Al-Awda - Voices of Resistance and Liberation

On November 9th New Jersey Solidarity presented a screening of the film "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears."

The film focuses on the friendship of two teenage girls - Mona Zaaroura and Manar Majed Faraj. Mona is from the Palestinian Refugee Camp Shatila in Lebanon where the Shatila massacre took place in 1982. She would like to be a writer. Manar is from the Al-Dheisha Refugee Camp near Bethlehem where the IBDAA dance troupe is from that toured the United States two years ago making stops in New York and New Jersey and was featured in the film.

The girls become pen-pals through a program at their community centers in the spring of 2000. The children from both community centers get to meet each other just after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from South Lebanon at the beginning of the Second Intifada. Then their lives begin to change. The children from both camps meet at the Israeli-Lebanon border where they exchange pictures, gifts and cups of Palestinian earth. They hold hands, sing and dance while Israel soldiers are watching them. This is the first time the children from Shatila see their homeland.

As the Intifada goes on the girls join groups throwing stones at watchtowers and soldiers who respond by shooting and one of Manar's friends is wounded. So she writes "I am changed now. Everywhere I am surrounded by settlements. I feel like I am in a prison."

Manar visits the village and the home her grandfather left in 1948. The home could no longer be lived in but she saw where he slept and hid his treasures. She also saw where the village was that Mona's family lived before they left for Lebanon that Mona would like fly home to like a bird.

Mai Masri won first prize for a Documentary Film at the International Festival of Films by Women at Turin, in 2002.

This is a good film to educate young people about the Palestinian Conflict, since the two girls, Mona and Manar are teenagers.

This article may be shared, reproduced or distributed under a Creative Commons License.

Al-Awda is published monthly by New Jersey Solidarity-Activists for the Liberation of Palestine. We welcome submissions, letters to the editor, cultural works, and other proposals for publication.

Contact us: Al-Awda Newspaper
(973) 954-2521
info@newjerseysolidarity.org
http://www.newjerseysolidarity.org

New Jersey Solidarity
344 Grove Street, Suite 131
Jersey City, NJ 07302

Our editorial collective is responsible for editing, laying out and developing this publication. We are open to new members who are in accord with the mission and principles of this newspaper.

Please contact us about your upcoming events and activities of interest to readers of this publication.

Please contact us for advertising rates and information, or for material on becoming a distributor.



February 2006	http://alawda.newjerseysolidarity.org
Screening of "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears" by Nancy Olszewski On November 9th New Jersey Solidarity presented a screening of the film "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears." The film focuses on the friendship of two teenage girls - Mona Zaaroura and Manar Majed Faraj. Mona is from the Palestinian Refugee Camp Shatila in Lebanon where the Shatila massacre took place in 1982. She would like to be a writer. Manar is from the Al-Dheisha Refugee Camp near Bethlehem where the IBDAA dance troupe is from that toured the United States two years ago making stops in New York and New Jersey and was featured in the film. The girls become pen-pals through a program at their community centers in the spring of 2000. The children from both community centers get to meet each other just after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from South Lebanon at the beginning of the Second Intifada. Then their lives begin to change. The children from both camps meet at the Israeli-Lebanon border where they exchange pictures, gifts and cups of Palestinian earth. They hold hands, sing and dance while Israel soldiers are watching them. This is the first time the children from Shatila see their homeland. As the Intifada goes on the girls join groups throwing stones at watchtowers and soldiers who respond by shooting and one of Manar's friends is wounded. So she writes "I am changed now. Everywhere I am surrounded by settlements. I feel like I am in a prison." Manar visits the village and the home her grandfather left in 1948. The home could no longer be lived in but she saw where he slept and hid his treasures. She also saw where the village was that Mona's family lived before they left for Lebanon that Mona would like fly home to like a bird. At the end Mona spoke at a rally in Washington about the Palestinian Conflict. Mai Masri won first prize for a Documentary Film at the International Festival of Films by Women at Turin, in 2002. This is a good film to educate young people about the Palestinian Conflict, since the two girls, Mona and Manar are teenagers. This article may be shared, reproduced or distributed under a Creative Commons License. Al-Awda is published monthly by New Jersey Solidarity-Activists for the Liberation of Palestine. We welcome submissions, letters to the editor, cultural works, and other proposals for publication. Contact us: Al-Awda Newspaper (973) 954-2521 info@newjerseysolidarity.org http://www.newjerseysolidarity.org New Jersey Solidarity 344 Grove Street, Suite 131 Jersey City, NJ 07302 Our editorial collective is responsible for editing, laying out and developing this publication. We are open to new members who are in accord with the mission and principles of this newspaper. Please contact us about your upcoming events and activities of interest to readers of this publication. Please contact us for advertising rates and information, or for material on becoming a distributor.

Screening of "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears"