Wide Angle Films - Great Docs On the Middle East, Suicide Bombing

I followed a few links and discovered PBS's Wide Angle project. It's a series of one hour documentaries from around the world. As they are not YouTubed, I can't really embed them - but here is a list of those you might find most interesting.

Please note: each link will take you to a page with a list of additional resources on the right side. These might be an additional video, more in depth information, but also action links to make a difference. PBS and Wide Angle deserve to be encouraged not only for hosting an amazing series of documentaries, but also for modeling how new media content can be packaged in ways that encourage us to make use of them and create change in the world.

Iraqi Exodus. Inside the largest refugee crisis in the Middle East.

From Jihad to Rehab. Inside Saudi Arabia's Innovative Reform Program.

Gaza E.R.: Introduction. Follows Hamas/Fatah rivalries inside Gaza's largest hospital in 2006, after the election Hamas won.

What looks like one of the best docs is Suicide Bombers, a 2004 film that explores the views of Palestinians captured on the way to commit 'a martyrdom operation.' While the film does not appear to be online anywhere, there are some great links, including one to an interview with Palestinian academic and peace activist Sari Nusseibeh. Here are some of the excellent bits:

MISHAL HUSAIN:
But nevertheless, we've already seen in the peace process that at key moments where, say there's going to be a big meeting between a key Palestinian a key Israeli, that is the day when suicide bombers choose to take action.

PROFESSOR SARI NUSSEIBEH:
But you have to distinguish between what seems to you to be a major step forward, like a major meeting, and life in general, as people feel. And what I'm talking about is how people feel concerning their own lives - how they interact with soldiers, how soldiers interact with them, what's happening to their land, to their houses, to their families, are they able to go out to work, are they able to go out to school. These are the things that are measured by normal Palestinians to be the way in which peace is actually calculated, whether it's advancing or not. When you have a major meeting it's not a breakthrough for the average Palestinian.

MISHAL HUSAIN:
But on a moral level, I mean, you wouldn't seek to justify this [referring to suicide bombing]?

PROFESSOR SARI NUSSEIBEH:
I certainly wouldn't. I think it's certainly outrageous, morally speaking. And in addition to it's being morally outrageous, I think it's, even from a political point of view, totally counterproductive because, as I say, it's premised on the rejection of seeing others as human beings. And you cannot really advance in peace or in negotiations unless you in fact see others as human beings, as equals. The failure of all talks, all negotiations, all advances in peace is if you cannot see the other party as an equal human being.

MISHAL HUSAIN:
So why don't clerics step in and condemn this then? If it's that clear in the Koran that life and death is for God?

PROFESSOR SARI NUSSEIBEH:
I think clerics often do, but not sufficiently perhaps. And in any case, even if they did, those who interpret the Koran differently will stand up and say the clerics were mistaken in their interpretation. And basically we're talking about radicals who have extremist points of view who make use of whatever text, religion, or ideology they can put their hands on in order to support their extremism. And the question is, Are they allowed by the rest of the community, in this instance the Islamic community, are they allowed to hijack religion to themselves? Are they allowed to blemish the religion and the Koran they way they do? I don't believe they ought to, and I believe the Muslims should stand up and defend Islam for what it is. Certainly as a normal Muslim, growing up as a normal Muslim, I find their interpretation of Islam totally appalling. And it makes me feel totally distant and alienated from my own upbringing.

These statements, which are not rare in Palestinian discourse, show three things. First, that there is a fight within the community of Palestinian Muslims about the legitimacy of suicide bombing, but also about the legitimacy of hijacking religion to serve extremist goals. Secondly, that Palestinians often do express the opinion that Israelis and Palestinians are equal, and this equality should be manifest in how each side negotiates with each other. And third, that the calendar of the peace negotiations of the leaders must match the lived experience of the people on the ground. It makes no sense to only call for negotiations and more negotiations while at the same time depriving farmers of access to their own land, keeping sick people away from doctors, and workers from their jobs. That is a recipe for producing more violence, not a method of preventing it.