Thu 5/15 @ 6:30PM

Israeli-Palestinian NGO Combatants for Peace describes itself as an “egalitarian, bi-national, grassroots movement committed to non-violent action against the ‘Israeli occupation and all forms of violence’ in Israel and the Palestinian territories.” It aims to bring peace and freedom to all people living in the region. Good luck with that!

Israeli/Palestinian relations have long a contentious issue that burst into the spotlight following the October 7, 2023 kidnapping, rape and slaughter of more than 1,000 Israeli civilians by Palestinian group Hamas, and neither side too inclined to listen to the other — with strident pro-Palestinian protests met by equally strident claims of anti-Semitism (now being cynically used by a presidential administration packed with anti-Semites.)

The documentary There Is Another Way aims to shed some light on Combatants for Peace’s attempts to bring non-violent solutions to the region, and dealing with the escalating challenges since October 7. The film is now touring the country for screenings at a variety of venues, including college campuses, community centers and laces of worship.  Its Cleveland premiere takes place at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque on Thursday May 15. The film will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers: director/producer Stephen Apkon and producer Marcina Hale, a Cleveland native.

“It is a strangely ‘radical’ idea today to hold the suffering, the capacity for violence as well as peace, compassion, and love, in other words, the humanity of people engaged in conflict in a shared space,” says Apkon. “Yet it is exactly this that I believe is essential to reclaiming our humanity and what is possible as we begin to humanize ‘the other’.”

Get tickets to the screening here.