Educational Media Reviews Online

As the situation in Israel deteriorates, many question the extent of the battle over the land. Although the battle for sovereignty over land are central to three major world religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) which represent the population in that area, the roots of the problem go much deeper and spread much wider than what can be perceived from any media coverage. This documentary illustrates this by following the lives of two families on opposite sides of the battle.

The Schwartz’s are Jewish settlers in the Muslim quarters of East Jerusalem who dream of the day when “all the streets will be filled with Jewish children”. They are accompanied by bodyguards everywhere they go. The Khalaf family is Palestinian and, since Israel captured Jerusalem’s east and west by the Israelis in 1967, has been fighting for residency rights and access to health services. Their son Yasser has cancer and was denied insurance because the Israeli government’s new restrictions disqualify them from obtaining residency status, as they live out side city limits. This program is well documented and highlights some serious issues such as disparity in economics, social services, and governance. In addition, one begins to understand the complexity of a city by looking at its geographic position and the intricate make-up of its population. Both sides of the arguments are well represented and organized. The film’s technical qualities are more than adequate in all areas (color, audio, etc.). The only weakness lies in the brevity of the program. Perhaps a longer documentary would have left the viewer with a better understanding and a lesser feeling of frustration, certainly when no solutions were proposed.

Nevertheless this program is quite unique in it’s approach. Most films cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a more general perspective. This film would be excellent as a conversation starter or brain storming session for classes in conflict resolution or policy analysis, at academic libraries. I would strongly recommend that the film be accompanied by a reading of Jerusalem: A City and Its Future, edited by Marshall Berger and Ora Ahimeir (look for my upcoming review of this title in Library Journal). The film may be of interest to larger public libraries, but not in small public library because of its narrow focus.