"Disturbing the Peace" (2016 release; 92 min.) is a documentary about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. As the movie opens, we are told it is "West Bank, 2005", during the 2nd Intifada, and we get to know a couples of Palestinians and their hatred for Israel. We then switch to "Israel, 2005" where we get to know a couple of Israelis, and their hatred for Palestine. But a surprise awaits us: these individuals from both sides have agreed to meet. Is it a trap or a set-up? Or can they find a way forward that is radically new and different?
Couple of comments: this movie is co-directed by Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young. They document the humble but daring origins in 2006 of a movement that eventually became known as "Combatants for Peace", an Israeli-Palestine collaboration unlike any other. Along the way we get a thumbnail sketch of the Israeli-Palestine conflict over the years, as well as the surprising background of the core individuals of the CFB movement (including a Palestine woman who was just hours away from carrying out a suicide attack). The key moment in the film is a argument between a Palestine husband (a key member of the CFP movement) and his wife about the sense of it all and whether the CFP movement is the right way forward, while their 2 daughters (and we the viewers) listen in to the back-and-forth. Just watch! This documentary is essential and mandatory viewing to get the full picture of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and how a small group is trying a different approach, trying to spread its message of peace and hope to a large audience.
"Disturbing the Peace" has been out for over a year, so imagine my surprise when out of the blue it opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend. Better late than never, I suppose. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (only 1 other person besides myself), and that's a shame. This is a movie that, like the message from the Combatants of Peace, deserves a wider audience. If you have a chance to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, I strongly encourage you to do so.
