Multimedia Collection
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
VHS
120 minutes
DS119.7 .A6731 1989 c.2
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by David K. Shipler. The two-hour special examines the tension between Arabs and Jews living within the lands under jurisdiction of the Israeli state, including the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
The origins of racial hatred are difficult to identify. They are born of long-unresolved issues, intolerance, repression, differing beliefs or social status, skin color, facial features or even body size. Whatever the cause of bigotry, the physical evidence of its destructive power is only too apparent in many parts of the world.
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land takes an intimate look at Israeli and Palestinian society and the complicated relationships in the former Arab territories now under the jurisdiction of the state of Israel. The program examines the origins of the division between these peoples beginning with Israel's 1948 war for independence. Viewers learn about the history of the strange misunderstandings and envy that exist when the real nature of people is masked by divisive propagands. The long-unresolved issues of intolerance, repression and differing beliefs or social status have brought about a continuing state of war for both Arab and Jew in the former Arab territories now under the jurisdiction of the state of Israel. Nearly every family in this region has lost loved ones and treasured possessions. Locked in a prolonged struggle, few of the participants in the political strife can see beyond the narrow confines of their own personal suffering.
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land examines the Arab intifada or "uprising." Conflict between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian Arabs on the West Bank is set in the context of the lives of children who live in the refugee camps. Beyond the alienation, there are shared values and interaction in the intricate Arab-Jewish relationship. Innovative programs have built friendships between Arab and Jewish men, women and children, but many still acknowledge that easy solutions cannot work and there are few prospects for an eventual settlement and a lasting peace.
Distributed by Gardner Films, Inc.
Contact Us
(541) 737-2538
valley.circ@oregonstate.edu
