Promises
...affected most by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the children. Through candid interviews with selected Israeli and Palestinian youths, the film reveals rare insight into the ongoing conflict over the region known as Israel/Palestine. However, the answer to who has rightful claim to the region remains ambiguous.
To better understand the complexities of the current conflict, first one must understand the historical context in which it aroseone must understand the legacy of bitterness and distrust between the two peoples. In the wake of the Holocaust, thousands of Jews dispersed throughout the world in search of freedom from persecution in what would be referred to as the "Diaspora." Recognizing the need for a Jewish state, many Jews immigrated to Palestine to fulfill the goals of the Zionist movementthe Jewish nationalism movement with the goal of reconstituting a Jewish state in Palestine.
Apathetic to Zionist cause, the United Nations partitioned Palestine into parts for the Palestinians and parts for the Israelis. The Palestinians vehemently opposed the partition plans. Regardless, in 1948, Israel declared statehood and was subsequently attacked by the neighboring Arab countries. Israel defeated the unorganized Arab nations and gained even more land than was originally partitioned.
The Jews controlled all of what is now western Israel. The Jordanians controlled eastern Israel, including Jerusalem. In the 1967 war, Israel occupied Jerusalem and the Sinai Peninsula. Presently, many Arabs are not allowed into Jerusalem to visit their holiest sites, just as the Jews were not allowed.
It is without a doubt that religion is the fundamental factor in many of the people's positions on who is entitled to the land. Moishe, a Jewish boy interviewed in the film, asserts that "God promised us Israel" and that "the Arabs came and took it." He cites an excerpt...
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