As one of the world's oldest conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been one of the most devastating disagreements in history. history of modern humanity. In the early 1900s, the Eastern Mediterranean region – today's Israel and Palestine – was ruled by the Ottoman Empire. This area was occupied by a diverse community of Muslims, Jews and Christians. Over time, Muslims in this region began to develop a new identity, which they referred to as Palestinian. It was generally thought to be a new nationality among Muslims in this region. Likewise, Jews in Europe joined a popular movement called Zionism. Zionists believed that Judaism was more than just a religion, but also a nationality, specifically a nation that deserved its own territory. After facing oppression, Jews relied heavily on the belief that they needed their own land to be truly safe from evildoers. The majority of this population saw the Eastern Mediterranean as the best option, as it was technically their historical homeland. Suddenly, thousands of Jews began to settle in the newly discovered Palestine. After the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed, leaving Britain and France to decide what to do with these territories. The British took control of the northern half of this region, while the French took the southern half. At first, the British welcomed Jewish immigration, but over time tensions began to rise between the Muslim and Jewish populations. This caused Britain to begin controlling the number of Jewish immigrants entering the Palestinian state. In response to this, Jewish immigrants formed militias to fight settled Arabs and British control. Shortly after, the Holocaust occurred. This caused many Jews to flee Europe to Palestine. With support from the rest of the world, the Jewish population put increased pressure on the British authorities to have their own state. After tensions spiraled out of control, the United Nations proposed a plan to divide British Palestine into two separate territories: one for Jews, Israel, and one for Muslims, Palestine. The city of Jerusalem, home to a number of holy sites belonging to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions, has been deemed an "international zone", belonging to neither Muslim nor Jewish populations. After a war between the two, the Israeli army won and entered territories not allocated to it by the UN, including West Jerusalem. The consequences of this otherwise unjust land acquisition resulted in the displacement of thousands of people, some of whom fled the state altogether or went to refugee camps. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Since these events, Israelis and Palestinians have despised each other for nearly a century. This hatred for each other has manifested itself in the form of bombings, shootings, and other massive acts of violence. Little has been done to address these issues, at least not publicly. This was all true until the release of the documentary My So-Called Enemy in 2010. In that film, 22 young Palestinian and Israeli girls were invited to come to the United States and participate in a program called Building Bridges for Peace. Throughout the film, the daughters of bothnationalities discuss the ongoing conflict between their two countries. As this is a very sensitive topic, the conversation they share becomes very heated at times. Most importantly, the film highlights that even though these women come from countries with a long history of disparity and hatred towards each other, they can still engage in meaningful conversations and ultimately become friends. This work uses a variety of cinematic techniques, but by far the most important one used is the specific use of camera angles. During the conversations between the women, the camera pans from a high angle. This is particularly crucial for the viewer of the film because it allows the reactions – facial expressions, body language and rebuttals – of others to be accurately captured. Having all women on the same level humiliates them in a way, especially when it comes to a controversial conversation. If one of the women was placed higher in a shot than the others, for example, subconsciously the viewer could potentially have a soft spot for her position in the conversation. When the film presented various cityscapes of the Israeli-Palestinian region, high angles were also used. This allows the audience to fully enjoy every detail of the different locations presented throughout the film. Similarly, the film also uses eye-level camera angle to show the urban life in the affected areas. From this angle, the audience discovers a realistic experience of what life could be like in the area depicted. If the camera were placed at a higher or lower angle, details would be easily missed and it is possible that the viewer would be distracted by elements that were not intended to be in focus. Of all the styles of films, director Lisa Gossels decided to make this film a documentary. While Gossels could have used another style of film, such as an arthouse approach, she used a documentary style because of the film's subject matter. The events that form the basis of this film – the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – are very real events that took place over the last century. There would be no better way to depict the aftermath of this historic disaster than in the form of a documentary. By definition, the documentary style is purely non-fiction and aims to document reality for educational purposes and/or to preserve some sort of historical record. I believe Gossel's goal was to reveal this otherwise neglected conflict and its impacts on certain societies to the rest of the world. We hear too often about bombings and terrorist attacks in the Middle East, but these are passing news stories that are not often examined or discussed in detail. When different audiences watch this film, I think they are exposed to the truth of what is really happening and no longer view these events as something insignificant or easy to resolve. After watching this film, I asked myself many questions about the origins of this conflict. since it is something that is not widely talked about in the American population. Since the film did not directly address the source of this conflict, which was certainly intentional, but rather only its impacts across cultures, I did some research. Among all the biased sources, I was able to locate a video from Vox, an informative infographics YouTube channel, which I linked to above. As I watched this video and listened to the history of this century-long conflict, I began to wonder who was really “right.” While Jews needed a place where they could escape corrupt pursuits in Europe andthe Holocaust, the country was largely Arab territory. In a way, I almost want to blame Britain for its laissez-faire attitude while controlling Palestine. Perhaps some of these events could have been avoided or negotiated in such a way that things would have happened differently. For example, when tensions between Jewish and Muslim groups were at their height, the British essentially fled the situation so as not to get involved. It is also possible that the UN was wrong to distribute land to Jews, thereby displacing Muslim families. Regardless, I think the UN or other higher power could have intervened during the Arab-Israeli War, where Israel vastly overstepped its allotted area and essentially took control of Muslim lands. What is the interest of the UN in temporarily resolving the problem and not going all the way to guarantee the equality of the two cultures? This makes me question the effectiveness and legitimacy of the UN. In the present, however, at times, residents of areas occupied by both Muslims and Jews began to take initiatives to bring the two closer together. For example, an Israeli cafe in the city of Netanya encourages Jews and Arabs to eat together by offering them meals at reduced prices. This received many positive reviews from both communities. Typically, meals are shared with loved ones and are considered a relaxing activity in many parts of the world. Psychologically, this creates a safe space for them to discuss current events and perhaps come to some sort of "common ground" and agree on certain topics, especially when it comes to food and financial incentives. pleasure to have the opportunity to work for an Israeli named Oren. He owned an Israeli food truck in the town I lived in and literally had the best Mediterranean food I've ever eaten in my entire life. He was so interesting and fun. We talked often about life in Israel and how it compared to life here in the United States. He often talked about this conflict and how stupid he found it. He wondered why people just couldn't get along and love each other. He loved Muslims and had Muslim friends, but not all of them loved him back. I will never forget that one afternoon I was approached in the food truck by a woman in a hijab. She asked questions about the food and what country it came from. When I told her we served Israeli food, she looked disgusted and told me I couldn't have her money. She left with such disgust, as if I had done something to contribute to the problem thousands of miles overseas. This is clearly an issue that people near and far from the conflict take very seriously. I never considered doing further research at the time, but after watching this movie and learning about the origins of this problem, I now understand. While I think it's a bit radical to be rude to someone who isn't involved in the issue at hand, I understand why this is a sensitive topic. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Above all, I think it all comes down to a lack of communication within the Jewish and Muslim communities. Without these important conversations geared towards conflict resolution and equality for both parties, nothing will happen. It seems that the two groups are deliberately trying to push themselves further and further apart,.