u00a0There were not simply two sides fighting each other. \u00a0Rather, his was a complex experience that only those living it could understand.\u00a0 Media was controlled by big countries that only showed the violence. \u00a0\u201cWe face everyday life, many problems that Western people do not know about,\u201d he said.\u00a0 The purpose of\u00a05 Broken Cameras<\/i>\u00a0was to tell his story because the media did not accurately explain peoples\u2019 lives. \u00a0In\u00a02005, wanting to feel part of the non-violent struggle against occupation, he began filming.\u00a0 \u201cThe peaceful struggle is nothing new,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Non-violence had been practised for decades.\u00a0 Children faced soldiers in school. \u00a0There was no place to play. \u00a0His son always asked to go to the sea, a request he routinely was forced to deny, as they did not have any access to it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said that\u00a05 Broken Cameras<\/i>\u00a0had chronicled peaceful protests in the West Bank village of Bil\u2019in against the Israeli wall. \u00a0While it had been released in Israel, he did not see a political solution to the conflict in the current context.\u00a0 He questioned the Government of Israel\u2019s desire for peace. \u00a0\u201cThey control everything,\u201d he said, noting that if the United States and European Union were interested in pursuing solutions, they would do so. \u00a0\u201cI want to raise my kids and build them a peaceful life,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cWe are only human.\u00a0 We live in the same world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. NASSAR said he was a physician who had had an opportunity to document a story in\u00a02002, during the Second Intifada.\u00a0 The film,\u00a0The Wanted 18<\/i>, would be shown tomorrow. \u00a0In\u00a01987, Israelis had established curfews and cut phone lines in the West Bank.\u00a0 Between\u00a01988 and\u00a01991, they had closed all Palestinian schools.\u00a0 \u201cWe had to act,\u201d he said, so Palestinians created neighbourhood communities to teach children in garages, gardens, anywhere. \u00a0They took a conscious decision to lower their living standards to withstand the pressure being placed on them. \u00a0\u201cPeople were going in and out of jail as if they were going on a picnic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Society had been transformed, he said.\u00a0 The other transformation was that of power, from the mayors and collaborators to the young people who had orchestrated the protest movements. \u00a0Residents of Beit Sahour had decided to stop buying milk from Israeli companies in a quest for greater self-sufficiency.\u00a0 When the siege ended on 5\u00a0November\u00a01989, visitors from all over the world, including Desmond Tutu from South Africa, had come to Beit Sahour, calling on Israelis to give back the confiscated goods, against other calls by the United States.\u00a0 The struggle was one of a two narratives.\u00a0 \u201cYou cannot talk to\u00a0The New York Times<\/i>, or others. \u00a0They will not listen to you. \u00a0You are not the family. \u00a0They have their own agendas and they make the news. \u00a0The lesson to be learned from the first intifada was that \u2018Palestinians make the news if we want to\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr.\u00a0MOTSEI said that, in visiting Gaza and the West Bank as an outsider in\u00a02009, he had the impression that the former was in better condition than the latter.\u00a0 He wondered whether the occupation was really about Israelis and Palestinians or if it transcended them. \u00a0He concluded that the situation was one of humanity.\u00a0 He was reminded of a story of a man watching his wife cut meat into three parts. \u00a0When he asked why she cut it in that way, she responded that her mother had done so. \u00a0In that context, he asked participants how often they questioned tradition in their storytelling, to imagine being in a foreign country and hearing guns in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He then asked participants to imagine the reality of people living with such violence every day. \u00a0All who had been to the West Bank now must have remembered the check points.\u00a0 How the story of Palestinians was told was informed by those check points.\u00a0 Ensuring that justice prevailed required the entire international community. \u00a0\u201cThe children of Palestine should be our concern,\u201d he said, asking what would inform their world view in the years to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms.\u00a0YAROM said she had been a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces. \u00a0During the first intifada, she had been called to Gaza. \u00a0One night, a fellow soldier had brought her to a basement where a 60-year-old Palestinian man was tied to a generator, his face smeared with blood.\u00a0 Her fellow soldiers were responsible. \u00a0She made a film called\u00a0To See if I\u2019m Smiling<\/i>, interviewing women, like herself, to understand whether their experience had shaken their lives. \u00a0The conversations were personal and painful.\u00a0 \u201cI wanted to make it powerful in order to incite action,\u201d she said, so people would see how terrible the situation was.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She said she had discovered that, although there was much discourse, with panels about women in the territories, the film did not achieve a political result. \u00a0While people were moved by the film, they felt helpless to respond.\u00a0 The occupation had turned into a management job, rather than one that activists believed their efforts could change.\u00a0 In\u00a02011, the Arab Spring was unfolding and in Israel, there were protests for social justice. \u00a0An Israeli journalist had launched a call for a political utopia of an Israel-Palestine confederated State, which resonated with people like herself who needed something to pursue.\u00a0 The wall was not working; it had demonized people. \u00a0\u201cThis is a fight against fear,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

When the floor was opened, participants asked a range of questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms.\u00a0SHAHID commented on the Oslo Process, stressing that films were part of Palestinians\u2019 contemporary history. \u00a0Events unfolded with such speed, which made it all the more important to weave the many experiences of Palestinian communities and the diaspora.\u00a0 \u201cThe worst thing is to be indifferent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mr. BURNAT addressed a question posed by Ahmed Shihab Eldin, Senior correspondent at AJ+, about how he had shared his experiences locally.\u00a0 He said he had wanted to make the film to tell his story. \u00a0It was a surprise that the film had made it to the Oscars and been screened around the world, including at the United Nations in New York, Geneva and Ecuador.\u00a0 It was emotional for people to see how Palestinians lived under occupation. \u00a0While he felt he had made something important, when he saw people lose family members to the war, he felt he had accomplished nothing compared to them.\u00a0 His purpose was to prevent the next generation from living out his experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms. YAROM said, answering a question from another participant from the Boycott, Divest Sanctions movement about the fairness of having Israelis narrate the Palestinian story, that the occupation was also the story of Israelis. \u00a0Her story was from the viewpoint of an Israeli soldier. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a story to tell,\u201d she said.\u00a0 It was a human one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms. ALPERT said it was, indeed, possible for them to address the story especially by addressing the power balance. \u00a0\u201cWhen you are telling a story, it\u2019s not about telling one side and then another,\u201d she said.\u00a0 Certain narratives gained more traction than others. \u00a0Further, it was about breaking down stereotypes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms. YAROM said she understood criticism that the film had sought sympathy for the perpetrator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For information media. Not an official record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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