There may be another way, but is there a player willing to take it?
I’m just back from a three-week delegation to the Middle East to stand with Palestinians who live in the West Bank in occupied Palestine. Because of the bombing on Iran beginning Friday the 13th (macabre humor) in June, the Israelis closed the border to the West Bank at the time our group was expected to cross.
Stuck in a quagmire
Israeli citizens are in a quagmire. Due to the machinations of the Israeli system, political maneuvering, as well as sustaining and expanding a state of war, Netanyahu has been allowed to stay in power (as well as postpone his Dec. 2024 corruption trial) as long as Israel remains at war.
Grassroots Combatants
This brings us to the inter-faith movement for peace in Israel. Numerous organizations comprising both Jews and Muslims have formed, over time, to stop the conflict. Stephen Apkon’s film documents one of the strongest, most powerful organizations, Combatants for Peace (CFP).
A Palestinian member of CFP, Jamil Qassas, laments, “My brother was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier.”
Chen Alon, the founder of CFP, reflected on when he was an IDF soldier and thought of the Palestinians, “If we don’t keep them quiet under our domination, they will slaughter us.”
A CFP Palestinian explains that at age 15, he was sentenced to 15 years for throwing rocks at the occupying force. In jail, he studied Gandhi. When he got out and was pressured to join Palestinian resistance groups, he insisted, “No, I won’t do this anymore.”
CFP stands in solidarity with all Palestinians. “All we want is peace. We are warning that the continuation of the occupation will bring violence.”
And then there was the attack on innocents …
On Oct. 7, 2023 a Hamas bulldozer crashed through a fence and the ruthless attack on the NOVA Film Festival and surrounding area began. Suspiciously, for possibly the most protected and fortified country in the world, they heard: “The army isn’t coming.”
This incident and the resulting retaliation put CFP to the ultimate test. Both Israelis and Palestinians were losing precious loved ones. How could they sustain their mutual commitment to peaceful resistance?
“Six days after we brought people together in a Zoom meeting. So much anger. So much hatred. Just recognize my pain now. It was hard for the Palestinians to accept the reports of sexual violence. The Palestinians didn’t want to face the reported atrocities perpetrated by Hamas like I don’t want to accept bad things by Israel.”
“It’s easy to talk about peace and love when you are comfortable.”
One CFP member, who immediately after the October attack joined the Israeli Defense League as an officer, had to eventually quit the IDL. He confessed, “It was too large a sword to swallow when my Palestinian friends knew I was working with Israeli soldiers.”
In reaction to the 10/7 attack Jameel, a Palestinian CFP member says, “What to do now? I have Israeli friends. It is now we have to show our commitment for peace.”
Apkon suggests we reconsider alternatives
Stephen Apkon, the director of “There is Another Way” and a Georgetown and Harvard man, is the founder/executive director of Reconsider, an organization for individuals and communities who wish to “create more compassionate, connected, and inspired lives and world.”
Apkon spent three years embedded with Combatants for Peace. From an interview in The Daily Californian by Sophia Smith, Apkon noted that the CFP is committed to being “a community of people taking responsibility for our own creation … We’re breaking the cycle of violence by breaking our own sense of victimhood.”
Apkon also noted that “Filming in the West Bank is the most difficult thing because you’re seeing the violence of settlers and the Israel Defense Forces … But it’s also meaningful seeing Israelis with the courage to come across and to stand with the Palestinians to say ‘not in our name.’”
Most importantly, Combatants for Peace create “a bridge between communities, repairing relationships and rehumanizing each other… Apkon believes that most people in the region want peace, and only the most extreme voices — many of which hold power — sustain the violence.”
Incorporating footage of settlers attacking West Bank Palestinians and a plea for peace by an Israeli mother who lost her son, Apkon has created an important film. But while the people caught in this quagmire might be willing to join hands, will current Israeli and American leaders, wedded to revenge and a war industry beyond our comprehension, ever find it in their interest to join?
Credits
Director: Stephen Apkon
Producers: Stephen Apkon, Marcina Hale, Keaton Cristobal
Executive Producers: james Cameron, maria Wilhelm and Colum McCann
Featuring: Chen Alon, Avner Wishnitzer, Jamel Qassas, Sulaiman Khatib, Ahmed Al-Helou, Michal Halev, Yonatan Zeigen, Tuly Flint, Iris Gur, and Mai Shahin
Directors of Photography: Abu Saada and Danor Glazer
Release: March 13, 2025
Upcoming Screenings:
7/24 at Greenfield Garden Cinema (Greenfield, MA)
7/25 at Rosendale Theater (Rosendale, NY)
Official Website: https://thereisanotherwayfilm.com/
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