A docu on Israel and Palestine

I am no expert in Israel/Palestinian issue, although living in the UAE, you do get views from the "other side", i.e. the Arab view. Reading articles in the local paper about the very same troubled land here does feel funny at times, because of how things are reported. The National  ran a story last month about a Palestinian boy (handicapped by Israeli bombings) learning to scuba dive in the UAE.

Meeting Palestinians for the first time is like the sub-conscious meeting reality. The vague recollections of images on the news met with a guy smiling and saying hello.My Palestinian friend is a refugee born in the UAE, and does not have a passport. Neither did his dad, and neither will his sons, and maybe his sons' sons. By definition, he does not have a nationality. Travel documents are issued but this is scant comfort. What I do not understand is why Arab countries do not give Palestinian refugees passports, and why Arab countries seem to have such a little role to play in the troubled land where their brothers suffer. I'm sure some analyst out there will have an answer for me.

I also had an Israeli friend whom I had been trying to get back in touch with. When I knew her back then, I did not know much about the conflict and most of our conversations about Israel were about the culture, the coffee and the food. I was deeply impressed by the drive by Jews who go to Israel and bring back languages and recipes kept and preserved in their families in whichever country they had been living in.

The other day while browsing in Borders, I chanced upon a book about Palestinian fabric. It was hardcover and in colour, and inside were pages after pages of images showing delicately woven patterns that traditionally adorned Palestinian clothings. These images were in stark contrast to the images I grew up on watching CNN - stone throwing men, dead children, bombs, etc. Deep inside the hordes of faceless nameless people on TV is a rich culture entrenched in a land "promised" to another people at some point in time.

Palestinians deserve more attention and empathy.I've lost count of the number of times I've watch docus on the holoucast on the Discovery Channel, and also ABC in Melbourne where I go through the plight of the Jews every other Sunday. I hope this docu makes it to mainstream media.

This video was found on http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/palestineisrael-documentary/