War Between Hamas and Israel
Israel's Iron Dome defence system taking down rockets fired by Hamas
Jerusalem - Hamas's 2000+ rocket fire has started a war with Israel. After Israel’s strike back the potential involvement of other surrounding states could lead the conflict out of everyone's control, into an outright Middle East war. An open discussion has been scheduled for today at the UN Security Council. The United States envoy Hady Amr, UN peace envoy Tor Wennesland and an Egyptian delegation are in the region to urge the parties towards a cease-fire.
Clashes erupted among Palestinians and Israeli police as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers prayed at the Al Aqsa Mosque and protested against the imminent Palestinian home evictions in Sheik Jarrah. The police engaged with the stone-pelting protestors with tear gas and stun grenades.
Hamas, the terrorist organization in control of Gaza has taken this opportunity to start a war and has fired more than 2000 rockets so far on Israel, attempting to penetrate Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. Israel continues to retaliate with airstrikes and ground troops around Gaza. Hamas has been unsuccessful in governing Gaza and improving the lives of Palestinians. This conflict has given them the opportunity to fuel its legitimacy through terror and hate against Israel and Jews.
The conflicts inside Palestine and Israel significantly affect the conflict. The 2021 Palestinian legislative elections had been recently postponed indefinitely, which shall be contested among Hamas that controls Gaza and a relatively moderate party, Fatah, that controls the West Bank. The immediate reaction by Hamas with rockets paves way for it to appoint itself as the representatives of the Palestinian cause and thereby increasing its support among the Palestinians in the West Bank. The current rise of conflict also comes during turbulent times in the Israeli government. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been unable to form a coalition even after four elections in two years. Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of the opposition, and Jewish nationalist Naftali Bennett were about to announce a coalition along with Mansour Abbas, the leader of Arab Islamist party Ra'am when the sudden conflict stalled the negotiation. If the negotiations should continue, this would be the first time an Arab party becomes a part of the ruling coalition in Israel.
Cinema for Peace in Palestine with an Israeli girl with a Palestinian Heart:
Samaah Gadban, an Israeli girl who received a heart transplant by a shot Palestinian boy is inaugurating Cinema Jenin
Cinema for Peace had been involved in the Israel-Palestine region since it enabled the construction of Cinema Jenin in Jenin, which was formerly known as the world's capital of suicide bombers - their portrays are still displayed on many houses on billboards. The opening of Cinema Jenin was presented by an Israeli girl and Ismael Khatib, who donated the heart of his son to the Israeli girl and the rest of his son's organs to Israeli children after his son was accidentally shot by Israeli soldiers. Later on, the film "The Heart of Jenin", which tells this story of Ismael, was screened open air in the center of Jenin to hundreds of people to showcase that humanity overrules political conflicts and that Israelis and Palestinians can share the same heart even in the deepest moments of sorrow. In 2016, Cinema for Peace screened the film "Disturbing the Peace" by Andrew Young and Stephen Apkon at the separation wall between Israel and Palestine, followed by panel discussions with the director Stephen Apkon and members of Combatants for Peace. The film follows a group of former Israeli and Palestinian fighters, as they go from participating in violent actions to becoming activists in the Combatants for Peace movement, which seeks to end the violence between both sides.
In "The Heart of Jenin", a Palestinian man donates his son's organs to save the lives of Israeli children, while his son was killed by Israeli soldiers by accident
In "The Gatekeepers", six former heads of Israel's secret service agency discuss their activities that show that oppression and counter-violence had never lead to peace and did not stop the Palestinian terror attacks.
"Tel Aviv on Fire" is a satire in which a Palestinian soap opera writer gets ideas for his show from an Israeli officer he meets at the checkpoint each day.
In "Disturbing the Peace", former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters come together to form the organization 'Combatants for Peace'.