My So-Called Enemy

In July 2002, 22 Israeli and Palestinian teenage girls spent 10 days in the United States attending a women’s leadership program called “Building Bridges for Peace.” They were Jewish, Christian and Muslim; many had lost friends and family members to escalating violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This would be the first time they would spend extended hours listening to, arguing with, let alone befriending, young women from the “enemy” side. The experience would complicate their lives and change some of them forever. My So Called Enemy is that rare film about Arab-Israeli coexistence that goes far beyond documenting a one-time encounter at a peace camp; rather, it follows six of its compelling subjects for seven years to reveal the way the young women’s attitudes and relationships are tested as they mature and as the conflict deepens. For Jewish Israeli Gal and Christian Palestinian Rezan, the realities of the occupation and Gal’s looming military service make the survival of their friendship an open question. Meanwhile, Arab Israeli Hanin moves from secular to devout Islam, Jewish Adi enters the army and Muslim Rawan engages her feminism navigating both Palestinian and Israeli societies. These complex, articulate young women not only change one another’s views about what it takes to live side-by-side in peace; through this remarkable and touching film, they teach us something profound as well.