Timothy Stoner

Nationwide Screening Tour of Little Town of Bethlehem: Boston College

Posted on 25. Sep, 2010 by Tim Stoner in Blog

It is day one of EthnoGraphic Media’s (EGM) 12-day launch tour of its new film Little Town of Bethlehem. This premiere, on September 21, 2010, was scheduled to coincide with the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. I am on bus with a team whose members have flown in from across the U.S. (California to Washington D.C.). They are specialists in event planning, marketing, communications, media and university relations. We are joined by a film crew from Dot & Cross, and a photographer to document the trip. This ground-breaking documentary addresses a growing (and finally, hopeful) movement, composed of both Israelis and Palestinians, with united voice, calling for a nonviolent end to the occupation. 

We pass a narrow river both sides lined with established trees that are grand and look almost sculpted. Arched stone bridges with a distinctive veneer of long memory bisect the waterway. Solitary young men and women in sleek single-skulls glide past, their strokes beating a rhythm that evokes tradition, discipline, and the inexorable passing of time. It is soothing and restful, like the beating of a metronome that gently pulls one into another era, another time, erasing the frenetic, chaotic cacophony of the present moment. Perhaps that is the secret of its gentle attraction.

I note the granite buildings, stately and secure in their prominence. They do not need the modern imprimatur of vertical height to establish their place in the world. They have settled that score long ago and do not need to argue with their sleek glass and chrome competitors. They are just bit disdainful in their patrician elegance. 

Scanning the horizon one is tempted to look for the unmistakable silhouette of the London Bridge, Big Ben, or Winchester Cathedral. However, we are not in England but in that most English of American cities, Cambridge, Massachusetts. We are excited as we anticipate the first screening hosted by the Faith, Peace and Justice Program of Boston College’s Department of Sociology. Fifteen minutes before 7:00 p.m., an audience of 105 students, faculty and members of the community begin filling up the Vanerslice Building. Judging by numbers alone, it is an auspicious beginning for a tour that will travel from East to West coast.

Each event will be highlighted by a Q&A in which the audience will have the opportunity to engage Sami Awad, one of the three subjects of the film, as well as the film’s director, Jim Hanon. Special guests, experts in nonviolence, will also be present at each of the venues. My role is to write news articles, interview the participants and audience members and post blogs tracking our progress and the response to the screenings that will appear on the film’s website www.littletownofbethlehem.org. 

The original plan was for each of the film’s three subjects (Sami Awad—a Palestinian Christian, Ahmad al’Azzeh—a Palestinian Muslim, and Yonatan Shapira—an Israeli Jew) to field questions after the screening. However, at the last moment, Ahmad was not granted an exit visa by Israel and was unable to leave the West Bank in time for the launch. Yonatan is also unavailable since he has joined Just Peace and a group of Holocaust survivors on a ship carrying a cargo of musical instruments that will head toward Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli embargo.

Fortunately, Oded Na’aman, former artillery commander with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was available to stand-in for him. Oded spent a year enforcing the occupation, “using the weapons of fear” commanding checkpoints in the West Bank. He is now a member of Breaking the Silence, an organization of other former IDF members which gathers testimonies and photographs of their involvement in the occupation and shares them around the world. He is an engaging young man. He studied music before entering the military and had dreams of composing music and playing his stand-up bass in a jazz ensemble.

During a lengthy conversation with him I could feel and see the pain that he had undergone having to violate his own conscience and, in his own words: “betray the values I had been raised to respect as an Israeli.” Being forced to instill terror in civilians had taken a huge toll on this senstive and thoughtful young man. He helped me begin to see this conflict with brand new eyes. We were able to reach out to him since he is living nearby pursuing a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University.

After this premier screening audience members expressed their appreciation for the unique opportunity of engaging representatives from both sides of the conflict who speak about the Israeli-Palestinian struggle from personal experience rather than a theoretical perspective. Students from both groups, including a retired Jewish faculty member, indicated their approval of the theme of nonviolence and the need to engage in acts that elevate the dignity of all parties and bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Sami Awad was also excited; this was his first time schowing the film in front of an American audience. “I am pleased with the turn-out and the sincerity of the questions from students who were clearly anxious to understand the conflict.” he tells me. “What most encouraged me was the response of those who have been a part of the struggle for decades and have grown weary and discouraged. Several stated that the film had re-invigorated and energized them to continue and not give up the battle for peace.”

“It is a powerful movie that reframes the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Oded remarks. “At heart we see it as a struggle between those who use violence to achieve their goals and those who insist on nonviolence. This movie encourages hope by telling the story of Israelis and Palestinians who are equally committed to the nonviolent struggle for equality and a peaceful end to the Israeli occupation.” This was a “friendly environment,” says Oechsler. “But for a premiere event, it was perfect.” The audience watched intently and interacted honestly and with respect. “Our next stop is Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island,” states director Jim Hanon. “This was a very good beginning.” 

Tags: Breaking the Silence, Combatants for Peace, documentary, EGM, Gandhi, Israel, Jr., Just Peace, justice, Little Town of Bethlehem, Martin Luther King, nonviolence movement, Palestine, peace, screening