Media Release: Indigenous Support for Doc Edge Festival
The Indigenous Coalition for Israel wishes to express its support for the Doc Edge Festival and the filmmakers who have come under attack via BDS falsehoods and propaganda.
The Doc Edge Festival offers a diverse range of rich content for those who want more in-depth exploration of topics that we don’t always hear about via other media platforms. Creating documentaries is a labour of love for many film makers who pour their heart and soul into creating excellent content.
We are therefore disappointed to see the shortsighted call from the PSNA and the Palestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee to boycott the festival and the film Dead Sea Guardians.
The film is a story about kaitiakitanga, the caretakership of a precious taonga, the Dead Sea, a unique salt-lake known for its exceptional geographical, biological, and historical value, at the lowest point on earth.
The subjects of this film, a Palestinian, a Jordanian and an Israeli, should be applauded for their effort to bring attention to an environmental disaster that affects all peoples of the region, a disaster that is not an act of nature, but the result of overconsumption and poor water management. Indeed if action is not taken soon, very little of this precious moana will remain.
Furthermore, the film shows that on a people-to-people level, away from the politics, Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians can work together on a project of mutual interest for the betterment of the environment. The film explores the process of working out differences, political realities and personal baggage kanohi ki te kanohi, face to face to achieve kotahitanga around mutual interests. Such engagement can only be beneficial in the Israel-Palestinian context.
We call on the BDS campaign groups to abandon their falsehoods and propaganda and to look beyond their politics. This film provides a glimpse of what a future of peace and coexistence could look like for Israelis and Palestinians. Until each party begins to see the humanity of the other, there will be no resolution to the conflict.
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The best way to show your support for the festival is to go and view the film.
Book here.
Auckland Sat 18 Jun 2:15 pm
Christchurch Sat 25 Jun 12:45 pm
Wellington Sat 2 Jul 6:30 pm
Virtual Cinema From Mon 20 Jun - Sun 10 Jul