There Is Another Way follows activists from Combatants for Peace, a bi-national movement founded by former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters who, in 2006, chose to lay down their weapons and jointly resist, through non-violent means, the system of oppression under which they had lived.
Their methods include education and art — partly inspired by Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed — alongside grassroots activities such as joint olive harvests, protests, and protective presence with Palestinian communities in the West Bank who are threatened by settler violence and military force. Through personal storytelling, they create space for dialogue and empathy, drawing on their own experiences of personal transformation.
The film follows the group as they try to make sense of the devastating consequences of the occupation and the apartheid regime imposed by the State of Israel, including the Hamas attack on 7 October, the genocide in Gaza, and the ongoing colonisation of Palestinian land. “In the midst of darkness we discover who we really are,” the filmmakers write on their website. The film shows that peace is not merely an abstract ideal, but a daily choice that requires courage in times of fear, loss and deep division.
The film opens space for reflection, empathy and dialogue, inviting us to look beyond walls, systems of power and forms of exclusion, and to rediscover our shared humanity. There Is Another Way navigates bravely through grief and suffering to reveal what lies on the other side: hope.
Content warning: The film contains intense and violent documentary footage.
Post-screening conversation
Following the screening, a short pre-recorded conversation with the founders of Combatants for Peace will be shown. Together, the discussion reflects on themes of peace, reconciliation and solidarity, and explores what it means to choose another way — in situations of violence and injustice, and in our daily lives.
A Reconsider Film, Stephen Apkon | Film | Palestine & Israel