Face to Face
Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today's Spotlight program. I'm Rebekah Schipper.
Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Walls. Throughout history people from many different cultures have built walls. These walls have kept people separate from each other. But today Spotlight and the Face to Face project ask: What happens when you look over the wall? What is so frightening about the people on the other side? Could it be that the people living over the wall are just like you?
Voice 2
The most famous wall in the world is probably the Great Wall of China. The Chinese built the main part of this wall in the fourteen hundreds [1400s]. They wanted to protect themselves from the Mongol people. Over the years they built the wall longer and longer. Today it stretches over six thousand [6,000] kilometres! It is the longest man-made structure in the world.
Voice 1
Another famous wall was the Berlin wall, built after World War Two. This wall divided Germany. It separated Democratic West Germany and Communist East Germany. Its purpose was to stop people from fleeing East Germany. But this wall caused pain for many people. The wall divided families. Family members could not see each other for many years. In 1989, the East German government decided that East Germans could finally cross into West Germany. It was a celebration for many people. The wall came down. In fact, people broke it down with their own hands! Many families were finally reunited.
Voice 2
There is another famous wall between the state of Israel in the Palestinian West Bank. It is the Israeli West Bank barrier. It separates the Palestinians of the West Bank from the Israelis living on the other side. This is an area of great conflict. The Israelis believe they need the wall for protection. And the Palestinians believe the wall is illegal. The Palestinian people believe that the wall is an attempt to take away their rights and their land. It does not seem like this wall will come down any time soon.
Voice 1
In 2005, two French artists, JR and Marco, travelled to the Middle-East. They wanted to know why Palestinians and Israelis could not find a way to get along together. They visited both sides of the Israeli West Bank barrier. They talked with both Palestinian and Israeli people. And they found that the barrier separated people who were not so different from each other. In fact, JR and Marco believed these people could easily be brothers.
Voice 3
“After a week, we had a [theory]: these people look the same; they speak almost the same language, like twin brothers raised in different families. A religious covered woman has her twin sister on the other side of the barrier. A farmer, a taxi driver, a teacher, has his twin brother in front of him. He is endlessly fighting with him. It is [clear], but they do not see that. We must put them face to face. They will [see and understand].”
Voice 2
That was the beginning of the Face to Face project. JR and Marco asked the question: What happens when you look over the wall? What they found was that Palestinians and Israelis are not so different. In fact, they are very similar!
Voice 1
The Face to Face project makes picture portraits of Palestinians and Israelis who have the same job. JR takes the pictures with his camera. Then, JR and Marco put these pictures up, side by side, in public places. Many people must pass by these pictures on both the Palestinian and Israeli side of the barrier.
Voice 2
But, these are not just any pictures. They are HUGE pictures of faces. And the people in the pictures are not simply smiling for the camera. They are making very strange faces! Some people put out their tongues. Other people closed their eyes tight. Some people made a kiss-face with their lips. And still others crossed their eyes. These are not serious pictures. They are pictures for people to have fun with! JR and Marco wanted to show that life does not always have to be serious. Sometimes it can be fun too!
Voice 1
Examples of Face to Face pictures include many different kinds of people. There are pictures of teachers, of taxi drivers, of television actors, hairdressers, musicians, and many others. JR describes taking the pictures.
Voice 3
“[For example], we go to a Palestinian hairdresser. We tell him that we are French. We tell him that we are neither anti-Israeli nor anti-Palestinian but we [want real] peace. We [tell him that] we want to put [him] against a wall and [take pictures of his face] with a [camera]. Then we [tell him] we will take [his] picture in huge format and [put] it everywhere, in Israel, in Palestine, in his town, on the wall, everywhere. The crazy thing is that [the people] accepted!”
Voice 2
JR and Marco believe that the Face to Face project is important. They want Palestinians and Israelis to see that they are not so different from each other. They may experience conflict. But, in the end, they are just people. They are people with families and homes. They are people who have similar jobs. They are just people who live on opposite sides of a wall. JR and Marco hope that when people see their faces side by side they will also see that they are brothers.
Voice 1
The Middle-East is the holy meeting place for many religions. People from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam live together here. Sometimes this causes conflict. And we all know that conflict can separate people. Sometimes conflict even causes people to build walls. So, how and when will these walls of separation come down?
Voice 2
Well, Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach something very important. They all teach that people are God's highest creation. In fact the Jewish and Christian holy books say that humans are made in the image of God. Respecting God means respecting other people because they are made in His image. When people learn to respect each other, the walls will come down.
Voice 1
JR and Marco hope that Palestinians and Israelis will one day be able to tear down the wall between them. When the wall is gone the people will finally be able to see each other face to face. When that happens, JR and Marco have promised to start a new project. That project will be called, “Hand in Hand.”
Voice 2
The writer and producer of today's Spotlight was Rebekah Schipper. The voices you heard were from the United States. Computer users can hear more Spotlight programs, read our scripts, and see our word list on our website at www.radio.english.net. This program is called, “Face to Face.”
Voice 1
We love to hear comments and questions from our listeners. You can email us. Our email address is radio @ english . net. We hope you can join us for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!
