The Human Factor

The Human Factor documentary is very informative and will be loved by those that are curious about the negotiators of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict during the Clinton Administration, and their efforts to bring compromise and peace. The one-on-one interview setting makes it easier to understand and grasp basic questions of this foreign political situation. And while the film does provide some context in the beginning, you may want to do a little research on the conflict before watching.

I had an unexpectedly emotional reaction to this documentary. Director Dror Moreh cleverly sets a specific tone that grabs the viewer, and then reveals history in a brilliant way. My favorite parts are with the negotiators and their dialogue about their personal firsthand experience being a part of this crucial stage in history. While it is a foreign conflict, we are shown it from the United States' perspective.

I love the music throughout this film, thanks to composer Eugene Levitas! While a lot of scenes were usually serious due to the political dialogue, some scenes added unusually whimsical music to set a certain mood.

The message of this film is really important to understand, especially in the current political climate of the United States. "People just like to demonize the other side. All that is out is the human side, the animosity for each other. And unless (we) are planning on accepting the other side, there is zero hope for a solution." The challenge of any political conflict is building bridges and crushing barriers, and this conflict is no exception. The Human Factor does contain violence, gore, and scenes that depict warfare.

I give The Human Factor 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to ages 13 to 18 as well as adults. You can watch The Human Factor in theatres nationwide on May 7, 2021. Reviewed by Ashleigh C., KIDS FIRST!

Greetings again from the darkness. It's truly (and sadly) the never-ending story. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine has a history of more than one hundred years. Documentarian Dror Moreh was Oscar nominated for his 2012 film "The Gatekeepers", which told the story from the Israeli security perspective, and this time he focuses on the U. S. negotiators' viewpoint. He covers a 30 year time period, but a substantial portion is dedicated to the Clinton administration.

The list of familiar names from Israel includes: Yitzhak Shamir, Ytizhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Bibi Netanyahu, and Ehud Barak. From the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), there is the ever-present Yasser Arafat. And from the United States, we see Jim Baker, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Warren Christopher, and Madeleine Albright. But beyond the names and faces we know, Moreh interviews negotiators such as Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk, Daniel Kurtzer, Robert Malley, and diplomat Galal Hamel for their distinct insight into the years of meetings and attempts at agreement. These interviews blended with the extraordinary archival footage provide more information than an endless stream of newscasts over the last thirty years.

Elections, assassinations, wars, and culture clashes have combined to bring constant shifts to negotiations. We are told that even the language differences creates problems, as each side defines "history" and "future" in their own way. One of the most fascinating segments revolves around the infamous/iconic handshake at the 1993 Oslo Accords. The importance of the handshake was relayed to Rabin, and he was adamant that Arafat not be in uniform, not carry a gun, and that there be no cheek-kisses, which Arafat was known for. So the negotiators came up with "Safari suit" as a description, and the handshake occurred.

Numerous moments like this are discussed by the negotiators, and we realize that posturing and power plays have been the main reason nothing has really changed (hence, the film's title). Peace seemed within grasp in 1995 ... right up until Rabin was assassinated. And the Clinton segment around the failed last gasp of the 2000 Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David is exceptional with its photographs and insight from the interviews.

Moreh has delivered the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at one of the most frustrating global situations, and the negotiators offer insight into the process - and the role played by manipulation, credibility, trust, and empathy. Mostly, we are left with what might have been, and are told "peace" is not even the right word when no solution exists.

"The Human Factor"

There was a time when peace appeared to be just within reach. What went so horribly wrong? The film revisits three decades of an 'Israeli-Arab' peace process from a unique perspective; that of 'The American' mediators, the peacemakers who shuttled between 'Middle East' capitals, spending hours with the region's political heavyweights, prime ministers, generals, ex-terrorists, diplomats, dictators and presidents. These mediators gained intimate knowledge of the individuals and stories which dominated daily news around the world. For all those key figures, some working on the same issue for almost three decades, peace in 'The Middle East' became a personal obsession, a mission which shaped their professional careers, affected their personal lives, and still occupies their minds. The negotiators speak candidly about their experiences alongside never-before-seen, official 'White House' photography that illustrates what really went on behind the scenes in rooms away from photo opportunities. Rich and exposing portraits of world leaders are portrayed as we learn what really went on behind closed doors in meetings between 'U. S.' presidents, 'Israeli', 'Palestinian', and 'Syrian' leaders.

What we observe, for the first time, are first-hand impressions of events that shook the world, not from the perspectives of the conflicting parties involved, or that of politicians who care about their legacy, but from senior civil servants, the negotiators. It's their function to observe, relate, maintain neutrality, and convince both sides of the pressing necessity to resolve decades of brutal violence and turmoil. With the distance of time behind them, the negotiators forensically dissect and examine, now from a critical perspective, their own role as 'Americans' in the process. Some of the most burning questions into these crucial issues are answered with remarkable candor and self-reflection. There's no other conflict in the world where the price of the diplomatic failure was so clearly evident. Today, in the complete absence of any 'Israeli-Palestinian' peace negotiations and the very notion of diplomacy on the wane, the stakes couldn't be higher and the need to learn from past mistakes couldn't be more urgent. "The Human Factor" is the untold, behind-the-scenes story of 'The United States' 30-year effort to secure peace in 'The Middle East', told from the perspective of 'The American' negotiators.

Ultimately, "The Human Factor" is a tragic story, one in which we see 'American' determination and idealism hit an iron wall of deeply entrenched enmities and historical mistrust. Despite their tireless efforts at the pinnacle of international diplomacy, theirs is a story of very human failure filled with disappointment and regret. Even unprecedented 'American' presidential commitment and tireless efforts that produce incremental breakthroughs prove insufficient to produce 'The Middle East' peace they see within their grasp. "The Human Factor" provides us insights and revelations gleaned along this journey and reveals a painful story of hope, idealism, determination, and a historic 'Middle East' moment that may never be replicated. In capturing this unique, fleeting moment encompassing the last decade of 'The 20th Century', the film presents a brutally honest, self-critical, first-person account of the challenges, surprises, and herculean obstacles these peacemakers faced as they tried to help create a new, peaceful 'Middle East'. On November 4th, 1995, Prime Minister Rabin was shot. 25 years of work trying to achieve peace between 'Israel' and it's 'Arab' neighbors, not what happened in front of the camera but behind the scenes, with the leaders and the other 'American' negotiators. This is a story with global impact. We feel a deep desire to really understand why although a huge 'American' effort had been invested into the peace process, all attempts to reach peace went so badly wrong since that horrible November night.

For more than thirty years, no issue mattered more than trying to make peace between 'Israel' and it's neighbors. This is not simply an exercise in negotiations between parties in an ongoing conflict. In historic conflicts where the collective mentality is zero-sum and each side's mythologies are deeply embedded, compromise with the other is politically and emotionally excruciating. Setbacks are, thus, far more common than advances, and the mediator has to believe enough in the importance of settling the conflict to endure all the disappointments. Anyone who thinks that the current breakthroughs between 'The UAE,' 'Bahrain' and 'Israel' would have happened without 'The Oslo' process misunderstands the region. If 'Palestinians' can deal with 'Israelis', given their existential conflict, it's okay for others to do so as well. Of course, the emergence of common threat perceptions of 'Iran' and 'The Muslim Brotherhood' accelerated this process. And, now, ironically, the message is that 'The Palestinians' cannot freeze the region and prevent individual 'Arab' states from pursuing their own national interests. 'Palestinians' need to adjust their thinking and see how growing 'Arab' ties to 'Israel' can be a bridge for them and not a bypass road for excluding them. 'Israelis', too, must see these ties as not only good in themselves, but also do provide a bridge for breaking the stalemate with 'The Palestinians'. At the end of the day, 'The Palestinians' are not going away. Neither are 'The Israelis', and the human factor in negotiations and between societies must come to the fore. Revisiting history can bring back disappointment and aspirations. We hope that future generations can learn that seizing opportunities is the main responsibility of leaders and nations.

Looking back now over more than two decades of involvement in 'US' efforts in 'Israeli- Palestinian' peacemaking, we haven't given up hope that at some point a conflict-ending solution might be found; but we've given up our illusions. What's required more than anything else, leaders on both sides who are masters not prisoners of their political constituencies and ideologies willing to recognize the needs of the other, is rarely present. It's no coincidence that the three breakthroughs in 'The Arab-Israeli' conflict; 'Israel-Egypt'; 'Israel-Palestinians'; 'Israel-Jordan', occurred secretly without the foreknowledge of 'The United States'. Once the parties crossed that threshold and are invested in their negotiations, then and only then is 'America' able to play a useful role; and even then far too often, especially in 'Israeli-Palestinian' negotiations, we favored 'Israeli' positions over those of The Palestinians' who at any rate hewed to a narrative that 'Israel' wouldn't accept. Indeed when we failed it's almost always a result of looking at the world the way we want it to be rather than the way it actually is. We've to be more honest with ourselves we might have realized that the gaps that separated 'Israelis' and 'Palestinians' are simply too large to be bridged. And that however well-intentioned our efforts, 'The US' couldn't replace the lack of political will on their part with our own. Under these conditions, the idea that failure is not an option resulted in an outcome where failure is the only option.

But there should have been no purpose, and there has been considerable harm, in adding to their real mistakes a list of fictional ones. 'The Israeli' side bears significant responsibility for failure too. It's offer is far below what any 'Palestinian' leader could accept, and it's all-or-nothing approach inevitably led to a predictable result; nothing. Likewise, blame must fall on 'The American' side, which too often acted as a messenger of warmed up 'Israeli' ideas, rather than as originator of viable ones. The orthodoxy born of 'Camp David' has larger, immeasurably harmful effects, some of which we're living with to this day. Broader conclusions, that 'Israel' has no peace partner, and that 'Palestinians' are incapable of compromise; took hold. It's no coincidence that hope for a fair, two-state solution has faded, giving way to a one-state reality of inequality, injustice, and despair.

Written by Gregory Mann.