"The Billboard From Bethlehem!" a one hour documentary by Connecticut billboard magnet turned film maker, writer, director Bruce A. Barrett, stars the Combatants For Peace, (featured in the New York Times, Jan. 23rd, 2007) who are a coalition of former Israeli Defense Force Fighters and Palestinian Resistance fighters committed to non-violent action and an end to the forty-year occupation of the West Bank.

The film tells the story of an American Billboard Company owner, (Barrett) who convinces Israeli and Palestinian fighters (The Combatants for Peace) to recruit Israeli and Palestinian children to paint a giant peace mural billboard inside the West Bank of Palestine.  The completed sign, then, travels to a mosque, a synagogue, and a church before being posted on a busy American highway.  The film offers insight into the history of the conflict, the dynamics of the fighting, and a vision for a just and lasting peace.

The film opens as Elik Elhanan, an Israeli soldier, tells of the murder of his fourteen year old sister by Palestinian suicide bombers. Compounding this tragedy, is the news from Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian fighter, as he recalls the murder of his daughter by Israeli soldiers on patrol outside her school in the West bank.

Enters Barrett, the owner of an American Billboard Company, whose contact with Combatants for Peace inspires a vision to paint a billboard and make a film inside the West Bank. The documentary then weaves a tale of billboard design with eight combatant's stories of personal transformation:  how they grew up, how they engaged in violent action against their enemy, and how they became soldiers of non-violence.

Click here to visit the "Billboard from Bethlehem" project homepage.

To order a copy of the DVD video, please send your written request and a check (payable to Wider Church Ministries, United Church of Christ)for $5 for shipping to the attention of Peter Makari (address is below).