If change happens one person at a time, by opening minds and replacing hatred with understanding, what will the future hold for the next generation of Israeli and Palestinian children?
This Is My Land
Synopsis
If change happens one person at a time, by opening minds and replacing hatred with understanding, what will the future hold for the next generation of Israeli and Palestinian children? Attending school each day, reciting their national anthem, and memorizing the history that lead their people to the reality they currently face – the possibility for peace in the future begins in the classroom today. This Is My Land follows several Israeli and Palestinian teachers as they help their students understand the complicated, segregated, and often violent world around them, filtered through the state-approved curriculum. Tending to the needs of each student, and sifting through decades of personal pain, loss, and struggle, the decisions of the teachers and school administrators leave a lasting and profound impact on these impressionable young minds and the generations to come. Will society continue to embrace hatred, pain, and division, or somehow find a way to impart the tools for reconciliation, tolerance, and acceptance? This Is My Land poses powerful questions about the subjectivity of history and how society can lay the groundwork for a peaceful future.
Human Rights Watch has worked for years to support safe access to education for Israeli and Palestinian students. During the 2014 Gaza hostilities, Human Rights Watch documented the military use of schools by Palestinian armed groups as well as by Israeli forces, and unlawful Israeli attacks on three UN schools there.
Credits
Tamara Erde
Director
