Movie Treatment

Dad I am tired of feeling like we deserve to be afraid.

Is it violence that

I know that I shouldn’t, but I cannot control what I feel. My heart beats steady, but calm at your side. It is the only time I feel safe.

PRELUDE:

BOY: I am missing something. It is deep and important but I have never known it and so can’t describe it. Many say we lack freedom, my friends say, “I need something to keep me busy,” my father says, “it is our land that is missing;” my mom says, “it is peace.” I don’t think that’s all it is. This is my world. We Palestinians come to this world in a town in which we live, we grow up, we throw the first stone, and in the same town we also die.

An open market in downtown Jerusalem, in the Western part of that holy city where Israelis do their shopping, a young Israeli girl comes as a usual face, a face lost in the crowd. Fully westernized looking and dressed, she looked like any American girl in the beginning of her twenties. She was wandering in the shops she was not looking for something in Particular while thinking.

GIRL: It is good to be back in Israel. I love this place. (She sees the little girl and smiles at her, the little girl smiles back missing a tooth) I love this city. (then a figure walks across the little girl’s image and takes her hand to walk away. GIRL looks up the figure to see a woman wearing a shroud and looking at her with a hesitant and protective look. GIRL receives the look and loses her smile thinking,) I just wish it didn’t scare me so much (then she looks at the people around her)

OPENING SCENE:

CHILD1: So What did you do?

CHILD2: I was so scared, I had never been chosen by a guard before I started to shake.

LILBROTHER: He must have known there was something wrong, you are never supposed to act nervous. You are only supposed to act like you don’t know how to talk.

CHILD2: He did know, and he began questioning me. But, I was strong. Finally, he decided that I was OK, and he was going to let me go, but then, he called me back and told me to go get him some tea because he was thirsty. I was so scared that I was going to do it when he told me to leave my shoes. If I wanted them back I would have to bring the tea. When I came back with the tea they were laughing and told me to put my shoes on.

CHILD1: And?

CHILD2: I put them on. But they were all wet. I didn’t say anything I just turned and started to walk home. Squish squish squish. Then the soldier yelled, “hey boy when do you think we are going to have peace and live together?” I turned around and said “ When you quit peeing in my shoes and I stop peeing in your tea”

LIL BROTHER: ehhsh (not believing it)

CHILD1: Did he shoot at you?

CHILD2: (acting tough) I was too fast.

(when a helicopter noise is heard they all perk up and watch as it flies over them.)

CHILD1: Wow it is a Huey cobra.

BOY3: You don’t know anything it is an Apache, American made. It is the best. 1857 hp, 186 miles per hour, Typical load out of 8 Hellfire and 38 Hydra 70,and a standard 30mm chain gun with optional anti-tank rounds.

CHILD1: Wow, it has missiles attached.

LILBROTHER: (Flips it off and yells something)

CHILD2: Be careful what if it sees you?

LILBROTHER: Ahh, you have to be important to get killed by one of those. In fact you have to be lucky to shot at by one of those missiles, it costs thousands of dollars to get one.

BOY1: If one of those missiles hits you even Allah will have trouble putting you back together.

BOYs: Yah, (watching it fly by, It turns on its axis at them and they all jump and look scared running off. Then a shadow is shown crossing the wall.)

BOY: (Grabbing his little brother from behind and pretending to be an Israeli by speaking Hebrew) What are you doing in this neighborhood boy? Where is your I.D. card?

lilBROTHER:Ah, what do you want to speak Hebrew for anyways? I thought you were a soldier’s bitch.

BOY: Hey, watch that tongue. You are too small for such firepower.

LilBROTHER: Yah, but

BOY: Nothing! The sun is going down, there is a giant helicopter flying around looking for you, and most importantly you are late for dinner. Say good bye to your friends (grabbing his arm and waving it for him as he leads him away)

LilBROTHER: (as they walk off he stops struggling and the walk bumping into each other as they go) Are you really going to go to a Jewish college tomorrow?

BOY: Yes, but don’t worry they don’t know that I am going as a spy.

LilBROTHER: That’s good, but are we going to see you anymore.

BOY: (Hugging his brother as they go) I am not going to die, I am just going to Jerusalem.

AT HOME:

(They enter their home where the family is throwing a party for him, they enter and he sweeps through everybody as they welcome him and do whatever Hani says they would do at this sort of a family event) Minha la eli a3la minha, from this one to higher (better) one 3okbal alshahadah alkebeerah , Hopefully you will get a higher degree erfa3 rasna, make us proud (literally, raise our heads)

FATHER P: As you all know, I love my son. I wish that he could have gone to an Islamic University, but I am very proud of his achievements. He is a symbol of my hope, and great things will be done by him, Inshallah. ..

MOTHER P: (as the father gives a long winded speech) Son, Your father will be a while, so I have something for you.

BOY: Mom this is so great I will love it.

MOTHER P: How do you know you haven’t seen it?

BOY: As long as it is not that pizza from that recipe you saw got from America, I am sure that I will like it.

MOTHER P: Quick, I think your Father is climaxing.

(They both look up and smile)

BOY: (He opens it to find a bottle of Old Spice cologne and a Koran is very impressed)

MOTHER P: It was your father’s recommendation. It is a leading brand all the way from America. It will make you a magnet for good and pretty girls (she squeezes his cheek.)

FATHER P: I know that my Son is prepared to succeed, look even now he reads from the Koran.

AT HOME W/ GIRL

FATHER I: I couldn’t wait any longer; I started to open it. Then the thought of you being disappointed…I taped it back up.

GIRL: Dad I already know that I got in.

FATHER I: How would you know that? Come here. (calling her over).

GIRL: You opened it because you didn’t want me to be disappointed if I didn’t get in. Then when you were sure I had gotten in you taped it back up and called me in to see the surprise on my face.

FATHER I: (surprised at how correct his daughter was) still, this is cause to celebrate. It means you will stay with me, no more trips to America.

GIRL: (She is silent on the issue).

FATHER I: Please be happy about this, I‘ve missed you so much since you left.

GIRL: I am Dad.

FATHER I: I noticed you didn’t buy anything today. I thought I said you were supposed to buy something from the shops.

GIRL: It was my first time back Dad, I will work up to it.

FATHER I: Good, but try to by small things (smiling).

GIRL: Mom said it would be more therapeutic if I bought really expensive things.

FATHER I: (overplaying his uneasiness) Did she? (Trying to get up) What was her number again?

GIRL: No DAD, it is still morning over there.

FATHER I: OK, OK, I’m fine.

GIRL: Thank you Dad, for working so hard to make me feel normal again.

FATHER I: You are going to love what lies ahead of you. You will get started in your classes, see old friends, and maybe even meet a good boy.

GIRL: (she punches him in the ribs)

FATHER I: In fact, I ran into JERK the other day, he has just finished his military service.

GIRL: (Punching him again) Now, you are going to get it. You didn’t tell him that I was coming back.

FATHER I: Well he asked about you, and I may have.

GIRL: DEAD!

FATHER I: He looked sharp in his uniform.

GIRL: I don’t care if his underwear are made of gold, I will not..No!

FATHER: I like him.

GIRL: Dad I will live with you, but I am not going to date the boys you like.

FATHER I: He is a good man who has served his country.

GIRL: He is so political Dad; it would be easier to marry the entire Knesset than it would be to marry him.

FATHER I: Well I will remember to tell him that.

GIRL: (She punches him again but lays back against him and smiles as he runs his hands through his hair)

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL SCENE:

The sun hasn’t come up yet, but the sky has a pale blue light across it as Father P walks out with his son giving him advise:

FATHER: (takes his son’s face in his hands and says to him) Education is light.

BOY: I will remember. (Walking off).

FATHER: Oh son, could you take this envelope to a friend for me at the mosque. It will be easy. Just go to the market right away and find you cousin. This one is for him, the other you must deliver to Habib Hamadi. Your cousin will show you. He will be easy enough to find, but this must be delivered at 3:00 p.m. So go early, it cannot be late.

BOY: (Walks off).

FIRST CLASS:

TEACHER: Welcome class, to English 101. I am your teacher Mr. Wolfenstein, and you are lucky our class will have a native English speaking Assistant. Mr. AMERICA will you please stand and introduce yourself.

AMERICA: Hello, everybody. My name is Jon Wayne Nielsen from Northern California. I am also a student here as I will be studying under a fellowship for the next nine months. Oh, I can’t help you get your visa, and, no, I am not a CIA operative. (The students chuckle especially some girls who are smiling at him) Pleased to meet you.

Scene with the Girl Meeting up with some of her friends.

HEBREW CLASS: (Boy is sitting alone in the class, and AMERICA comes in and sits next to him).

AMERICA: Wow, it seems like wherever you go you can’t get away from me.

(They walk together a little.)

AMERICA: Well it seems like your English is good enough that we should be friends and you can help me try Arabic.

BOY: So you decided that you wanted to go to Heaven.

AMERICA: No I grew up there.

BOY: (Smiling) I am going to go into the market to meet my cousin, if you want you could come, and I will introduce you to him.

AMERICA: Well, I’ve been told to stay away from the market, but I am already just feeling a little too pent up. Plus maybe if I take you with me anybody thinking about causing trouble will wait until after we’ve passed. Let’s go.

(When the cousins are walking around campus of the Hebrew University along with the American, they keep running into hot Israeli chicks dressed like porn stars, revealing most of their weapons, the guys go crazy. “Wow, I love the blue.” “Kill me with dull a knife” “I make a fine sugar daddy” “My reputation precedes me by about one foot”

IN THE MARKET:

BOY: COUSIN!

PUNK: (holding his hand up to quiet his cousin, he adamantly stares at his target)

BOY: PUNK.

PUNK: (talking over his shoulder without looking back) Now, just hold on this guy looks a little too aware of his surroundings.

BOY: (looks suspiciously at the character)

AMERICA: What is he looking at?

PUNK: SHHhhh…

ALL: (Look forward watching the man as he takes off his jacket showing nothing).

PUNK: (Disappointed)

AMERICA: Whoa! Wait a minute was he looking for what I think he was. What is he crazy?

BOY: (looks at him with his eyes too wide open to not be saying yes, then he turns to his Cousin) You should be more careful; you shouldn’t just come into this neighborhood looking for this kind of thing.

PUNK: I want to know what it looks like. Do they scream? Are they calm? Do they hesitate?

BOY: You could get hurt. Aren’t you afraid?

PUNK: You spend enough time in this neighborhood and sooner or later everyone gets hurt. It’s not a matter of how, it’s when. Question is what are you doing here cousin. (flipping his pinky on his lip to show he is the older of the two).

BOY: I came to prove myself in a fight with you.

PUNK: (Smirks, but doesn’t look away. He begins by asking in English to the American) Do you like Brittany Spears?

AMERICA: NO.

PUNK: Good, neither do I. Do you like Simon & Garfunkel?

AMERICA: (wierded out a little slowly replies) Yah, why not.

PUNK: Who says we don’t have anything in common with Americans?

BOY: I have a message from my father, and he needs us to drop off a message but time is short.

PUNK: (Looking up more serious for a second around the market he says: Yes, lets get going now, before we are interrupted. It is easy to find. (To America) Come friend we will walk together. (Walking off he looks at America to ask) How tall are you?

AMERICA: 6 foot 2

PUNK: (waiting a moment) Is that big in America?

AMERICA: Above average

PUNK: (measures his height in comparison as they walk off).

SOME SCENE with the GIRL:

DROPING OFF THE LETTER:

(They hear an explosion in the distance)

AMERICA: Now, that is a discomforting sound.

BOY: (Looking over the city) Welcome to the city. That sort of thing happens every once in a while.

AMERICA: Do you ever get used to it.

BOY: (looking at PUNK who is talking seriously with the recruiter) Some people try to act like they are, but I hate it.

AMERICA: I expected to see it more often.

BOY: Don’t believe what you see on the news (now watching concerned as PUNK is being taught by the old man. He watches as they both mouth the words allahAkbar)

AMERICA: I will try to keep that in mind.

I NEED A COUPLE SCENES HERE OR A BETTER INTRO TO THE DANCE PARTY AT THE CLUB:

“MEET THE COUNSELOR”

(The COUNSELOR is small man with a skinny face who is so overwhelmed that he keeps working the whole time he talks. He does stop working as h asks about BOYS family, and is a little too swift and witty for a counselor. One gets the impression that he may have really gone somewhere in a different career, but instead he was too immersed in the career he has. It is difficult to tell whether he doesn’t care at all or cares all too much. He does have an extremely serious glare that he uses when he talks to boy about his status as a student.) I NEED TO ASK SHADI IF HIS BROTHER RAN INTO ANY WEIRD OR SPECIAL CONSIDERATION AS HE WENT TO HEBREW NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.

COUNSELOR: I was expecting you yesterday. I had a tour all set up to show you the campus, why didn’t you come? Did something happen?

BOY: No, but I came from the West Bank and had to go through several checkpoints, I was running late and so I just went straight to my classes.

COUNSELOR: Ohh, that’s a shame, but I wanted to talk to you first.

BOY: I would have come after class, but my father asked me to deliver something for him.

COUNSELOR: Did he? Tell me about you family, BOY.

BOY: (Looks confused during the question) my parent’s have two other children, sir.

COUNSELOR: Were they excited when you received your acceptance letter?

BOY: (More comfortable) Not, as excited as I was. Especially, my father he had hoped that I would go to the same school that he had.

COUNSELOR: Hmm, (thinking) well my son eventually I hope that we can make this an experience your father will value.

BOY: (Smiles, and leans in) I will.

COUNSELOR: Good attitude, but remember people are aware of your presence on campus.

BOY: Yes.

COUNSELOR: Well, it was good to meet you. I want you to see me twice a week for now. Don’t act disappointed I will make your time worth it by buying your lunch.

BOY: There are perks to refugee status.

COUNSELOR: (taken aback by BOY’s wit, he looks at him even closer and says slowly) I’ll see you on Sunday.

IN THEIR ENGLISH CLASS:

AMERICA: OK, time is up, if you need more time to prepare yourself I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Come to the table with what you have right now. OK, Esther, you go first. What are your dreams?

ESTHER: My dream is simple and very traditional. I want to get married and move into a large house for my family. I would fill it full of memories of holidays where all of my relatives could be in one place. Also, I hope to have three kids.

AMERICA: Only three?

ESTHER: That way if one is killed we will still have two. (She looks at BOY for a slight second and then looks down.)

AMERICA: (almost appalled by the thought, he stares at Esther and tries to let the awkwardness he alone feels pass by asking someone else). Umm, Qaifa what about your dream?

JERK: I am studying to be an engineer and I want to open my own company so that I can make a lot of money.

AMERICA: Ok, I knew that somebody was going to say it, now we are really speaking English. Are there any questions from the group? There better be questions from the group or else everybody who hasn’t shared will get zero credit at the end of class. (A group of hands go up).

JEFF: How are you going to start your company?

JERK: I plan on going to work for an American firm and I will seek investors while I am in America.

ESTHER: Do you have a girlfriend?

JERK: Three kids is a lot. (Laughing with the class).

BOY: What do you want to make?

JERK: (Stops laughing) Bulldozers.

AMERICA: Ok, Now, you are speaking Texan., lets move on before another Intifada breaks out. BOY what do you dream about?

BOY: I have the same dream all of the time.

ANOTHER STUDENT: Are you at church with only your underwear on?

BOY: (Laughing) I wish, but no. Uhh, I am walking through this blockade at this place where boys go to throw rocks at soldiers. In my dream I just keep on walking. Nobody can see me or maybe they are afraid of me I am not sure. But I can just walk right through with no problem until I get here from my parents house. Nobody gets mad, nothing gets in the way.

ESTHER: Wow it is so pretty.

BOY: Good, because I think three is the perfect number.

ESTHER: Oh, (she feels uncomfortable and blushes).

BOY: Don’t worry; I already know that I am not your type.

LETS GO TO A PARTY:

AMERICA: That was mind-blowing, ahh I don’t even know what to feel about that class.

BOY: I think that JERK wants to kill me.

AMERICA: Wait, you are not being serious are you?

BOY: (Shrugs).

AMERICA: So what do you do on the weekends? I don’t think I am ready to go throw stones.

BOY: You are alone; I am going to go home the night before the Sabbath.

AMERICA: Which one?

BOY: Huh?

AMERICA: There are three in this city.

BOY: Oh, Friday.

AMERICA: So we have to go out tonight.

BOY: No.

AMERICA: What do you mean no? This is your chance to stop missing your family for a minute and have some fun.

BOY: (shakes his head)

AMERICA: I can’t go alone, lets go into the market, find your cousin, and he can show us a place to go tonight.

IN THE MARKET:

PUNK: You have been in Jerusalem for two day and already you want to go to a club. It is this American’s fault isn’t it?

AMERICA: Yes.

PUNK: Ok I know the place. They allow anybody in, and it is great. Plus it is free for us because they only charge for drinks. There will be no spending money at this club.

BOY: Don’t worry he doesn’t drink.

PUNK: You don’t drink?

AMERICA: Nope. I never felt the need.

PUNK: This guy is truly a surprise. No drinking, no Brittany Spears. (to AMERICA) Do you have two girlfriends in America?

AMERICA: Nope.

PUNK: Are you even America?

AMERICA: Be careful it is a lot harder to apply stereotypes to Americans than you think.

PUNK: Nope. He is American. (To BOY) He thinks he is always justified.

Dance Club Scene:

Entering the Dance club you see a side of Israel that you are probably not used to seeing.

BOY is not completely comfortable, but they are trying to get him to lighten up a little. The Guys leave him alone, when he sees GIRL from across the room. She notices him and makes a slightly weird face reaching to sort of cover her face, which makes him smile. She notices his smile and smiles herself and looks at him also.

AMERICA: What are you looking at?

BOY: Do you see that girl over there?

AMERICA: The pretty one?

BOY: (exhales, but doesn’t take his eyes off of her)

AMERICA: Good luck that girl is the bomb.

RANDOM GIRL: BOMB?!

THE GROUP she is with: BOMB?!

(And everyone starts to scramble towards the exit. AMERICA gets caught up and pushed out along with PUNK. As the crowd pushes out GIRL and GUY remain transfixed on each other. Finally, they are left alone in the room. Girl looks around and after assessing that they are alone. Slowly walks towards him speaking.)

Girl: Do you speak English?

BOY: Well. Do you speak Arabic?

GIRL: A little. Do you speak Hebrew?

BOY: Poorly (smiling)

GIRL: (looks at him and turns to walk out)

BOY: I know enough to tell you that your beautiful, but I don’t know enough words to describe your beauty properly.

GIRL: (Over her shoulder) Poorly?

BOY: I am getting better. (Music Starts)

GIRL: You didn’t run.

BOY: You didn’t either.

GIRL: I wanted to know why you were staring at me, and…I didn’t feel scared. (Her eyes ask why she wasn’t scared)

BOY: I was thinking. How does such a flower grow in this desert?

GIRL: (slowly walking forward pauses when she gets close to him looks up into his eyes for a second and puts her arms around his neck)

BOY: (He reaches his arms around her tentatively)

GIRL: Are you scared?

BOY: I don’t know what I feel.

GIRL: Good answer.

BOY: What is your name?

GIRL: Hanna

BOY: (repeats it) Hanna

GIRL: (She smiles and pulls herself closer)

BOY: The song has ended.

GIRL: But I don’t want this dance to.

(the next song is a loud punk disco song that is too heavy to dance to and they slowly pull a part separated by the violent scale)

AMERICAN: (enters from the exit) I thought I had lost you. It’s more difficult to get through to an angry crowd than I had expected.

GIRL: (Pulling him close by the shirt whispers into his ear) Find me! (Then, she turns and leaves the club with BOY moving after her and AMERICAN stopping him)

AMERICAN: Were you just dancing with the hot girl?

BOY: Did you see her?

AMERICAN: She was the only other person in here.

BOY: No one has ever looked at me with eyes like that before.

AMERICAN: (Laughing softly) Isn’t there something in the Qua’ran about not falling for girls who aren’t afraid of bomb threats.

BOY: Don’t joke about the scriptures.

AMERICA: Done, but let’s go. The police are bound to get her soon. (pulling BOY with him).

Over the Weekend he is with his family.

His little sister is sitting in front of a mirror wrapping material around her face like a Hijab.

SISTER: BOY, I can’t wait to be old enough to wear a veil. Don’t you think they are so beautiful?

BOY: Don’t try to grow up to quick; the older you become the bigger your problems get.

SISTER: No, You are wrong. Life is easy. When you get old you can get married and then you get to cook whatever you want in your own house. My house is going to be beautiful with a kitchen, and I am always gong to wear my Hijab.

BOY: What do you know about getting married?

SISTER: It is easy. You meet a boy and then you get married.

BOY: What kind of boy?

SISTER: (Resenting the obvious question) a good one.

BOY: And me what kind of woman should I look for?

SISTER: same.

BOY: A good one?

SISTER: Yes.

BOY: What if I already met a girl? How do you know if she is good?

SISTER: (Eyes wide open) I will tell you. It depends on how she looks at you. If she looks at you like this (mimicking sultry eyes) she is not good. If she looks at you like this (making a sweet face) she is good.

BOY: Really, I think it was the second one.

SISTER: WELL, then I need to interview her. I will tell you for sure if she is good.

BOY: OK, I will let you meet her if I can, but you have to make a promise first.

SISTER: from this eye to the other.

BOY: Don’t tell Mom or Dad.

SISTER: She needs to bring me a present when she comes.

BOY: Who? (smiling)

SISTER: (Smiling back) I don’t know who you are talking about.

BOY: This is good no one will ever suspect you.

SISTER: It is because I am very small.

GOING TO SCHOOL:

FATHER P: Son, what is your schedule today?

BOY: I have classes until noon and will probably study after going to prayer.

FATHER P: Go to the mosque north of campus, I need you to deliver this to a friend in Jerusalem. It has to be there before prayer hour, so do not go anywhere else first. Oh, and get me one of those nice foreign shirts that you can buy on campus. I don’t want a cheap remake from the markets.

BOY: Yes father.

(She walks to school peacefully realizing the beauty of the city. She sees people smiling at her and she hears noises as she goes).

AT SCHOOL:

BOY goes to the bookstore to pick up a shirt for his dad who has asked earlier to get him one of those “foreign” and “exotic” shirt sold on his campus. BOY realizes that he does not know his dad’s size so he calls home.)

BOY: Dad, what size of shirt do you wear?

FATHER P: Oh, I do not know, Let me give you your mom, she would know.

MOM: It is size 17, and sleeves 34, honey.

BOY: Are you getting ready for your trip mom?

MOM: I have always been preparing for this trip.

BOY: Good, I guess then I should start packing now to follow your example.

MOM: Inshallah.

(On his way, he runs into a group of Israeli kids.)

STUDENT ONE: Hey Arab boy, where is your bomb?

JERK: I cannot believe they let them attend our colleges. Go back to your tin house, camel boy.

The Israeli girl walks by and stops to see how he reacts.

BOY: I am very proud of my tin house. I set it up by myself and drove the stakes in with my hand because we could not afford a hammer. It is something I worked for not rather a government handout.

JERK: (Stops smiling)

BOY: In fact, I love my shack. It is much better than our old house back in Ashcolon; what a dump that place was. You should know, don’t you live in my house now?

(Walks away wondering why that simple conversation made him so afraid compared to everything else.)

(And he walks away, leaving the Israelis student confused and shocked by the Pal guy’s statements.)

HISTORY:

The girl approaches the father about his job, and about being more lenient towards the Palestinians. (maybe this could be the scene at the Passover dinner) It brings up the conversations with the two fathers on history.

Father P: SON you don’t understand the history. There is more to this story than just hate, there are reasons.

Two separate scenes, but yet parallel to each other. A Pal grandfather is setting around on the dirt and gathering some of his grandchildren around him. On the other hand, an Israeli grandfather is setting on a nice fancy coach surrounded by a couple of grandchildren. In both scenes the grandparent are telling their accounts of history of the region. While the story is being told, the screen merges and both of them tell the same story betraying different people, different causes, and different sides and yet the story is the same. “We have always belonged to the land” “The land has always belonged to us” “We were kicked out and expelled, the Romans kicked the Jews, the Israelis kicked the Pal”, “We had no place to go, it is and it was our last option” “We are here to stay” “They won’t intimidate us, they have tried and we won, the Palestinians won because they are still there, the Israelis won the wars with the Arabs.” “We had to take up arms and stand for our cause” “your generation will keep the struggle alive” “They do not want peace, war is what they called for” “No one cares about us, we are living in memories” The Pal says “all people live on their land, but for us, our land lives in us” “Our dream lived in us and it is too dear to waste.” Both conclude “They have to show interest in peace first” “Our friends will make sure that we will exist” “Our daughters and sisters will make sure that our struggle will live on.” “This is why we should not give up, endorse to the end.”….etc.

BOTH: It is them against us.

DINNER HOSTED BY SISTER:

The scene where the mom goes on the HAJ, and the father informs them that he will be at a conference for the entire weekend. He cannot go to the Haj because he feels that the work he is involved in is keeping him from being ready to go. The little girl asks her brother to bring this girl over for dinner. The little girl cooks dinner, and BOY brings GIRL over. On their way through his neighborhood the girl is surprised at what she sees. He tries to give her a tour, but she is constantly aware of the people around her and the security fences. GIRL is surprised and repulsed when she sees a young boy being displayed in a suicide bomber uniform holding and AK-47. As she walks she starts to block out the sounds again, until she sees the hospital as they are walking by. She remembers that she needs to find a place to get some experience. As she enters his home she is amazed with how well kept it is. It is really beautiful on the inside with art work and the like all over the walls.

GIRL: Wow, it is so beautiful. Who did this?

BOY: My Mother, she always wanted us to have a perfect home.

GIRL: It is like a whole different world.

SISTER: (From the other room) You are late.

BOY: Checkpoints

SISTER: You should have left earlier. (entering the room she gets surprised and motions for her brother to come to her when he gets to her she whispers to him) She is Israeli?

BOY: Yup.

SISTER: Can Israelis be good?

BOY: I think so.

SISTER: OK I will find out.

GIRL: I didn’t know that this house was being run by such a talented woman. What may I do to help you with your dinner?

SISTER: HMM, you could stir for now because it takes a long time to get up on the chair every time.

GIRL: Thank you ma’am.

SISTER: (whispers to her brother) She is well brought up.

BROTHER: Who is that?

BOY: Our guest.

Brother: She is Israeli?

BOY:Yup

Brother: Why isn’t she wearing an army uniform?

BOY: Beyond the checkpoints, people aren’t all soldiers.

BROTHER: She is very pretty.

BOY: Yup.

BROTHER: I won’t tell mom and dad if you don’t tell my friends that you had an Israeli here.

BOY: Deal.

(During Dinner they laugh as the little girl acts like the mom to them all. During dinner Girl pulls out a small box.)

GIRL: I have brought a present for my hostess.

SISTER: OH you shouldn’t have, (she looks at boy and smiles).

(Opening the package she finds a Hijab and maybe a clip for her hair.)

GIRL: It may be big now, but as you grow as big as your heart it will be ready for you.

Brother: (Interrupting) What did you bring for me?

At the end of the dinner the little girl leans over to BOY. You see them from outside the circle with the light on the inside of the circle. Trying to hide her voice in the shadow the little girl whispers.)

SISTER: She is good. (Smiling they lean back and you can see GIRL in-between them listening happily to BROTHER tell her about the tank he wants her to give him. They both look towards her, and she looks across the table smiling at them and catching BOY’s eye. He smiles appreciatively at her and she smiles back slightly blushing and hiding redness by combing her hair to the side. Following this motion she risks another look up and finds boy still looking at her smiling.

They date and stuff gets messed up.

The violence following the holiday should go in here.

The Father is pushed by the people of the government to push back. He wants to listen to his daughter’s pleas, but the push of the hardliners is too powerful. They discuss the rule of law here.

SOLDIER: Sir, just like you expected another round of rioters. Should we follow your plan?

FATHER I: Have they moved against the border of the town?

SOLDIER: Not yet sir, they are only beginning to gather.

FATHER I: Do as planned and close all of the checkpoints. Nobody, gets in or out.

RULE OF LAW FIRST DRAFT:

FATHER I: Israel is the rule of law, it is stability among instability. The government must be heavy handed against those that can’t maintain decent social behaviors. Every time some one rises up they think that sort of violent behavior is acceptable, the norm. This outlaw behavior cannot be ignored, the law can only protect both of our people if it has power to stop and punish those that fight outside of its decent boundaries.

If we can keep the law secure then the next generation will be able to solve the problems. But we must uphold a system of law.

GIRL: And being open is the first step for my generation to solve those problems.

FATHER I: you are behaving beyond open, and being open does nothing to protect the rule of law.

GIRL: Can’t you see father, it extends it to the Palestinians. If they have a stake in it, they will uphold it.

FATHER I: They have a stake in our security; this was a lawless land before our people came here.

GIRL: My dreams are full of nightmares every night; this is still a lawless land (walking out).

FATHER I: GET BACK HERE! (Pounding the Table in front of him) There is a law and you will abide by it!

GIRL: (pausing to breathe She tenses her back and walks from the room)

A scene where boy can hear a mob of people, but she can’t. It would be placed perfectly

BOY: Can you hear that?

GIRL: What? (whimsicly)

BOY: Those people, there is a demonstration, and it only gets that load when the military goes in.

GIRL: (seeing a different look in his eye she grows afraid) I don’t hear anything.

BOY: The crowd they are out, and the military is in the city, and…(hearing another sound in the distance he struggles to make it out from the noise of the people. Suddenly, his eyes widen because he realizes what the sound is. Bulldozers are tearing through homes.) I must go. (The noise is louder now in his head).

GIRL: Stop, there isn’t anything.

(The sound of gunfire turns him towards the city. Whipping around towards the sound BOY focuses his eyes as the crowd’s noise turns into screams)

GIRL: (Still talking) You should stay here today. Please.

BOY: Can’t you hear them crying?

GIRL: Who?

BOY: My people.

GIRL: They are miles from here. How can you hear them?

BOY: YOU CAN’T?! Why don’t you hear that?

GIRL: (CRYING) I can’t. Please, don’t make me. Just stay.

BOY: I have to go to help them.

GIRL: You are going to get hurt, don’t fight stay.

BOY: (Taking her face into his hands and looking deep into her eyes) With you I have a hope that I have never known before, but people are being injured and homes are being destroyed. There won’t be time to fight for there are too many who will need aid. I will find you again. (Leaves)

GIRL: (weeps as she watches him leave) That is the first time I have seen you afraid.

BOY: (Goes home to find that most everything is in place the streets are silent, then all of a sudden he happens upon the street where everything is happening. It is dusty and people are moving everywhere. He looks ahead and you see him from behind standing in a city street that you have seen before, but there is a cloud of dust that fogs out the end of the street. People are running out of it into the clear. Several get shot as they come out of it. BOY, starts to move again. Stopping several times to help carry wounded. He runs into a friend.) Brother, what has happened?

FRIEND: I don’t know they started to Bulldoze homes, and a confrontation broke out.

BOY: WHY?

FRIEND: Do you think they tell us?! AHH Fuck! They killed Hazan.

BOY: Hazan?! He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

FRIEND: His home was on that block.

BOY: Have you seen PUNK?

FRIEND: no.

BOY: (Sees his little brother in the crowd, he runs to him and grabs him)

BROTHER: But, they are bulldozing our homes!

BOY: And, they will bulldoze you.

BROTHER: (Is scared but tries to act strong)

BOY: Mother, and Sister will need your protection. Go and make sure that they are safe. If the bulldozers or soldiers come, get them out of there. The family needs your protection.

BROTHER: Yes, I’ll go.

BOY: (Grabs him) this way! Go down small and dark streets only, it will be safer.

BROTHER: BOY!

BOY: What?

BROTHER: Hazan is dead. I saw PUNK and he was very mad. He said that Hazan was dead.

BOY: (Realizing that PUNK may be in danger, he begins to look around and sees the recruiter and runs towards him) PUNK! Where is he?

RECRUITER: Where you should be. He has gone to retaliate.

BOY: Where?

RECRUITER: He will die his death a victorious martyr for Islam.

BOY: And you? What will you sacrifice today as you run away? As you hide and send off others?

RECRUITER: (SLAPS BOY)

BOY: (unaffected, the question stands). My question stands.

(Runs after, PUNK. This is the scene where he runs all over looking for him. People think he was probably shot by the soldiers. BOY runs up a long plain hill that crests at a place in the desert. The city behind him and at the top of the hill, he sees PUNK and yells to him. Punk turns and sees BOY. He tries to run off, but looks down to the bomb around his waist and is too scared to run with it. Instead he keeps walking away. Boy sees this and will not accept it. He runs after PUNK to try and stop him, to be heard, to be a voice of peace and reverence.

BOY: Wait! I won’t let you do this.

PUNK: GO HOME!

BOY: I will follow you, and they will see that something is up.

PUNK: (turning and grabbing BOY by the neck holding the trigger mechanism up in his face) You can’t stop me! (Tears in his eyes) They killed Hazan! Hazan! Our poor retarded friend is dead. (pushing him back) How could he fight? How could he teach them his pain if not I go?

BOY: You will just be bringing more pain. We don’t understand why they come. Do you think that they know why we are doing this? Do you think they know why we retaliate? They are as confused as we are. I have seen how they fear it, but they are also helpless to stop it. Right now you aren’t, you can stop it.

PUNK: Why would you want me to stop? Are you afraid I will hit your precious girlfriend?

BOY: (Crying) I am afraid you will hit you.

PUNK: (Pausing) WHY? I hope they hit me. It is the only hope I have left. Where is my home? What am I? They never leave me alone. I have no option. Where are we supposed to find hope? They can have my tin shack home I hate it. They can have my nation! They can build their cities, they can have their jobs, and foods, and children, and mothers, and fathers. I have nothing anymore. They have my hope. How could anything be more dark than this?

BOY: There is more than just Hasan that needs you. I can’t explain to you how I have hope here. But I do, and you are as much a part of that as she is. Please, if you can’t see it in yourself, just trust mine.

PUNK: Nothing can erase this hatred. I can’t live with anger any longer.

BOY: Somebody has to do something different or this is going to keep happening.

PUNK: What about what IS happening?

BOY: What about what might if our people have hope again?

PUNK: I can’t even imagine it, I am always afraid.

BOY: Come back home with me and make your first stand against that fear.

PUNK: (He pushes BOY back who falls to the ground. Then, he rents his jacket and screams as he exposes and starts to remove the bomb. Then he drops it on the table at the recruiters home. I am not ready to describe the recruiter’s response. I need to talk with Hani first.)

PRAYER SCENE:

Walking together and talking in the city.

Amazed by the thought he stands and starts to move forward. He pauses on his first step because he hears the call to prayer. When she asks him why he has stopped (she hears nothing). He turns to see the pinnacle of the Dome of the Rock mosque. He turns back to her, and she squints as if to read him and looks over his shoulder seeing the minaret of the mosque. Slowly she hears the call to prayer also and looks to him as if to see what he will do. He returns her gaze straightens himself up saying,

GUY: I can’t go now I have to go.

GIRL: to pray?

GUY: (looking over his shoulder) Please understand this has always been there for me. He never rests.

GIRL: Can I drive you there?

BOY: I’d like that.

(They drive to the Mosque during the rest of the call to prayer)

(Offering her a veil to cover her face he takes her into the mosque, he whispers into her ear and then directs her towards the woman’s section. As she enters people great her repetitively

“Salamalekum”

(She responds hesitantly, with a slight suspicion for she has never been addressed as such. Entranced by her subtle sense of surprise she slowly enters to where the women are praying. Watching the women pray with images of BOY also praying with the men she feels a secure warmth developing in her heart. So, quickly that she is not only extremely aware of the feeling, but she is somewhat fearful of this growing sense of calmness. She is not overwhelmed though, not a convert. She is completely aware of the delicate and peaceful surroundings filled with a people that she has feared for so long. The same people who she had vilified for the instability of her nation, laws, and security were here before her welcoming her presence. They are as aware of her presence as she is of theirs yet their mutual awkwardness and unease was nonexistent. At this point she cannot block out the sounds anymore, she cannot blind herself to the world around her and the sound of the prayer being called increases and she recognizes it. As the women leave the prayer greeting her she tries to reply back, but her she struggles to even nod her head in appreciation as she fights back her tears and sense of injustice)

(Waiting wide-eyed and pensive in front of the mosque for BOY, he exits the mosque saluting several other patrons and locates himself at her side trying to locate her thoughts

by looking into the same space that she is. He glances from her and then off into the space that she is looking and then back at her breaking the silence with:)

BOY: Sorry to keep you waiting.

GIRL: I am so glad you felt you had to come here. I wanted you to come here.

BOY: I was surprised that you wanted to..

GIRL: Can I be honest with you?

BOY: My heart would die if it knew that you wouldn’t?

GIRL: It’s beautiful. I would have never thought I could see so many peaceful people in this city. This was so soft, serene, and reverent, but deep down inside that is not what I feel when I think about Islam. This was so good, but I have never seen anything like this outside of this mosque.

BOY: You can’t judge everything off what you see in the streets. There are many great Muslims.

GIRL: I know there must be, but where are they? (Looking out into the city she stands up facing the city and asks) Where are the reverent demonstrations? Where are the peaceful voices? Where are those women everyday? (She turns to ask this final question facing him and the mosque).

BOY: (Tries to interrupt her)

GIRL: (now shedding tears she emphatically insists) They have no faces to me! I only know that face…that horrible smiling face from the market (she shivers slightly).

BOY: (sadly admitting) to some people it is the same thing.

GIRL: ITS NOT. I’ve seen both…what those people have in there and what I saw (she stops herself as if her comments need no justification or maybe she just doesn’t want to relive that experience)

BOY: Please try to understand

GIRL: Whatever! If reverence is a practice of worship, it should also be a practice of life. WHERE ARE THOSE VOICES?

BOY: I don’t even know what to say.

GIRL: You don’t have to say anything to make me understand. I feel safer around you, but I am still so skeptical of what this becomes once I walk out of here.

BOY: GIRL, ( he hugs her to calm her)

GIRL: I love you…(he is surprised to hear her say such a thing)…but if you let this image die, so dies that love. I cannot love the face I knew.

THEY: (driving together from the back seat you can see them holding hands).

INSERTS: The GIRL overhears the father, The boy finds out that he got into the University so that they could watch his actions and find out more about the father. He goes and read the letter only to find that it was empty. The father was sending him away from the hot spots that he knew about. He will then go in search of his father. To talk things out with him. It is in this scene that the father describes the balance of Power. “they have weapons of mass destruction; We have to be weapons of mass destruction.” The son asks about his brother’s fate.

BOY: What about OLDER BROTHER? Was the balance worth it?

FATHER P: (slaps him) Don’t you dare talk about him. Leave him out of this your brother was a hero.

ONE LINERS:

I bring peace even to the Israeli’s, I bring a balance that stops a greater war.

BOY: I don’t want to live in America, I want to live in Palestine. I just wish I felt like I could live here.

The son says, fine continue with what you are doing I don’t care any more. But I am staying in Jerusalem this weekend. Will you still send them?

We don’t want to cause death. There are those of us who balance. We are balancing for life. Security comes from fear.

What is the one thing that our peoples truly lack? Trust father, TRUST. Life will come from trust.

AMERICA”S big lines

Come on I will buy you some lunch.

I just don’t understand. You just don’t act this way where I am from, how do people run around with such few cares. Don’t peoplecare about each other.

Why can’t you let me live.

Are you afraid I will forget? I want to forget. I don’t want to remember misery. I want to live without fear. I was not in Aushwitz Dad, but I feel like I am there now. I know that you didn’t cause that father, but your holding me back from leaving it. I don’t want to bare their burdens anymore, mine are too heavy. What reality is my life? I was always afraid. If only this one, still there is one Palestinian who doesn’t hate me yet. One who makes me feel secure. Why do you want to ruin that? Why are you so afraid of me enjoying my life.

I am not trying to save an Israeli father, I am trying to save anybody. I don’t want people to die anymore.

Don’t try to change the world. Change yourself and find your world.

We don’t want to cause death. There are those of us who balance. We are balancing for life. Security comes from fear.

This scene can come during the violence between the two sides:

AMERICA: I just don’t understand. You just don’t act this way where I am from, how do people run around with such few cares. Where are law and decency?

PUNK: Why do you think you have to do this?

AMERICA: Have you ever woken up and realized that you have already had or experienced everything that you had ever wanted.

PUNK: No.

AMERICA: I did, and after a realization like that there are several things you can do.

You can throw it all away, and that is just not an option. I found that happiness is worth every little effort. You could keep living you life happy or you can help other people until they get the same thing. I think everybody, can really find a way to maintain a stable and happy life with family, friends, and God willing a decent job.

PUNK: This is so different; there is nothing that you can do in our world.

AMERICA: Do you think that I don’t know that I don’t do any good? Do you think that I am only here because I am positive I will change everything? Sometimes it is good enough letting people know that the option exists. There is another way, and the few people who could better their existence by it should be able to do it. Just because everything says, “no” doesn’t mean that you don’t go on trying to do as much good as you can. The world no matter how shitty will always be what we make of it.

PUNK: I never thought.

AMERICA: You never thought shit, if your cousin is about to go do something you know is wrong get your ass in gear and go stop him.

BOY: (Goes to stop his cousin from blowing himself up).

(She tries to escape in fear) Shoot me I can’t live in this world.

FATHER: (Remembers the words of his son, enraged saying “You are wrong father, today I brought security and peace to an Israeli because I would only that some of us live lives.”

I thought things could only be equal if you felt I was as scary as you are. My son, BOY al-Madhoun, learned that things could be better than equal. I have carried the thought that our strength must be equal and balanced for so long that I can’t learn any more. So, I am going to teach you. I never knew that my son could die of my wounds. (Pushing GIRL to her father). Tomorrow I will bury my true hope. Now I have only one son left. Please do not take him from me (Turning and limping away).

Timeline for the end

They learn of the strike. BOY has to go after his mother. AMERICA and PUNK go after the father and GIRL at the hospital. (have one of them say that near check points slow down catch your breath and act as if you are bored, maybe you could show a shot of them going through a checkpoint as if ignorant of any danger at a crucial time.

A spy character overhears the father’s whereabouts and it is implied that the target changes somehow. (maybe a radio message is sent)

The father confronts the girl at the hospital.

AMERICA and PUNK learn that the father is going to confront the girl and go to the Hospital as quick as possible. They get through a checkpoint quickly because AMERICA tells the guards that he is with him. When they ask who he is, he holds up his document saying, I am a guest of your country studying at Hebrew National University.

The father leaves the HOSPITAL. Then, boy is shown going through a checkpoint Maybe right before the scene with the girl almost as if she was thinking about him. :

Working in the Hospital the young woman notices the little girl again. They meet eyes and GIRL slowly develops a relieved smile as she watches the little girl sitting on the edge of her seat. The little girl smiles back showing a missing a tooth. GIRL is in the shot smiling when all of a sudden an explosion rocks the wall behind her causing her to fall forward. A missile is shown leaving a rocket launcher slowly unlatching from its launch. The propulsion flame spews flame opposite its path recklessly. GIRL struggles to get to her feet and run, but is sent against the wall when the second missile hits the wall now closer to the little girl. Looking up from the debris and through a dust with uncommonly thick particles in it (float flakes into the air) She focuses on a helicopter flying in the distance. It shows a shot of it in the air slowly floating to the left. GIRL looks up to see the little girl crying, but alive and looks back to the helicopter. A hand is shown on a control stick launching a missile pressing down in highly slow motion. Limited by the pain, but reaching for the little child with strength beyond her powers, Girl drags herself to her feet and runs for the little girl. The missile is shown igniting. And GIRL gets to her feet. The clamp releases again as girl runs pushing a cart towards the girl and diving to get her. The missile silently detached now travels towards the building from a Camera’s eye view. The shot speeds up and travels directly into the wall next to the hole in the building silently. The explosion erupts from the inside of the building releasing sound again with dust and debris flying over the two and the wall falling over and extinguishing the light.

The helicopter hovers a moment surveying its prey. Almost scouring the rubble for victims. There are shots of the rubble then the Helicopter as if it is looking at it. Then AMERICA and PUNK run into the shot looking up. Punk covered with perspiration runs up to a crowd which hides to watch the helicopter from safety and takes a gun from a standby. Taking aim at the helicopter, he fires several rounds at it screaming as if to scare it away. The helicopter turns and reels on its axis and the camera rapidly zooms into the window as if a great black eye looking at PUNK. Then another man in the crowd steps up and fires also. Several other sites in the city start firing at the helicopter. With flashes erupting from all over the neighborhood the helicopter rapidly makes a retreat. As the people in the crowd run off after it or to hide, PUNK stares up at it out of breathe and lowers his head. He looks to the side and sees the boys from the beginning starring at him from under an awning. He grips the gun as if trying to break it and yells,

PUNK: I gave up violence yesterday, but if I ever see you boys thinking that this is the answer

(pointing to the gun), I will find you and make you pay so bad that you are going to wish you had a school to go to.

PUNK throws the gun to the side as if disgusted to touch it but also disappointed in himself and runs off. The boys step out from under the shade slowly and tentatively as if into strange new surroundings.

BOY gets to his home only to find his mother) Mother you have to get out of the house now. MOTHER: She quips, “this is new, now Palestinians are asking us to leave our homes.” BOY: (He smiles and laughs embracing his mother) Mother, my whole life has been what you have given me. Thank you. Mother: (With a tear running down her cheek she says), “Don’t try to change the world, Change yourself. (pausing). Now you decide where to go, I am not sure where is safe in Gaza right now.” Crying he leaves her, and she prepares to pray.

They cannot find the girl, but the father is being hurried off the scene covered in soot and limping. He yells to them, “Look for survivors and bring them to the mosque.” They begin to look for her.

FATHER I is now shown doing something I don’t know what yet. Probably preparing to go on patrol because he finds out that his daughter is in Gaza.

BOY is stopped by the agent who was trying to convince PUNK to carry a bomb. AGENT: BOY! Quick come hide with us, there has been a strike and patrols are about to enter the city. BOY: Where did it happen? Was my father there? AGENT: It was the hospital. It collapsed and we believe your father was inside. BOY: It collapsed with everyone inside. AGENT: Immediately. There is no chance of surviving what those bastards have done. Even children have been slaughtered. BOY: NOOO!!! (to himself as the old man keeps speaking) That was it. It was all gone. It had taken me an entire life to find my hope and in a flash it was stolen. AGENT: (mumbling something about duty, but BOY is just staring at the bomb that they had made for PUNK the day before. The man leaves the room for something and comes back to find that BOY had left).

BOY wearing the bomb walks toward some sort of guard post. As he walks through the city wearing it everybody seems to be looking at him, everybody seems to be an enemy and he violently walks past them all.

The Recruiter comes to the scene from the hospital. Looking for FATHER P). PUNK: (stops him grabbing his clothing to catch his stumbling tired body) He is unharmed and was moved to a safe location.

RECRUITER: I must find him, I must tell him the news.

PUNK: What news?

RECRUITER: His son! He has gone to avenge his father.

PUNK: (Grabs a hold tightly to the man’s shirt and shakes him).

AMERICAN: What? What is he saying?

PUNK: How do you know this?

RECRUITER: I told him that his hospital had been destroyed. I said that his father was here and he said so was his girlfriend. I left the room, and he was crying. I came back, and he was gone and so was the weapon that we had made for you. He has changed; he will be a righteous sacrifice in defense of his great father.

PUNK: (THROWS the man down, and the recruiter proceeds to praise as he gets up and scurries off after the father).

AMERICA: What did he say? Tell me? What is it?

PUNK: (stunned) BOY, is going to Jerusalem wearing the bomb made for me.

AMERICA: (throws the debris in his hand down) I don’t understand how people can have so little care for each other. You just don’t act this way where I am from. (he begins overthrowing everything in the debris that he can get his hands on) Where are law and decency?

PUNK: Why do you think you have to do this?

AMERICA: Have you ever woken up and realized that you have already had everything that you had ever wanted.

PUNK: No.

AMERICA: I did! After a realization like that there are several things you can do.

You can throw it all away, and that is just not an option. You could keep living you life happy or you can live to give the same thing to other people. I know people can maintain a stable and happy life with family, friends, and God willing a decent job. I know I benefited from it.

PUNK: This is so different; there is nothing that you can do in our world.

AMERICA: I know that I don’t do any good! Do you think that I am only here because I am positive I will change everything? Sometimes it is good enough letting people know that the option exists. There is another way, and the few people who could better their existence by it should be able to. Even though everything says, “no” doesn’t mean that you don’t go on trying to do as much good as you can. The world no matter how shitty will always be what we make of it.

PUNK: I never thought.

AMERICA: You never thought shit, if your cousin is about to go do something you know is wrong get your ass in gear and go stop him.

PUNK: (gains resolve to stop BOY, but then they hear rocks banging against each other something)

AMERICAN: (Looking around in the foliage he has overturned)

GIRL: (faintly) HELP.

AMERICAN: GIRL is that you? (Standing quietly)

GIRL: Help.

PUNK: There! (pointing they start digging away the debris which lets air into the hole and being able to breath she calls out)

GIRL: BOY.

PUNK: She is alive.

GIRL: There are two of us.

PUNK: We have a live one! (yells to everyone, and the father who has returned to the scene)

GIRL: Where is BOY? Is he safe?

AMERICA and PUNK: (Both freeze and stare at each other, AMERICA looks at punk with his eyes saying to go nodding his head)

AMERICA: (into the hole) We will find him. (to everyone) Come help! (Father P turns to listen to the sound and looking you can see the American waving from the other side of the lot and PUNK running off).

(Everyone starts to move towards the American.)

FATHER P: (Being approached by the recruiter, he brushes by paying no attention to him.)

RECRUITER: I have great knew of a glorious rebel…

AMERICA: (Starts to lift the piece of roof on top of GIRL. He begins to push with all of his strength and other hands come to his aid and push along with him. The rock lifts and he yells to “get them out.” You can see the little Pal Girl and GIRL laying in space between the overturned medical cart that she had pushed earlier. It is crushed and they are covered with dust.

GIRL: Take the girl first.

FATHER P: (runs in slow motion towards the survivors, but cannot see anyone behind the rock that America now holds up. Then a man emerges holding the little girl covered in soot, bleeding, and crying. He stops in his tracks and looks at the girl imagining his own daughter. He can’t hear anything but his heart as he watches the little girl reach out to someone slowly standing from the debris. The rock falls and a cloud of dust comes from it as GIRL stands reaching back to the little girl. Taking her in her arms and hugging her tightly crying.

GIRL: (You can’t hear this it is read from her lips) You are OK. We made it. Father P: (Reaching the two he is confused with GIRL, but takes the little girl in his arms and hugs her to safety. As he walks off AMERICA is looking at his strength confused. GIRL tries to catch her self and her breath. She looks up into the sky and combs her hair back. She looks around not really knowing what to do. Father P has stopped and watches the girl in her confusion. She looks up to him as if to say do you question my motives now? He tries to walk off, but instead tells one of his aids to help her and bring her to the refuge where they can check her wounds.

PUNK: (Is running after BOY. He follow the same streets that BOY once searched for him at. Running up the same long hill that boy had run near the crescent the apache helicopter abruptly swoops into the shot. Punk is stopped, as the wind blows him back and the helicopter is so close it nearly hits him. Tybalt Copter: (turns a little to the right as if staring PUNK down.) PUNK: (stands up looking it straight on. As he looks back at it they are shown from the side staring at each other. PUNK sees BOY walking behind the helicopter. The Helicopter turns as if to look at what PUNK sees, but PUNK looks forward again and catches its attention. Making it look back towards him. A close up of his dirty sweat covered face having given up, he looks right into the Helicopter and yells:) BOY, (BOY from an opposing hillside turns to see) SHE IS ALIVE. (only before he can say “alive” the voice is drained out by the helicopter’s gattling gun. His mouth is only shown mouthing the words before the bullets reach him and a cloud of dust sprays behind his body by twenty yards or so.) Tybalt Copter: (having found its prey hovers over the body for a second) BOY: NOOOOO!! TYBALT Copter: (Reels around looking for the sound, but BOY hid behind a wall. The beast sees nothing so turns and heads back towards Israel) BOY: (Shown behind the wall in tears, he slowly gets up and walks forward determined). Today, I understand for myself what everybody was talking about. I understand all of the anger, the passion, and the torment. I understand why we hate ourselves now. For, the first time after so many years of confusion and asking myself why, I fully understand my brother and why he did what he did. He must have been so sick of seeing his and our father’s hopes crushed; he couldn’t see any other alternatives. There are no other alternatives! I felt the pain and anger surge through me, as it must have them when they watched their hopes and aspirations stolen. Incapable of meeting their hope, it seared their hearts everyday. I want everyone to know the madness it causes to have hope stolen. It would have been better to have never known it. I can’t stand it, Death is a way of life. Where is hope? (Then he hears a call to prayer and pauses. Turning to the setting sun which glistens an image of her talking with the sun behind her making her hair glow comes in a spinning motion.

“Where are the peaceful voices?”

GUY: ( breaking down he begins to cry and we hear his voice over again) I can’t be with her anymore…but I won’t be responsible for taking anyone else’s hope away.

He drops the bomb in the sand and keeps walking.

It shows him walking slowly smiling and as if taking in the sun light when a loud whirring sound is recorded and a shot of him falling to his knees and then forward.

(If time exists there could be the shot of the sniper watching him approach and hoping that he would stop walking forward. Please stop he pleads the entire time, but then in the end the shot is fired and the BOY falls)

Several of the characters watch as it happens

The mother is shown taking a picture of BOY and placing it on a mantle alongside a picture of his brother.

The girl tries to kill herself, but Father P sees that she saved the little girl that reminded him of his own daughter. He tries to leave her, but sees her looking at the gun and can’t deal with it.

Fathers meet.

I thought things could only be equal if you felt I was as scary as you are. My son, BOY al-Madhoun, learned that things could be better than equal. I have carried the thought that are strength must be equal and balanced for so long that I can’t learn any more. So, I am going to teach you how things can be better when we (pausing) don’t try to be more violent than the other. (Pushing GIRL to her father). Tomorrow I will bury my true hope. Now I have only one son left. Please do not take him from me (Turning and limping away).

The Israeli father raises his gun to shoot the Palestinian, but looks down to his daughter. He sees her traumatized, and instead of pulling the trigger throws the gun down into the sand in front of himself and goes to help lift up his daughter..

FINAL SCENE:

Sir, there is a demonstration rising in the Golan area. What should we do?

FATHER I: It is a funeral.

We will send in some troops to make sure that it doesn’t get out of hand.

FATHER I: You will send no one.

But sir?

FATHER I: NO ONE! There will be no patrols! (looking out the window) Today We all mourn.

Cuts back to the funeral showing the father and the friends lifting the coffin over their heads and carrying it out to the funeral. As they prepare to leave the building carrying the coffin the father reaches to a gun resting against the wall. Resting one finger on the barrel to pull it towards him he hesitates, looks over his shoulder slightly at PUNK and his other son carrying to coffin. He takes his hand from the gun and extends it to his son. Walking hand in hand they lead the way out the door with the coffin following them. PUNK is shown carrying the coffin with a tear rolling down his eye. The mother is followed by women who weep and cry, but she doesn’t. She just walks forward one step at a time. We see the faces of those he knew.

SOLDIER: Your daughter has left the building.

FATHER I: No matter, she probably isn’t any safer in this house than anywhere in the city.

We see the girl at the wall crying with her arms beating against it; it is a new wailing wall of sorts. PUNK is shown carrying the coffin with a tear rolling down his eye and the shot fades.

Final Image: the bomb and gun in the sand there is a soft wind noise slowly blowing sand across the two weapons burying them. At this point the credits roll, but the image of the gun and bomb is shown throughout.