LAU KIT GEE wrote: The Book of Law (Iran, 2009) (HKIFF: Film Review)

LAU KIT GEE wrote:

Director: Mazizr Miri
Official webstite: http://www.bamdadmedia.com/book%20of%20law.htm

Holy War, Holy Peace?

I am always asked why I am so interested in Middle East politics, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is because my mind was obsessed with the same question as the director of the Book f Law, why some people break the world's peace in the name of their religion. This question becomes much more difficult when the religions involved, Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe the same God--the God of Abraham--the Lord.

The Book of Law is a film about truth-seeking, religions, clash of civilization, and above all, what love is and how much you could sacrifice for love.

Rahman Tavana, a 40 year old engineer, born in a religious, traditional Iranian family is not married yet. According to an old tradition in Iran the husband's family should choose wife. He goes to Lebanon on a mission, helping Lebanese to set up a NGO concerning women’s welfare in South Lebanon, which was heavily attacked in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. He gets to know a French girl name Juliet, who is beautiful and speaks Farsi (Persian language, ie Iran’s official language) and studied Persian Literature. She is a Catholic. They fall in love at one sight and they get married there and come to Iran. Before coming to Iran Juliet had studied about Islam and became Muslim.

Juliet is a devout student of the Book (the Qur’an) and ever ready to throw it to anyone committing any small acts as sins, by reciting God’s words from the Book. She even criticizes a group of female guests, including Rahman’s old mother who believes in Islam for over 60 years, for gossiping others. Everyone in Rahman's neighborhood, his family and even Rahman himself is so frustrated by her “condemnations” and are driven crazy.

Rahman and his family decide to fire back by condemning Juliet’s past (like wearing shorts when she was in the high school basketball team) and other trivial acts (like she is left-handed). They justify their unreasonable condemnation simply by re-interpreting the words of Qur’an. Juliet misses her days of ignorance, when she could be who she is, when she fell in love with Rahman.

Later, Juliet is pregnant but the doctor suggests her not to have the baby due to great risk of miscarriage. When Rahman’s family knows about that and they decide to find another wife for Rahman, describing Juliet as an alien. Juliet feels so lonely, alienated and heart-broken. She leaves her beloved Husband, leaves Iran and goes back to Lebanon without leaving a word. Rahman’s family, especially the little sister, then appreciates this foreign lady’s effort in following strictly to the rules of their religion, trying to respect and adapt to Iranian culture, loving everyone in the house, just because she loves Rahman so much.

Rahman goes to Lebanon to find Juliet but he couldn’t. He decides to take the risk to South Lebanon. On his way, the taxi driver told him that he has been driving different people from different parts of the world to South Lebanon. Most of them are working for UN or other NGOs as a group. To the taxi driver, Rahman was different as he goes to South Lebanon alone with a clear purpose, to find his wife. Other people who travel alone to Southern Lebanon are those with no purpose and hope, just like him, who is a Palestinian and loses his wife and children in the Israeli-Palestinian war. The taxi driver realizes that although these passengers have different cultural and religious backgrounds, religions all are to establish and develop the peace amongst people, just that they have different behaviors for religious practice.

In the destroyed town, Rahman found Juliet in a shabby school, who is teaching Muslim kids (probably orphans left after the war in 2006) to read Qur’an. They look at each other, with tears and love in their eyes.

What is your Book of Law? What should be our Book of Law?
Looking at the Marathon like Homosexuality Debate

In the Book of Law, the Book was Qur’an. So what about yours? What is your Book of Law? The Bible? The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Capitalism? Liberalism? Socialism?

There has been a long debate on the issue of homosexuality world-wide. Recently in Hong Kong, Christians have been voicing out their concern on the reform of the Domestic Violence Ordinance, which might be extended to cover same-sex couples, and hence would adversely affect the concept of family. Christians have been quoting their Book of Law—the Bible—to condemn homosexuals. Nonetheless, aren’t we all sinners? What are the differences between sinners that could justify one to condemn another?

We are living in a world with diversity, with different people having different books of law. Far from avoiding it, we should try to cherish this diversity, to learn how to appreciate the differences we have and to respect everyone as a person with dignity.

Here I would like to share with you some quotes from the Bible: My Book of Law:

1. If you judge; for in the thing in which you judge another, you condemn yourself, inasmuch as you that judge practice the same things.

Romans 2:1-41

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, if you judge; for in the thing in which you judge another, you condemn yourself, inasmuch as you that judge practice the same things. 2 Now we know that the judgment of God is, in accord with truth, against those who practice such things. 3 But do you have this idea, O man, while you judge those who practice such things and yet you do them, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, because you do not know that the kindly [quality] of God is trying to lead you to repentance?

2. Love your neighbor as yourself, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Romans 12:8-108

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet,"[a] and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Are there REAL RELIGIOUS WAR??
Looking at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

In the Book of Law, why do Juliet and Rahman’s family could not live together peacefully even though they are all Muslims? How does each party make use of the SAME BOOK to justify their condemnations? Similarly, why did the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict last for so long? Was it a “religious war” fighting for the “Holy Land”? Why is it so difficult to bring peace and end the Conflict? In both cases, different religions (or Books), or even the SAME BOOK seem to be used by different parties to conceal their hidden agenda in order to justify their actions and to mobilize other people’s support.

Let’s look at the facts: The State of Israel was built on78% of the Palestinian land, based on the old biblical symbols and legends and the notion that God had given the land to the Jews. The “occupation” or partition was authorized by the UN and the international community in 1947, which resulted in over 4 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East where nearly 70% of all Palestinians are refugees. Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have lived under Israeli military rule, suffering from the checkpoints and blockades policies, not being respected as an equal citizen or even a just a person, and seeing their homeland occupied by more and more Jews through illegal colonies/settlements.

To me, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict was not religious in origin, but then the element of religion was utilized or abused by different actions to frame the Conflict as a means to achieve political ends. The Americans successfully framed the conflict as one between “Judeo-Christian” against Islam to justify the unusual American-Israeli relationship. The Israelis justify their “war-crime-like” colonization and occupation of historic Palestine by the Judaism notion of “chosen people-promised land”. The HAMAS used Islamic values of Jihad to mobilize Palestinians to join the active resistance to the occupation. With the reemergence of religious identity among Palestinians and Israelis, the Conflict was perceived in a zero-sum term where all issues tend to become existential and this created serious obstacles to conflict resolution.

I agreed with the Director of the Book of Law who believes that ”religions all are to establish and develop the peace amongst people so I made the Book Of Law to show and prove one can be religious yet respect others' believes. Also one can be a religious Muslim and a calm person living in the world.” Long term peace is likely to be achieved through a new relationship based on mutual respect for their national and religious identities. Instead of a two-state solution with separate Muslim state and Jewish state, the one-state solution, with a secular democratic state based on equality for every single human being in Palestine-Israel and justice, seems to be the way forward.