Sami Awad is a director of the Bethlehem based Holy Land Trust
www.holylandtrust.org/ and a leader of non-violent resistance to the occupation.
The film will be available for public screening from September. It is Sami who
readsw the statement in my video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AET5WKmD_G0
Little Town of Bethlehem, a documentary film, follows the story of three men of
three different faiths and their lives in Israel and Palestine. The story
explores each man's choice of nonviolent action amidst a culture of overwhelming
violence.
The film examines the struggle to promote equality through nonviolent engagement
in the midst of incredible violence that has dehumanized all sides. Sami's story
begins as a young boy living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; Yonatan's starts
on an Israeli military base; and Ahmad's begins in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Their three stories are interwoven through the major events of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the 1972 massacre at the Munich
Olympics and following through the first Intifada, suicide bombings in Israel,
the Oslo Accords, the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin, and the second Intifada.
Sami, Yonatan, and Ahmad each describe the events from their unique perspective,
interjecting personal reflections and explaining how these events led them to
become involved in the nonviolence movement.
In Bethlehem, the city where it is said that God became man, Sami just wants to
be seen as human. First learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a teen, he
began lecturing about nonviolence in high school. Later, Sami traveled to India
to learn more about Gandhi. As the result of his discoveries, he founded the
organization Holy Land Trust to promote nonviolence in the Palestinian
community.
Yonatan embraced his father's legacy as a pilot in the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) and fulfilled his own dream of becoming an IDF helicopter pilot. However,
his journey led him to the astonishing decision to join with 26 other IDF pilots
who publicly refused to participate in missions that would lead to civilian
casualties. Co-founding the organization Combatants for Peace, made up of former
Israeli and Palestinian combatants, Yonatan struggles to reconcile his love for
his country with his growing opposition to the Israeli occupation.
After studying in Spain, Ahmad returned to Bethlehem to become a nonviolence
trainer. Despite the daily challenges of living in a refugee camp, Ahmad remains
committed to his community and risks his life and livelihood in nonviolent
actions to bring an end to oppression.
For their work, Sami and Ahmad have been labeled as "Israeli collaborators" by
some within the Palestinian community, and are seen as a threat to security by
the Israeli military. By refusing to participate in offensive military actions
against Palestinian civilians, Yonatan has been branded a traitor by some
Israelis and can no longer work in his homeland.
All three men have had their lives threatened by members of their own
communities as a result of their work. Sami, Yonatan, and Ahmad continue to
embrace their common humanity and equality for all, daring to have the hope that
peace in the Holy Land can be achieved through nonviolent struggle.
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