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First Friday Film will feature ‘Seeing Through the Wall’

COURTESY
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — “Seeing Through the Wall” will be this month’s First Friday Film, playing at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7 at the Springfield UU Meetinghouse, 21 Fairground Road, Springfield.

For Israelis and for Jews around the world, the 1948 War of Independence was a miracle — and a new beginning for a suffering people. For Palestinians, it turned out to be a catastrophe. Both narratives exist, and paying attention to them is an ethical act, according to a press release from the Springfield UU Church.

This film follows a group of 19 American Jews who traveled to Israel and Palestine in 2016. All of them were well aware of the miracle, but most were not familiar with the catastrophe. 

For 12 days they toured Israel and Palestine with the intention of listening and learning. They met with Israelis and Palestinians. They witnessed what life is like for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, they learned about the status of Palestinians who live in Israel and are citizens of Israel. They met with Israeli and Palestinian activists who are working for peace.

The journey became an “intense encounter not only with the people they met, but also with their own preconceptions, an experience that for many of the travelers was transformative,” according to First Friday Film organizers.

“Seeing Through the Wall” is not a history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948, with all its moral complexities and tragic suffering on both sides. Rather, the film is a look at the present everyday life of Palestinians, and it invites and challenges viewers to question their own assumptions and prejudices. Directed by Anne Macksoud of Woodstock, Vermont. A film trailer can be seen at pentanglearts.org/event/seeing-through-the-wall.

Free admission, popcorn and beverages.  All are welcome. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.; film begins at 7 p.m.

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