Young Women’s Report 28-2-2014 – Film on Christian-Muslim Relations
Friday the 28th, 16 young women joined us to watch the movie “Where Do We Go Now?” directed by Nadine Labaki. The film revolves around a small village in Lebanon isolated from its surroundings, inhabited by Muslims and Christians.
After a television set is installed in one of the houses and news of the religious affiliation were easily reached from the surrounding villages, religious disputes break out between the men of the village. In an attempt to improve the situation, the women resort to some tricks to distract the men from the problems. The film was produced in 2011 and won many international awards.
All the women of the Sabeel program came together this evening to catch up with their friends and watch this film at Yabous Cultural Center in Jerusalem. We had a brief discussion afterwards about the film and connecting it with our daily lives. It was so powerful that we felt the need to talk about it further; women talked about their experiences and friendships with Muslims and how interactions with them is important in order to make change, because sometimes change comes from within and spreads to the people close to us.
Dinner was then served at the center’s small café, called Fayrouz, where we all joined in for a meal and continued our discussion.
The film gave the women a perspective of strength. It showed that women have power, and they can strongly influence their surroundings. They can be a positive inspiration in their homes and with their spouses and children.
Making change within ourselves and in our environment is a big step, and what is important is coming together and not letting what is happening with Christian-Muslim relations in neighboring Syria affect us.