Al Helm: Martin Luther King in Palestine

An African American gospel choir is the Greek chorus for a Palestinian play on Martin Luther King which tours the West Bank preaching nonviolence. The choir is apprehensive about working with Palestinians whose American media image is that of angry, violent terrorist. For the Palestinians actors, Americans are unconditional supporters of their occupiers. It is a personal and cultural exchange where, over the course of the journey, their ideas about each other are radically transformed. Happy to finally visit the Holy Land, the choir witnesses life in the occupied territories, perform in a unique theater inside a refugee camp run by Juliano Mer-Khamis using art as an alternative to violence, and meet Fadi Quran, a young leader of a nonviolent movement for justice.

At the end of their tour reality will astonishingly mirror the play on MLK, a man who died for his beliefs. On the very day of the anniversary of MLK's murder, Juliano Mer-Khamis is assassinated, sending shock-waves throughout the country and the world. The very next day is the final night of the play where the actors perform in the shadow of his death, articulating their lines with a new and heartrending immediacy. As the choir leaves, King's legacy lives on, as Fadi Quran and other young Palestinians board 'settler only' buses in an act of civil disobedience.