Documentary Explores the Plight of Bethlehem City

Courtesy photo/EOHSJ Utah Chapter

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Leila Sansour (front row, third from left), director of the documentary “Open Bethlehem,” is shown with several audience members after a screening of her film Nov. 9 in the Juan Diego Catholic High School auditorium. After the film screening, Sansour answered questions from the audience. Audience members had the opportunity to obtain Bethlehem passports, the maroon documents held by several of those in the photo. The passports were developed by the Open Bethlehem initiative in partnership with the Bethlehem Governorate in 2005 to bring awareness to the plight of Sansour’s hometown. Bethlehem now is surrounded by a 9-meter tall concrete wall erected by Israel, and all access to the Palestinian city is controlled by Israeli security. The document reads in part, “This passport is the expression of an aspiration to be able to travel freely within the historic region of Bethlehem, and all other cities that have formed trade, religious and social ties with Bethlehem over the four thousand years of its existence. It is an aspiration to live in an open, democratic society, based upon respect, freedom of movement and the right to self-determination.”