Paradise Now…

I think the movie is extremely well-made and true to reality! I saw the movie last year and I think it does a great job of showing the side of the normal (not extreme) Palestinian people. My answer to who is at fault: the people who brainwash others into committing the crimes. I do not blame the Israelis, nor the Palestinians. I do not blame the Jewish nor the Muslim. I blame the individuals who misconstrue religion and dreams in order to better themselves. In my opinion, people like Jamal (that was his name, right?) and Abu Salim are inhumane and disgusting! They themselves do not use their bodies as the weapon, but convince others to do so. A couple of years ago, when the suicide bombings started happening daily in the Middle East, I asked my mom “Why and how can people kill themselves and others when it is a sin to do so and say it is in the name of Islam?” My mom replied that you have to realize where those individuals are coming from, what circumstances they grew up in and what they think will help them reach Heaven. In the movie, we saw how the lives of the characters was, in fact, Hell and how their loved ones had died and they could not see anything else as working. The brainwashers take these vulnerable people and manipulate them further. When I was really young, my mom got a call from her brother telling us that my cousin ( 16 yrs old, who had become a suicide bomber for Kashmir) had been killed by a bomb and those who had taken him bluntly told my aunt that no remains were intact. No matter where, and no matter what the cause, I think those people who brainwash the younger and vulnerable ones are 100% to blame. Religion is just an excuse they use for their own gain.