On Wednesday, September 18, the Open University of the Left will kick off its fall educational series on the history of Palestine with a screening of "Tragedy in the Holy Land", a powerful new independent documentary film by Chicago filmmaker Denis Mueller featuring interviews with Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, Rashid Khalidi, Elsah Habash, Ali Abunimah, Steven Feuerstein and others.

Wednesday, September 18 6:30pm
Chicago Public Library/Lincoln Park Branch
1150 W Fullerton Ave., Chicago

Tragedy in the Holy Land: The Second Uprising
A new documentary film by Denis Mueller

This powerful new documentary on the roots of the conflict in Palestine includes rare archival newsreel footage, new video footage shot in the Occupied Territories, and interviews with leading human rights advocates, activists, scholars and policy experts in the field.

Featuring interviews with:

• Edward Said
• Noam Chomsky
• Rashid Khalidi
• Nubar Hovsepian
• Carmela Omary
• Elsah Habash
• Ali Abunimah
• Steven Feuerstein
• Cathy Hoffman
• Ravi Dixit
• Anthony Arnove
• Raham Barghouti

Few films about the Middle East view history through the lens of the Palestinians, the people whose history and daily reality lie at the heart of events in the region. In the United States, the conflict between Israel and its neighbors—and particularly between Israelis and the Palestinians—is commonly described as a clash between Jews and Moslems, Arab nations and a beleaguered Jewish state, democracy and feudalism, the East and the West. Yet few popular histories place the roots of this bloody and seemingly intractable conflict within the grand political matrix that has shaped the region's history.

Tragedy in the Holy Land: The Second Uprising fills a void in conventional accounts of the Israeli/Palestinian struggle by giving the viewer access to the voices and background of one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted conflicts of the last century. This provocative documentary addresses the core role that issues of land, identity, history and geopolitics continue to play in perpetuating one of this planet's most epic and tragic conflicts.

Using rarely seen archival footage and interviews with leading experts and scholars, Tragedy in the Holy Land offers vital information about the roots of the current conflict and the Palestinians' ongoing struggle for survival and dignity in the face of colonial occupation.

A free program sponsored by Open University of the Left.
Co-sponsored by groups that include Not In My Name, the Chicago Greens, Democratic Socialists of America/Chicago chapter, the Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism, and others.
For more information call the Open University of the Left at 773-244-1480.