More youth changing,

leading in Middle East, world. . .creating "Pace of Peace"

Sunday, 22 June 2008

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.  - Anon

OUR CONTEXT: Changing times

     "The biggest transformation in human history is currently unfolding..." says a child beginning the new one-minute film - METAPHORmosis - about change in this Citizens' Century on Earth.
Watch VIDEO: (1 min) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzU3H7E0DO8


OUR NEED: Unprecedented creativity

"I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination," exhorted British author J.K. Rowling in her intimate, compelling June, 2008 commencement address for Harvard University.

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination
Watch VIDEO (24 min): http://video.the-leaky-cauldron.org/video/1027
Read TEXT: http://harvardmagazine.com/go/jkrowling.html

"Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation.
     "In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.
     The Harry Potter author inspired a minutes-long standing ovation.
     "If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better.
"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."


EXAMPLE #1: Creative Palestinian and Israeli youth 

PACE OF PEACE - http://paceofpeace.com/ - is an 8-minute 2004 annimated film.
     It is exemplary creativity and cooperation among Israeli and Palestinian youth, including Italian animators and producers.
     Yet most of the world remains unaware of this imaginative, inspiring cartoon animation envisioning epoch changes.
Before your eyes, people and relationships metamorphize for the good of all.

See VIDEO (8 min) - PACE OF PEACE
http://paceofpeace.com/video.asp?VideoID=1

Also, the film makers tell their own story well, as if understanding Elie Wiesel's wisdom: "People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell."

        See DOCUMENTARY VIDEO (44 min) - THE STORY OF P.O.P.
http://paceofpeace.com/video.asp?VideoID=3

The 2004 film resulted from sustained face-to-face and long-distance communication and collaboration between the Palestinian and Jewish students with the Italian animators and producers. 
Steps in the process of collaboration and creativity included:

1. The original project idea was from Roberto Davide Papini and Attilio Valenti

2. The endeavor became part of the purpose of International Animated Film Festival I Castelli Animati.

3.  New collaborations were established with the City of Rome's Office for Peace in Jerusalem, and with the Municipalities of Raanana (Israel) and of Qalqilia (Palestinian Authority).

4.  Student participants were identified from two schools: (A) Aviv Secondary School Raanana (Israel) and (B) Al Sadia Secondary School Qalqilia (Palestinian Authority), so their authentic thoughts, hopes, expectations and storyline about the future and the cohabitation of their two nations would be portrayed in the film.

5.  The animation, sound track, filming and printing were finalized in Italy under the supervision of Giulio Gianini and Emanuele Luzzati, and artistic supervision was contributed by prestigious Italian authors, Giulio Gianini and Emanuele Luzzati, twice Oscar nominees. 

6.  The Italians personally traveled back to Israel and Palestine to gain final film approval from the youth participants.

To learn more, write to info@paceofpeace.com .


EXAMPLE #2: Peace Child Israel celebrates 20 successful years

PEACE CHILD ISRAEL - http://mideastweb.org/peacechild/ - is coexistence in person and in action.
     They engage in perpetual relationships Jewish and Arab teens and their parents to create original stage productions about coexistence and the larger Arab-Jewish experience.
Thursday, June 26, 2008, they will reunite their hundreds of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian participants with several events.
Salute to Partnership - http://mideastweb.org/peacechild/20/poster.html - welcomes the public and all past Peace Child youth and families.
     The 20th anniversary grand reunion will feature an all-star Arab and Jewish entertainment cast and events, including excerpts from different, bi-lingual plays performed by students.
Go, if you can get to Jerusalem. 


EXAMPLE #3: Muslim, Jewish, Christian youth in Florida, USA

     The 5-year-old MULTIFAITH EDUCATION PROJECT - http://multifaitheducationproject.org/ - in Florida is where Christian, Jewish and Muslim middle-school youth learn first-hand about each other's religion, cultures, and lives.
     They are students from the cooperating (A) Muslim Leaders Preparatory School, (B) Hebrew Day School, and (C) Orangewood Christian School.
     The young teens develop friendships through fun and educational experiences together that include essay contests and tree plantings.
     The students created Breaking Bread: a cookbook and storybook.
They intend to stay and learn together.
Breaking bread.
     Doing what's new.

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.  - Anon