The Israel/Palestine issue has polarized our communities, and the emotions run high and usually in black and white. I saw a short film recently that shed some light on the people behind the headlines.
On the Road To Tel Aviv opens with a bunch of ordinary folks on a bus. A suicide bomber boards and blows the bus up. Next, a playful scene with a young couple in bed. She has to get back to the university, and her boyfriend is driving her to the bus.
She boards a small shuttle bus, and as the boyfriend starts to leave, he sees a young Muslim woman in thick layers of clothes and carrying a big carpet bag get on the bus. He's concerned and tries go get the girl to disembark. At the same time, a middle aged mother with two daughters catches what's going on, and she panics. Soon everyone gets off the bus except the Muslim woman, who is sitting, silently staring straight ahead.
An argument ensues, and the middle aged woman becomes hysterical, demanding the driver search the Muslim. He refuses, and one of the passengers is a soldier with a rifle. There is a scuffle over the rifle, and finally the driver says he isn't searching anyone, and he is an Arab and has been driving for 30 years, has a family and doesn't want to die either. He assures everyone that there is no terrorist on board, and slowly, reluctantly, they all board again.
As the bus is about to leave, a pregnant woman wants on the full bus, so the girlfriend gives up her seat and walks away with the boyfriend. The bus pulls away, and the film ends with the young couple walking up to a regular city bus.
We expect something to blow up, but it doesn't. Maybe one of the busses will, maybe not. Maybe the mother was just hysterical, maybe just reacting to the recent bombings. Maybe the young Muslim woman was an innocent girl feeling intimidated, or perhaps she had explosives in her bag. We don't know what's behind the exterior of these people, and the point is that neither do each other.
How do ordinary people go about the ordinary things of daily life with all the fear, uncertainty and inability to trust the person sitting next to them? Do we become hysterical or stoic, brash or frightened?
The film gave the audience a taste of the range of feelings of these people, and the uncertainty, but it couldn't bring it all the way home to a country where no one thinks twice about getting on a bus.
There is no black and white here. There are many shades of grey, and it is very complicated.
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