Encounter Point
Being an intern at the UN has its many perks but one big down is the limitation that dreaded brown pass creates. The number of times we had tried to get by the security guards to get into a meeting is one too many. However, when the chance came to watch a private viewing of a new movie called Encounter Point, i jumped on the chance.
The documentary tracks the lives of a few palestinian and israeli peacebuilders who are working together to try and generate a strong movement towards non-violent means to resolve the conflict. The two main people they follwed in the movie were Ali – after having been shot by an israeli settler Ali went to Saudi for treatment only to find out his brother was killed by an israeli solider and later spent many years in prison. The second main character was Robi – a breaved mother who’s son was a soldier protecting a settlement and was killed by a sniper in 2002.
The documentary was fantastic speaking of reconcilliation, dialogue and non-violence. The most poignant part of the whole film was the focus on appealing to the humanity of palestinants and israelis and in particular to the emotion of loss and bereavement. Many times Robi when speaking to Israeli settlers – she finds herself trying to appeal to mothers to trigger emotions that make the other side seem more human.
One of the most interesting points that was relayed was how little one side knew of the other. Time and again it was stated that many israeli’s have never so much as met a palestinian before.
After the film ended we were delighted to see both Robi and Ali come up on stage for a q&a. The questions allowed them both to truly express their emotions. The fact that they were speaking of non-violence and peacebuilding in no way quelled their passion and nationalism. They both relayed realistic tactcs to attempting to move forward for dialogue. They were not advocating for fluffy solutions where everyone loves one another because that is unrealistic, rather they were pushing for a way to fight your cause in a way that both sides come to an understanding.
After the discussion, i was lucky enough that one of my friends knew the director and so they all joined us for dinner. I had a chance to sit down with both Robi and Ali and just chat. They both talked of the desperation that exists in that part of the world – which is something that only people who live there can understand. Hardliners are apparently very few in number and yet they yield a lot of the power. There was so much dedicated to the psychology of the whole society – truly understanding the impact that witnessing violence has on a young child is essential to trying to break the cycle of violence.
I don’t want to give away too much of the film but i think it is a docum. everyone needs to see. Not everyone might like it or even agree with the premise but everyone can learn something they might not have known before.
This night the brown intern pass truly lived up to its UN power
till next time…
http://www.encounterpoint.com/
Tags: Travel
joanne_kubba
Leave a Reply