Disturbing the Peace

Before watching this film, I didn't know much about the Israeli occupation of Palestine other than the bits I saw on the news. The film was informative: it clearly explained the conflict. But then, it went deeper and explored how both Palestinians and Israelis alike are affected by the conflict. Individuals are profiled and many have dramatic stories about how they made a complete 180 in their lives to move from violence and towards seeking peace. Seeing individuals from both sides of the conflict put down their weapons and strive for peace was inspiring. The film gave me a new view on peace: peace isn't just stopping and putting down your weapon, it's actively working towards change and peace for all. Peace takes work and this film show that very clearly, leaving me educated and inspired. This is more than a movie, it's the start of a movement towards peace.

As a peace activist,had hoped it would be inspiring,but instead noted how easily can shape the narrative under guise of "promoting peace." Shown IDF soldiers juxtaposed to Palestinian civilians,"military might" vs mother/daughter snuggling. I wonder why Mr. Apkon chose to OMIT any images of Pal military. Was it an accident that Hamas/Islamic Jihad,etc were completely absent?! And all due to"the occupation"?- how explain the hatred,rejectionism and violence initiated by the Palestinians well before 1967??Makes soldiers appear buffoons vs. Puppet parade by wall seeking to limit suicide bombing. Wow.

On a purely factual level there's not a lot new in this documentary about striving for a just peace on both sides in Israel/Palestine – even for an interested lay person who follows the news with any focus.

But that doesn't keep the film from being both extremely important and deeply moving.

Seeing these men and women who had been filled with hate, ready to kill or die for their 'side', but who now fight for peace and understanding brings back memories of Gandhi, Martin Luther King and others who understood that we are all human, that we all grieve our dead and that our shared humanities are far more important than our differences.

We get to know elite Israeli soldiers who risk the hatred and contempt of their countrymen by refusing to fight in the occupied territories after witnessing the death and destruction they've caused. They refuse to be occupiers.

On the other side we meet Palestinians like the woman who was inches away from becoming a suicide bomber before coming to understand that the people she would kill would leave behind grieving mothers no different than those she sees all around her in Palestine. She refuses to be a terrorist.

And in these many stories of saying 'no' to violence, hate and death, 'yes' to kindness, empathy and working together towards understanding the film provides a tremendously powerful sense of hope – not only for this troubled region, but for the human species as a whole.

You know the answer. Absolutely nothing ... and yet still even within a country you have people fighting each other. And how is it possible? If you brainwash people enough, if you tell them at school, at home, but especially from the head of state, that the "others" are the enemy, they are objects to be destroyed ... and when you see the news and think "an eye for an eye", then you get into a death spiral that is almost impossible to escape.

While the recent actions from USA (or rather the current President Trump), did nothing to help the situation - quite the opposite happenned with their actions ... people within the country, Palestinians and Israelis try to find a way to each other. I had heard from an organization that tried to bring victims together. So parents who lost their children, either by a terrorist attack or by the army, are not out for revenge, but try to break that cycle.

Whatever your take and whoever you think is in the right overall, the right thing would be to bury the hatchet. But the big question is how to do it? And is it possible for this movement to achieve what politics were not able to do? We will see ... and let's hope it does. For the people who live there foremost and have to endure this ...

The film is about former enemy combatants--Israeli soldiers from elite units and Palestine fighters, many who have served years in prison--who have joined together to challenge the war mentality and say "enough". Their journeys from soldiers committed to armed battle to nonviolent peace activists lead to the creation of Combatants for Peace. Although the film deals primarily with the Israel-Palestine conflict, it's application is really universal. It is quite magnificent and we got to dialog with Stephen Apkon afterward, via Skype. He is an incredible human being, an inspiration to me. The film has wide distribution throughout the world and hopefully will become a template for the human race moving toward a peaceful co-coexistence. I highly recommend it and will see if I can buy it from Combatants for Peace.