Dear All,
I am sitting at my computer in a state of euphoria. It is not just that this wonderful man was elected president but that during his campaign while we heard some rustlings of racism- his race played no great role in the campaign or in his election. I believe that people throughout our great country saw him, as the person who could bring desperately needed change to our country.
It was with great disappointment that I read that only three countries in the world had backed McCain and unfortunately Israel was among them. The myth in Israel that only the most hawkish president can be good for Israel is just that, a MYTH. Like America, Israel is desperate for change.
I hope my festival will make a step toward what Barak Obama showed us is possible- to view human beings for who and what they are and not through the prism of a LABEL. Arab citizens have contributed to the state of Israel and continue to contribute despite an astonishing figure of 75% of Israelis who want them transferred out of the country.
Encourage your friends to come. The more people see human faces the faster democracy can proceed apace in my beloved, beleaguered Israel. Catch you later. C
Dear all,
I am floating on air from the wonderful article in the New York Times today, October 29th about me, my friend Mohammad, my friend Joy and most of all the Other Israel film festival. Read it. There is a link at the bottom of this blog.
Last Saturday and Sunday I sat outside of Zabar’s and told anyone who would listen about what the festival is about and what it is trying to accomplish. In the end it boils down to “loose the attitude”. Meaning don’t think you know something when all you really have is a collection of prejudices, defensive stands and gossip. My festival is about “loosing the attitude” and seeing for yourself.
A man came up to me on Saturday and when he found out that the festival was about Israeli Arabs he became very agitated, told me that he was a survivor or the holocaust and Stalin and that I should not be showing Arab Israeli films because I was insulting him. He started to shout and was quite abusive.
Afterwards, I thought to myself that all of us who champion civil rights in Israel have to be sensitive to and hear the voices of those in his position. Not to change our stance in the least but to understand the horrors that a generation suffered and how it has altered its perspective of the world.
On Sunday Robin Pogrebin of the New York Times came to sit with me outside of Zabar’s while I did my shpiel- my husband got us coffee and since I know half the people on Broadway we all had a good time schmoozing and spreading the word. As Casey says “catch you later”.
The eruption of violence between Arab and Jewish citizens of Acre (Acco) this past week, is a dangerous threat to the culture and democracy of Israel. Initiatives such as the Other Israel Film Festival which focuses exclusively on the lives of Arab citizens of Israel and the renowned Acre Fringe Theatre Festival are of great importance to the survival of Israel as a democratic country, a country that treats its minority citizens in the same way as the majority.
In these venues, Arabs and Jews collaborate as artists and as individuals - not as members of two opposing groups. The Other Israel Film Festival takes place in New York where tolerance is the norm. The Acre festival fell victim to the factions of the few who incited the many.
I held a breaking of the fast dinner at my house last week and my festival executive director Isaac Zablocki greeted me by asking "have you heard about the riots in Acco?" I ran to my computer and gleaned what I could of the breaking story, and over the next four days the Israeli press was at first filled with rumors and then substantiated reports of what had actually happened to ignite the conflict between Jews and Arabs in the mixed city of Acre.
On Yom Kippur a solemn day where there is traditionally very little traffic (The exception being Arab towns such as Nazareth and Arab villages,) an Arab man drove into a primarily Jewish neighborhood in the mixed city of Acre to pick up his child. Acre, a mixed city is 25% Arab and the Jews mostly immigrants near the poverty line. When the driver exited the car he was attacked with stones by a Jewish mob.
Rumors flew and soon the Arab sector of Acre heard that the man had been killed and in a short time riots erupted. The mayor of Acre, within one day called off the Acre Fringe Festival, further igniting the situation. As of this writing attempts are being made to resurrect the festival. Equally upsetting was that the driver who came forth to declare how sorry he was for causing this situation was then arrested for disturbing "religious sensitivities."
This disturbing situation makes the message of the Other Israel film festival even more urgent. It is important to shed light on the Arab minority in Israel, to give a voice, a face, and a story for an under-served population, which faces discrimination at every turn. We cannot let misguided groups from both sides seize the venues of culture that have so much potential to promote understanding. It is vitally important that people in the US become aware of what is the reality in Israel - the reality that Arabs contribute mightily to the state, and are a part of the culture in every sphere.
The Other Israel Film Festival, opening next month, will celebrates the voices of reason and the beauty that can come out of Jewish-Arab collaborations.
Hi, its Carole just back from the Jerusalem Film Festival where we brought back lots of films to screen for our upcoming Other Israel Film Festival in November, I, along with my husband Saul, Yitzi Zablocki, Ravit Turjeman and Mohammad Bakri are headed out to Fire Island for a difficult weekend of fishing, eating, watching movies and rating them to see which makes it to the festival. I know it's hard work but somebody has to do it ...
The Jerusalem Film Festival is a happening, with films all day long, a gorgeous restaurant in the middle and everyone who is anyone in the film world hopping from table to table. I met Gila Almagor who was incredibly impressed that I was married to the owner of Zabar's. I thought that was pretty funny. My husband Saul joined me for the second week I was in Israel and when he watched Chaim Yavins TV series on the Bedouins in the Negev his face was wet with tears.
My daughter Rachel joined me for the first week at the festival and spent time watching The Heart of Jenin a story about a father of a Palestinian boy from Jenin who was killed by Israeli soldiers and who decided to donate his child's organs to children within Israel. She went with Mohammad's gorgeous son Ziad and cousin Alex - she was very moved and then went partying with them who knows for how long.
After the festival last year I went to Israel in December and watched Sayed Kashua's tv show with an Arab family that I know well. Despite the fact that we all laughed during the show- they all found it disturbing (bad Arab stereotypes). This argument persisted for a while in Israel and then died down as the show became a hit. Other Israel brought Sayed Kashua for three events including the screen of a show not yet seen in Israel. We were sold out for all three events. Sayed stayed with us and wrote about his experiences in his weekly column in Haaretz.
We announced the opening of the Israel Film Center - more to be said in the coming blogs. As my six year old grand daughter says "catch you later."
- Carole
