While resolving conflict between colliding cultures in the Middle East is unlikely to occur in the very near future, La Cañada couple Patrick and Mouna Stewart believe change is possible, even if it has to happen one mind and one heart at a time.
To that end they have produced the documentary film “It’s Better to Jump,” which tells the story of everyday Palestinians coping with the increasingly difficult reality of living as minorities in their own homeland.
“This stresses the importance of being objective,” says Mouna Stewart, whose own family moved from the Gaza Strip in the ’60s. “The only change that can really happen comes when people can see both sides of the story.”
The film offers commentary from a cross-section of Arabs residing in the Northern Israeli city of Akka, a Mediterranean seaport known for the imposing Ottoman wall that circles its perimeter.
In addition to voicing thoughts on daily political realities, from discrimination and displacement to unemployment and diminished livelihoods, the film’s subjects discuss a rite of passage among Akkwali youth — jumping from the edge of the wall into the sea.
