After reading both sides of the petition, I could see the points of both sides. However, I chose to allow the film to receive it award nominations. The film was a good insight of the mentality of the other side. The director/writer was excellent in getting his point over. He allowed the viewers to see what go on behind the scene and in the minds of suicide bombers and extremist. Personally, I never understood why someone would take their own life to make a point or force change through violence. Although murdering innocent individuals is wrong, the director gives the viewer a chance to dissolve that curiosity. It’s a film, an art. Just like we make films of serial murders does not mean that we condone or glorify these individuals. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on since the early 1900’s, which has included thousands of martyrs and extremist. So I doubt a film that reveals the story of a suicide bomber will cause more or less incidents.
Those that opposed the film seemed to be Israelis, which seem to be upset because the director used Palestine Territory when Palestine is not a state and because they felt film glorified suicide bombers. I never saw the film as a glorification of bombers. I saw two kids scared to death. Two kids brainwashed and socially pressured into the inevitable.
I applaud the director’s efforts in giving us non-Israelis and Palestinians the other side of the story that we never hear or see through other media circuits.
