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| Painting the Billboard from Bethlehem |
MILFORD (03/19/2009) -- In May, 2008, one hundred Palestinian and Israeli children and adults painted a great banner, a billboard to show their neighbors in Bethlehem that there was another way than violence. The billboard has since greeted travelers on Interstate highways 84 and 95 in Connecticut, and is the subject of a documentary being shown at local film festivals and in churches: "The Billboard from Bethlehem."
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| Young people painting |
Bruce A. Barrett, a member of the Woodmont United Church of Christ in Milford and owner of Barrett Communications, conceived the project as a way of promoting active non-violence amidst the long struggle in the Holy Land. "For the children of Israel and Palestine," he says, peace is a matter of life and death in the here and now." Staff members at Barrett Communications sketched the giant banner in preparation for its painting in Bethlehem, and Barrett himself worked alongside the local residents as they painted.
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Davida Foy Crabtree accepts a DVD copy of "Billboard from Bethlehem" from director Bruce Barrett |
The film presents interviews with resistance fighters on both sides, historical footage, and stories of personal transformation, culminating in showing the painting of the billboard. The movie is an Official Selection of the Kent Film Festival, where it will be shown at 4:00 pm on March 29, and also will be featured at the White Sands International Film Festival April 23-26. Click here for information about screening the film at your church.
In addition to the Bethlehem billboard, Barrett Communications has also displayed an I Wage Peace banner along Connecticut's highways, and has donated the space for a billboard featuring Silver Lake Conference Center's summer offerings. Barrett chairs the Major Gifts subcommittee of Now for the Future: the Campaign for Silver Lake.
