Voices of Palestinian Youth
Free film Screening
Tuesday, July 19 at 7:30 pm
Saugerties Library Community Room
91 Washington Avenue, Saugerties, NY 12477
This collection of short and medium length films explores the views and experiences of West Bank Palestinian youth. "Hudad and Warda" (short animation movies made by 8 - 17 year olds); "Here, in Palestine" (interviews with young Palestinians); "Beyond the Wall" (voices of university students).Presented by Middle East Crisis Response (www.mideastcrisis.org). Free educational films about Palestine will be shown on the third Tuesday of the month from July through September.
The first three questions from the audience seemed almost orchestrated. A young man asked why the wall was built, and that question was answered by a white haired man: "to stop the suicide bombers." A third member of the audience took us into the never-never land of "lets get these people to understand and respect each other." So it was a slow start after a emotional (and somewhat flawed) feature film.
But the rest of the crowd would have nothing of these obfuscations. An African American teacher from the Bronx said the first man's question was like asking black men why the chain gangs were created after the Civil War. Things got fairly heated for a time, and the discussions were more partisan than questioning. Donna was great, as were many others. Most people ended up having something interesting to say including the women whose husband, a Christian Palestinian, lived in Israel. "It is a racist and oppressive state for Palestinians," she declared.
Fred