April 23rd, 2:00-4:00pm at the JCC of Ann Arbor and online via Zoom
AARC will be hosting a film showing and speaker panel featuring the groundbreaking documentary, Refusing To Be Enemies: The Zeitouna Story directed by AARC member, Laurie White! The film showing will be followed by Q & A from members of Zeitouna featured in the film. The women will talk about their experience and answer questions about the evolution of the conversation over the past 20 years.
The film showing will be held at the JCC of Ann Arbor on April 23rd at 2pm. The event will be hybrid so that those unable to attend in person can join us via Zoom. Attendees at home and online can participate in the Q & A. Light snacks will be provided. Attendance is free and open to the public. Please sign up to attend below.
Refusing To Be Enemies: The Zeitouna Story Trailer
“REFUSING TO BE ENEMIES: The Zeitouna Story is a 58-minute long 2007
documentary film that profiles … a self-formed group of twelve ordinary women
calling themselves “Zeitouna,” the Arab word for “olive tree.” These six Arabs and
six Jews living in southeast Michigan weave an unusual and intimate tapestry of
sisterhood. Some of the women are American-born, others are immigrants; one is a
Holocaust survivor, another is a survivor of the Nakbah’s terror; their ages span 40
years. Filmmaker Laurie White is a founding member of Zeitouna. Her camera
became an invisible member of this sisterhood, capturing the interior of this sacred
space without ever upsetting and altering the fragile process of the group’s
awakening. The film does not attempt to answer questions of right and wrong, or
how to break the deadlock of the Middle East relationship. Instead, it offers living
proof of how the journey of personal transformation may pave the way to socio-
political transformation and peace.”
