Palestinian voices need support

Based on my autobiographical novel and directed by Julian Schnabel, “Miral” follows the lives of three generations of women in my family, including my own, from the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, through the 1967 War, the first Intifada in 1987, and the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Because “Miral” is a Palestinian story told through Palestinian eyes, it has been attacked by some as “anti-Israel.” It would seem that to these critics the mere existence of Palestinians is threatening. “Miral” is not “anti-Israel,” it is pro-understanding and pro-peace. It is intended to advance dialogue by giving voice to the Palestinian narrative, which has gone unheard in Israel and the United States for far too long.

Sadly, efforts to suppress Palestinian stories like my own, and to stifle debate in the U.S. of Israeli policies, are not isolated, but form part of a larger pattern of denial and intolerance for dissent within Israel and amongst its supporters abroad.

In contrast to the reaction of Israel’s more traditional defenders, a new and younger generation of American Jews has stood up in support of “Miral” and the importance of recognizing the validity of the “other.” From director Julian Schnabel to organizations that have spoken out in support of “Miral,” like J Street, Jewish Voice for Peace, and American Jews for a Just Peace, these new voices are striving to realize the noblest tenets of Judaism: tolerance, compassion, and a belief in the importance of reason, education and dialogue.

Having been raised under Israeli military occupation only knowing Jews as settlers and soldiers who came to take our land and colonize us, I find it deeply moving and encouraging to see this shift in the American Jewish community.

Indeed, as former Israeli air force commander Yonatan Shapira, who co-founded Combatants for Peace, said during the post-screening panel at the UN premiere, it will be the brave, dedicated women and men working in civil society on both sides in Israel/Palestine, supported by those in the United States and the international community, who are the key to solving the conflict, not political leaders.

The transformative power of civil society has been on full display of late in Egypt, Tunisia, and elsewhere in the region. Like millions of others around the globe, I have been gripped by the historic, mostly non-violent revolutions shaking the Arab world.

Watching ordinary men and women rising up and taking fate into their own hands has brought me back two decades to the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, when I was a teenager living in East Jerusalem. 

Attesting to the links between Palestine and the democracy movements sweeping the region, some of the revolutionaries in Egypt and Tunisia have cited the first Intifada and Palestinian non-violent resistance as models and inspiration for their own movements.

But while I am elated by the spirit of freedom transforming the Arab world, my joy is tempered by what is taking place in the city where I grew up, Jerusalem. The school and orphanage featured in “Miral” is almost empty today as a result of Israeli restrictions on movement, including the wall in the West Bank. 

Children from the West Bank and Gaza can no longer access Jerusalem, once the beating heart of Palestinian life. What will be the future of these orphans who are being denied the opportunities that I had? Do these girls really pose a national security threat to Israel? Without education and opportunity, I fear they will fall prey to those who would exploit them economically, sexually, and politically.

 Nevertheless, I remain optimistic. The sweeping changes of the past few months have exposed Americans to a side of Arabs that has heretofore been largely hidden from them: their humanity and their desire to live in freedom and peace. 

These developments, combined with emerging voices calling for openness and dialogue in the American Jewish community, have fueled renewed hope that grassroots, civil society action can succeed in bringing about peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Like the revolutionaries of Tunisia and Egypt who peacefully threw off the shackles of their oppressors, maybe a new generation of Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans can succeed in forging peace where their elders have failed.

Rula Jebreal is a Palestinian journalist and author and screenwriter of “Miral.”

[The Weinstein Company will release Julian Schnabel’s film,“Miral,” in Washington, DC on April 1, and the Penguin Group published an English translation of the book in November 2010.]