The Middle East Task Force of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will show on Sunday, June 24, at 4 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 6500 East Stearns St., Long Beach, the film, “The Wanted 18.”
Jay Weissberg, in his film review of Nov. 29, 2014, said, “Only the tragically absurd Israeli-Palestinian situation could transform the simple act of milking cows into a perceived threat to national security, yet that’s the amazing story of Paul Cowan and Amer Shomali’s ingenious documentary…Mixing talking heads, a smattering of archival footage, and smile-inducing claymation (stop-action animation with clay), the helmers (directors) bring to life a time during the First Intifada when the residents of Beit Sahour, in the Occupied Territories, started a dairy collective, highlighting the ridiculous without losing track of the seriousness of all acts of resistance….In 1988…citizens from Beit Sahour decided they were tired of being forced to purchase all dairy supplies from Israel, so they bought 18 cows from a sympathetic kibbutznik. It was an anomaly on multiple levels: Palestinians have a sheep-raising (not bovine) (sic) culture, and, beyond that, this was a community of academics and professionals, so they sent student Salim Jaber to the U.S. to learn the finer points of milking and animal husbandry.”
To read the Variety review, click here.
The Al-Jazeera review of April 26, 2016 pointed out Beit Sahour was a “predominantly Christian Arab village.”
Cowan is associated with the National Film Board of Canada and has directed nine other films.
Shomali, besides directing the film, narrates.
According to the website of Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies, in welcoming Shomali as a visiting artist, Shomali “is a Palestinian multidisciplinary artist, using painting, digital media, films, installations and comics as tools to explore and interact with the Palestinian sociopolitical scene focusing on the creation and the use of Palestinian revolution iconography. He holds a Master’s degree in Animation from the Arts University Bournemouth in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Birzeit University” and that “his work at many exhibitions around the world including France, Belgium, Greece, Tunisia, Germany and Canada.”
According to a PDF flyer for the event, at 6 p.m., a catered Middle Eastern dinner will be available, “free-will offering will be taken (donations accepted), an opportunity “to discuss the film and…current events” and at 7 p.m., there will be a “Prayer Service for Peace.”
According to the website of the Southern California Synod of the ELCA, more than 120 churches comprise the synod, serving the counties of Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura.
Barry Saks 
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