FFIPP International Student Internship in Palestine/Israel
The FFIPP Summer Internship program supports not-for-profit organizations in Palestine/Israel, such as human rights, peace and justice organizations as well as centers for art, culture and research.
This program will also provide invaluable skills and knowledge for the volunteers as they engage in learning, teaching, and research in local communities and organizations.
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(FFIPP Interns at work, summer 2006)
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FFIPP Campus Film Series
Faculty and students are encouraged to organize a film series on their campus. FFIPP can send you one or more of the following films. For more information call us at 413-253-0676 or email us at ffippusa@comcast.net
* Arna's Children
A film by Juliano Mer Khamis
A Must-see documentary penetrates a Jenin refugee camp to follow several Palestinian children from laughing little kids in a theater group to grim actors on a grislier world stage. In documenting the work of his indomitable activist mother Arna, Israeli co-helmer Juliano Mer Khamis filmed the youngsters often between 1989 and 1996. He returned just after the 2002 Israeli invasion of Jenin, to see what happened to "Arna's Children."
The Freedom Theatre,Jenin
* Frontiers of Fears and Dreams
A film by Mai Masri
Frontiers of Fears and Dreams is a documentary film which touches on life in the refugee camps of Shatilla in Lebanon and Deisha near Bethlehem through the eyes of children growing up within the camp walls. Focusing on 2 young girls, Mona, 13 yrs old from Shatilla, and Manar, 14, from Deisha, the lives, dreams and experiences of the girls, their families and peers are touchingly presented to the viewer. Although living within the economic and Israeli military oppressions affecting daily camp life, the girls find ways to live as normal teenagers, enjoying birthdays, taking care of daily chores, attending schools when open, and discussing fashion, love and normal teenage concerns. Mona and Manar who both have been orphaned by the massacres and sieges upon the camps, are still able to celebrate life and keep the spirit of their identity and homeland alive. The children in the camps sing tearful nationalistic songs, discuss the history of their homeland, and how politics affect them as displaced persons. Scenes are shown of the children working on a camp beautification program and painting the walls with heartfelt pictures reflecting their love of Palestine and each other.
The girls get to know each other as pen pals, sending letters, gifts, and e-mail. At one point in the film, Mona asks Manar to visit her original homeland village near Nazareth, as she is unable to cross the Lebanese-Israeli border. Manar relates to her the visions and feelings experienced there and also video tapes her visit. An emotionally charged meeting between the two girls was filmed at the Lebanese-Israeli barbed wire border. Nonstop talk, tears, hugs, and kisses were exchanged through the metal chain-link divider. The message sent by "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears" is not one of despair but that of hope. Hope for goodness, dignity, and solidarity.
Mai Masri is a Palestinian filmmaker, graduate of San Francisco State University.
Ibdaa,Dheisheh
* The Ramallah Concert - Knowledge is The Begining
A film by Paul Smaczny
For many years, conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim has worked
towards reconciling Arabs and Israelis. Based on the notion that
"music is the language of peace," Barenboim and comparative literature
professor Edward Said brought together Arab and Israeli musicians,
along with a handful of German artists, to perform in Weimar on the
250th anniversary of the birth of Goethe. Also participating in this
bold experiment in 1999 was Yo-Yo Ma. The West-Eastern Divan
Orchestra, a name derived from a collection of poems by Goethe, today
embraces eighty Arab and Israeli musicians aged thirteen to
twenty-six. Director Paul Smaczny has followed the orchestra since its
inception. The film chronicles all five summer workshops in Weimar and
Seville, Barenboim's visit to Ramallah and Jerusalem in May
2004-during which he received the prestigious Wolf Prize at the
Knesset-as well as the celebrated concert in Geneva and highlights of
the 2005 European tour.
The Barenboim-Said Foundation
* Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land
U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
A film by Bathsheba Ratzkoff & Sut Jhally
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.
Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one. The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.
