Promises

One of the most uplifing, hopeful and fulfilling documentaries I've seen in quite some time. Also one of the most depressing and frightening films I've seen. Explains the entire palestine/israel problem at its most basic, most pure level, children. Outstanding work.

I saw this film at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam in 2001(and it is still fresh in my mind). It was its première. At the end of that festival the film won the public award. It is now showing in cinemas here in Amsterdam and anyone should go and see it. Without showing any judgment the film show the reality of the Middle-East conflict through the eyes of the children. And the children make the film because they are open to new experiences and are willing to try new things. The film says that any hope for any peace in that region will come if children will meet on a regular basis. It also says clearly that the danger lies in the extremists from both side and it seems that both side have their fair share of extremists children who are growing with hate towards the other side.

Let hope that everyone there will wake up soon and will go and see this film and maybe than everyone will realize that hate doesn't lead to anywhere and children are the hope for the future as long as they don't grow up hating anyone.

After seeing this movie, I had to sit and think about my view of Israel/Palestine and Arab terrorists in general. The US supports Israel. Israel has made Arabs/Muslims third class citizens w/ zero rights and zero say. To leave their own town, they have to enter checkpoints, get searched and are usually denied access anyway. They are treated like we treated the Blacks. The blacks rebelled and gained freedom. The Arabs rebel because of their injustice in anyway they can (exactly like the blacks did!) and we support their oppressors(Israel)? Not only do we stand behind them, we HELP them do it. Bin Laden attacked the US in response to his anger at the US, which was in his eyes (and the entire Arab world), a BIG Israel. I had NO idea things were that bad in Israel/Palestine. The West Bank and Gaza strip fiasco makes the whole "blacks in the back of the bus" seem trivial. Which makes me wonder that if more people knew what was REALLY happening, would we hate Iraq/Afghanistan as much as we do? Did the Southern white plantation owners despise the blacks for rebelling? You bet your bippy they did. And after seeing this movie, I feel America has become the Southern Plantation Owner to the world, keeping the Arabs in their "proper place" in order to support Israel. I need to read about this some more, because I feel I've been cheated for years and not getting the whole story. Kind of like the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda and now Sudan....As a documentary, the story was flawless. I got angry at one of the Jewish Youths (Yanko?) for changing his view completely. After seeing the other side, feeling for them, and wanting to help make a change, he became part of the problem. He became flippant and uncaring. One of the Muslim girls, who became good friends with him, was explaing how upset and shocked she was when he joined the military. Her brother was arrested just for being an Arab and was in prison. The Jewish boy said he may have been the one who arrested him, he didn't know, and didn't seem to care either. This movie made more of a statement than Fahrenheit 911 or Bowling for Columbine did for the main reason that is wasn't even trying to. I'm not sure if anyone else got the same feeling from this movie as I did, but besides making me question my entire viewpoint, it was a fantastically filmed documentary. It didn't win the Oscar, but I don't know who it was running against. I rate this movie 4 marbles out of 4.

I knew when I read the write-up for this documentary what it's goal would be: to convince the viewer to see the light and sunny side of the ongoing Palestinian tragedy. And it certainly delivers on that promise, in spades.

The major hidden, and very dishonest, assumption behind this film is that the situation in the occupied territories is basically static, and that peace between the two warring parties, i.e., Israel and Palestine, is simply a matter of letting bygones be bygones. But, in fact, as most mature, literate people nowadays know, Israel's ultimate aim is the total annexation of the occupied territories along with the total displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population outside of this greater Israel.

I watched this film in a audience that was primarily composed of young college age people, many of them, I assume, must have been very bright, since it was being shown at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. And these kids swallowed the phony premise of this film hook, line and sinker. This just goes to show you how powerful the combination of naivité and a yearning for easy sentimental solutions can be.

I could go on all day about all the deceptive and manipulative techniques used in this film. Instead, I would just like to recommend a documentary that gives a real, honest, comprehensive overview of the ongoing Palestinian tragedy: "Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land". A film, I would like to add, that was also produced and directed by an Israeli: Bathsheba Ratzkoff, and that includes interviews with a number of Israelis who are sincerely working for peace, and a number of American Jewish people who are also working for peace, and who all realize that no peace nor justice for the Palestinians is possible without first squarely and soberly confronting the real facts "on the ground", as the popular saying goes.

There's a strange sour note at the very end of "Promises" where one of the very charismatic Israeli twins speaks 2 years after the main events of the film, in answer to a short follow-up question. He says that the Palestinian boy that he and his brother had briefly befriended during the filming of the documentary tried to call him a number of times in order to get together with them on a semi-regular basis. But the twin says that it's just too complicated to try and do that, and that the whole war thing is just something that's mostly just a background issue in his life, anyway, so he and his brother just don't bother to even return the Palestinian boy's calls anymore. For a viewer that knows the real context for this film, this statement perfectly illustrates the disparity in their two living situations. The war is an annoyance/irritation for the Israeli twins, but it is an all consuming nightmare that the Palestinian boy is trying desperately to escape. And the charming twins really just can't be bothered. And by the basically dismissive and throw-away way that this question was presented at the end of film, neither can these film makers.

But to give credit where credit's due, this was a very well made film and it could have been a very pleasant and amusing film if it had taken place in the Twilight Zone, instead of in the real world. Unfortunately, for those of us who have taken the time to educate ourselves about this timely and important issue, the lies and distortions of this film aren't even funny.

"Promises" is an extraordinary film. It was deeply moving and profoundly devastating film, especially it echoes the reality of Iraq war and the recent attack in London. Through seven children's eyes, this film examines the root of hatred between Israel and the Palestinian and provokes the hunting question: "Is there ever going to have peace?" You would think those children are young and innocent. They might be young, but they grew up in the war zone and they saw their families and friends were killed or injured by the enemies. The seeds of hatred already buried deep inside of their young hearts. What a human tragedy! It broke my heart to see they lost the innocence at such a young age. Some of them were so articulate and insightful than many of the adults, such as the president. What troubles me the most is besides the lost in human lives, their hatred is coming from what they believe in: religion. All these fighting and killing are under the name of God.

I was in tears when a phone call was made between the boys from both sides. I saw some hope, out of desperation. But how long will that hope last? Sadly, the war in Iraq is basically creating the exact situation in Israel and the Palestinian. There is no ending of killing in sight, only the deep hatred toward each other keeps building up.

"Promises" is a must see documentary.