WARRIORS OF THE HEART: Women Wage Peace

ABOUT WARRIORS OF THE HEART: Women Wage Peace

The Jerusalem Prayer Project (JPP) is fundraising to complete post-production work on our feature documentary, ‘Warriors of the Heart: Women Wage Peace.'

As events in Israel and Palestine unfold on a daily basis, the stakes for peace in the region and the world couldn't be higher.  

News coverage of the inspiring work of interfaith, grassroots organizers who are making real progress toward reconciliation outside of official channels, is virtually non-existent.  The mission of the Jerusalem Prayer Project is to tell these stories. 

After four years of development, field production, and editing, the documentary is entering its final phase.  In the first quarter of 2020 JPP will complete its pilot in the series, ’Warriors of the Heart: Women Wage Peace’ and is seeking immediate funding to that end.  

Israeli Singer-Songwriter Yael Deckelbaum marching with Palestinian Singer Miriam Toukan, Women Wage Peace, March for Hope, Jaffa 2017.

This is a time when women around the world are rising up and assuming political and economic power in record numbers as exemplified by the 2018 US Congressional election.  Today, as we move forward to the 2020 US Presidential race -- women are transforming the narrative on all levels of society, whether in Washington or Jerusalem. The story behind ‘Women Wage Peace’ connects to the broader sociopolitical transformations happening around the world today.  It’s about women, facing tremendous odds, challenging the status quo of endless cycles of stigmatization, marginalization, and patriarchy. It’s about hope and healing through inclusivity.


‘Warriors of the Heart: Women Wage Peace’, tells a remarkable story, at a remarkable time.  From its inception in 2014, in the aftermath of the highly destructive Gaza/Israeli war, Women Wage Peace began with a group of 40 Israeli and Palestinian women and has since grown to over 45,000 members.  It has become the largest, most dynamic and publicly visible movement for peace in the Holy Land, where thousands of women are courageously demanding that their leaders on both sides return to the negotiation table to make ‘peace’ their highest priority.  


These women are creating a unique breakthrough towards grassroots engagement in the face of war, entrenched patriarchy and a dehumanizing 'architecture of separation'. They are part of the rise of inclusive global feminism at the heart of a new wave of peace-building in the Middle East.  JPP is committed to bringing their story and others like it, to a worldwide audience.  


Stephen Fiske interviewing Palestinian singer Miriam Toukan at a Women Wage Peace event in Jaffa, 2018.


FINANCES

The Jerusalem Prayer Project (JPP), founded in 2015, is a Los Angeles based multimedia non-profit production company. JPP creates original content and builds a global platform for musicians, artists, filmmakers and activists committed to peace-building from a  uniquely Interfaith perspective. 

JPP is a special affiliate of the Unity-and-Diversity World Council (UDC), (udcworld.org) a Californian 501c3 non-profit organization. JPP has been founded and developed by Interfaith Minister and musician Stephen L. Fiske and Co-Founder, filmmaker, Robert Corsini.


Women Wage Peace organizer, Rivi Diamond tells the story of their transformative organization at the Tantur Ecumenical Center, Gilo, Israel, Summer 2019.

Palestinian Journalist and Human Rights Activist Rafa Musmar opens up about the challenges of being a Palestinian woman and human rights activist in her homeland.  Beit Jala, West Bank.  Summer of 2019.

Over the past three years of development and production, JPP has raised $100,000, self-funded through a combination of Executive Producer contributions, deferred payments, sweat-equity, and tax-deductible donations.

Our immediate goal is to raise $50,000 to complete the post-production and execute an exclusive marketing campaign for worldwide documentary distribution, beginning in 2020. 

DISCOVER THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Stephen Fiske (left), with WWP Organizer Yael Treidel and Huda Abuarquob, Regional Director of the Alliance For Middle East Peace and Robert Corsini, Beit Jala, West Bank, 2017

How did two guys from Los Angeles embark on a four-year journey to the Holy Land to tell the story of these courageous women?

Find out by watching the video below:



To learn more about JPP, visit our website: http://jerusalemprayerproject.org/