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Question from a 13 year old. 
I am only 13 years old. I am Jewish. I want to know, whenever there is news on the television about suicide bombers bombing cars and restraints, why does the news reporter always say there is retaliation? Of course there is going to be retaliation.

Do they really expect Jews to just sit back and let it be? The Jews are always made out to be the bad ones. I think this country (England) is very anti-Jewish. Do you think this is why in the news they never tell you the full story unless Jewish people have attacked first?
Ami

Dear Ami,

Thank you for writing to me. I think you are saying something very important in your letter – that Jews, given the tragedy of their history, feel even more perhaps than others that they cannot just sit back when they are attacked.  The problem however is that retaliation does not seem to be helping, but making things much worse.

Also, although Israelis are suffering terribly with the suicide bombing, Israel is a very powerful country and has a full state and army, whereas the Palestinians, who lived in the land until Israel was created in 1948, still have almost nothing.  If the Palestinians were given a home then I think you would see the news reporting things very differently.

I do not think criticizing Israel is anti-Jewish.  In fact I believe the opposite and that is why I so wanted to make this film.  That Jewish people should speak out so that Israel will eventually be a country living according to the best ideals of justice and humanity of the Jewish religion.

I admire you very much for thinking about this so seriously and send you my best wishes.
Jacqueline Rose

Have you felt a backlash?
My question is that you are obviously very critical of Israel and I am just wondering has this resulted in a backlash against yourself from the certain sections of the Jewish community in this country or anywhere else?
Kawser, Manchester.

Thank you for your response. I have of course received criticism but would expect this and see it as part of the debate.  I have had criticism but also strong support from Jewish viewers.

The USA’s and the media’s responsibility
Is the USA's stance on the Middle East conflict a sign of the West's ignorance of, racist attitudes towards, and/or fear of the Arab world?

Do you think the media holds a vital key that could open the door to peace in the Middle East by educating the masses through the honest reporting of current events placed in the historical context of the region? 

Is the media's reporting of the conflict in the Middle East, in the main, helpful or a hindrance to the peace process?
Sue Longstaff (London)

I do think racism plays its part.  Edward Said has written most powerfully about this in The Question of Palestine.

Yes I do think the media can play a vital role and hope very much our film played its part to this end.

The media in Britain is I think fair-handed on this issue but in the US it is very uncritically pro-Israel especially since September 11

Why was there Arab terrorism against Israel before 1967?
What in your opinion were the reasons for Arab terrorism against Israel before 1967 - i.e. before the so-called “occupation” came into effect?

Do you not think that the use of the term 'occupation' is simply being used as an excuse for continued Arab hostility toward Israel?

After all, where were the Palestinian suicide bombers in Egyptian cities when Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip and likewise in Jordan when the Jordanians 'occupied' the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) after both countries gained these respective territories after the 1947 War?
Theremeny

Occupation is, I think, the right word – it refers to UN resolution 242 of 1967, which calls for Israel to `withdraw from territories occupied in the recent conflict’. The reason why there were no suicide bombers against Egypt and Jordan is because these countries were seen as largely supportive of Palestinian aspirations even though Egypt made peace with Israel and Jordan would turn against the Palestinians in 1970.  Also, it was not the creation of these countries, which produced what Palestinians define as the `catastrophe’ of 1948.

Can Muslims co-exist with a partitioned Israel & the West generally?
Do you think that the Muslim world will be satisfied with the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside and perhaps co-dependent with Israel, if Israel were to concede back to the Palestinians territory pre-1968?

Do you think that Muslim countries around the world will ever move towards democratically inclined societies such as ours? Can they tolerate us, as non-Muslims, in terms of our non-Muslim beliefs, whatever they might be?
David Rash  

I do think the creation of a viable Palestinian state with full economic and political support from the West and Arab nations is the only solution. However I do not underestimate the much longer legacy of hatred, which is likely to persist after a conflict of this nature.  The key must lie in this part of the world moving towards a more multi-ethnic, pluralistic vision of their societies’ future.

Muslim, Jewish and Christian thought have been deeply intertwined and linked throughout history.  Fundamentalism exists in the US as much as in Arab nations. Karen Armstrong’s The Battle for God is a wonderful account of this.

I am reluctant to praise uncritically `our’ democratic processes (witness the `election’ of Bush in the last American election) or do anything to foster a vision of Muslim societies as irredeemably antagonistic to or different from our own. 

There are Muslim democracies in Asia.  Afghanistan is now struggling towards a democracy, and although Israel is a democracy its treatment of its Arab citizens is, as Nomi Chazan pointed out, a serious problem; the purchase of 92 % of the land is barred to Arabs.

Will show ever be aired in US?
I was wondering if it will ever be aired in US? I think it will show a glimpse of reality to the general US public.
Thanx
Mo

Thank you, but I fear it is very unlikely the film will be shown in the US.

How will moderate voices be heard?
Whilst it was a relief for me to hear moderate voices (the former deputy speaker, Chomsky, the former Israeli soldier in the coffee shop), how are these voices to be heard where it matters?
Iain grant

Yossi Beilin is in the process of trying to start up another peace party and there was a very big peace demonstration in Israel recently, which is seen by many as positive. In addition, although we could not cover this in the film, there are moves among Palestinians and Israelis to open dialogue against the present government and independently of American intervention. 

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