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Arab-Israeli Dialogue
Lionel Rogosin’s Arab-Israeli Dialogue (1974) seems as straightforward as can be. Palestinian poet Rashed Hussein and Israeli writer Amos Kenan sit down in the basement of Rogosin’s Bleecker Street Cinema in NYC to discuss the state of their shared political turmoil. Yet, with the perspective of time, their conversation shows a mutual respect towards one another’s belief systems that is unfathomable fifty years later. The polarisation they warn about here has come into full effect.
Hussein and Kenan talk to one another about right-wing fearmongering, the right to self-defense, and the oppression of the Palestinians without the need for a mud fight. Each of them is given time to state their case in an intellectual manner, no matter how far apart their beliefs may be. Anger isn’t necessarily off the table, but underneath their heated discussion lies the shared understanding that they share the same desire: how do we live a life with dignity? And how do we do this while we’re both here?