The Middle East is trapped in anger which prevents those whose responsibility is to reach out for peace to reach back into their past in order to discover hate. A French film festival invited some Egyptian filmmakers to sit on a jury which evaluates films, but they decided to resign rather than judge an Israel film entry. Their rationale was as a loyal Egyptian it was impossible to have any normal relations with the state of Israel. Their decision raises interesting concerns as to whether the behavior of a nation should determine whether its artists, intellectuals, or writers should have their work evaluated based on who runs the government. If one adhered to that rule, anti-Nazis in Germany would have been denied opportunities to express their dislike of the Hitler regime.
Ironically, Egypt is run by a semi-dictator named Mubarak. Should all Egyptian films be denied entry to contests since the world opposes dictatorial run societies? Egyptian intellectuals should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israelis who are working to end abuses in their democratic society
