Promises, Promises Film Project (2001)

Jennifer de Forest

Promises is a revealing documentary film about seven Jewish and Arab children, aged nine to twelve, who live in and around Jerusalem. Despite living within twenty minutes of each other, the children of Jerusalem's various ethnic and religious groups rarely interact. They are separated by the barriers of religion, culture, and language, which in some instances are made impassable by barbed wire and armed checkpoints.  The filmmakers periodically interviewed the children from 1995 to 2000, eliciting their views on topics including the fate of Jerusalem, intercultural relations in the city, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.  Promises demonstrates that even very young children can become entrenched in their parents' irreconcilable positions.  However, the film also suggests that when children have the opportunity to be in contact with one another, their youthful impulses to play and interact can trump ideology and stereotype.

The children in Promises offer plausible and contradictory explanations of why their people can claim the Holy Land.  Mahmoud, the son of a Muslim coffee merchant in the old city, describes how he feels close to God when he prays in Jerusalem. "This is my land," he bluntly explains, "I was born and raised here."  Moishe, who lives in a West Bank settlement, claims Israel for the Jews. He quickly scrolls to the Torah passage where Abraham gives the Holy Land to the Jews.  "He only gave the land once," Moishe insists, "the land belongs to us."  Faraj, who lives in Deheishe Refugee Camp, counters with proof that the land belongs to the Palestinians.  He exhibits tax records from the house his grandparents' owned in a village that is now inside Israel.  His grandmother has given Faraj the key to his grandfather's house, imploring him "keep this key.  Don't ever neglect it."  Before the children meet, even the very young ones have developed hardened positions that would make peace impossible. They strike the viewer not as neighbors, but as nascent enemies.

Promises reaches an emotional climax when Yarko and Daniel, secular Israeli twins, make the fifteen-minute trip to Deheishe Refugee Camp to visit Faraj and his friends.  Faraj and Sanabel, whose father has been in jail for two years without trial, show the twins their neighborhood, proudly pointing to evidence of the intifada.  As the day progresses, the children play soccer, Sanabel teaches the brothers patriotic Palestinian dances, and the boys playfully wrestle.  In the late afternoon the filmmaker gathers the children to discuss the day.  Here the contrast between Faraj's reaction and that of the twins evinces the very real obstacles that divide them.  Faraj weeps and tells the twins, "part of me wants to connect with you and part of me doesn't."  Faraj understands that the twins will return home that evening, easily passing through the checkpoint that separates him from his grandfather's house. They will also, Faraj claims, soon forget him. Indeed, we discover that while Faraj attempts to maintain the relationship with the twins, they become involved in their own teenaged lives and do not return his calls. 

In the final scenes of Promises, the children have all noticeably matured into adolescents.  They all understand that unless the children who live in and around Jerusalem can become familiar with each other the violence will continue.  As Mahmoud simply puts it, "Peace between you and me is impossible unless we get to know one another."  The filmmakers close with the image of a nursery full of newborn babies, clearly pointing to the promise of the next generation of Jerusalem's children.  However, we are left unsure of what this promise holds Ð we have seen that conflict is easily passed down from generation to generation.  However, we have also been introduced to resilient children such as Motassim, a Palestinian boy living in Deheishe Refugee Camp.  Motassim, whose younger brother was shot by Israeli soldiers for throwing rocks, nevertheless hopefully maintains that, "I believe all children are born innocent." Promises contributes well to our understanding of the all-too-timely issue of children living in regions under conflict.