By Dan Friedman November 12, 2009

If Lawrence Wright’s piece about Gaza in the New Yorker has got you down as it has Marissa Brostoff, then Aaron David Miller’s piece about the stalled peace process is going to give you more food for thought.

But don’t despair about dialogue and meaningful human interactions between different sides of the middle east crisis, The Other Israel Film Festival opens tomorrow opening doors that most of us didn’t even know existed. On Friday night, young Jewish filmmaker Barak Heymann and veteran star Mohammad Bakri will be literally walking through one of those doors to break bread with one another.

The festival kicks off with Jaffa which our own Jordana Horn reviewed last week and features both a film about Palestinian rapper Saz (a contributor to Soulico’s new album ) and the man himself rapping on Sunday night at the JCC in Manhattan.

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At 18 all Jewish Israelis are required to begin their army service, but what about the non-Jews and non-Druze? Natan Dvir’s haunting photographic series 18 records those who the Jewish state has decided it cannot call upon for its defense. Put on your magen david keffiyeh and open some doors for peace.

Watch SAZ ripping some rhymes below.

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