Can I Live ? - The Sour Interview

The Skate Documentary "Sour: 4 Peace In The Middle East" brings together 9 skaters from Israel and Jordan, to try and answer the question: "what does an instrument of peace look like?" Filmed throughout the Middle East during the Israeli/Lebanon war of 2006, the doc brings together skate-rats from backgrounds divided by conflict and identities defined by enemies; ultimately demonstrating that the potential for peace is enormous but it requires a deeper connection and understanding. Skaters share a bond that transcends ideology, religion, phobias, and 'isms' you see and respect the person in front of you that shares your addiction. Skating is a common language that touches something deeper than all the fear and bullshit present in the world today. The site sums it up best,"In essence, 'Sour' is a film about doing the things you love with the people your not supposed to like." Recenently the Director/Producer of Sour, Nathan Gray, was gracious enough to give an Interview to Resort. Nathan is also the Executive Director of "The Bedouins.org" a non-profit working for the proliferation of peace and currently planning a 2011 tour of the US and beyond with some of the Skaters from the movie.
Thanks to Nathan, the Sour crew, and the Bedouins crew for the interview and the awesome photos.

R2C: Where did the idea for the Sour doc/project come from, and why useskateboarding as opposed to some other athletic/artistic medium? What did skating offer in connecting Israeli and Arab youth that other, more popular activities didn’t ?

For starters my roots are in Saudi Arabia because this is where I grew up and I first learned to skate. In the 5th grade the first Gulf War broke out and missiles were flying over our houses. We had to carry a gas mask to school and there were times in the beginning when explosions were going off and we had to wear them because we didn't know if Saddam had chemical weapons or not. At that age it was terrifying and it's hard to breath out of those masks.

Later in 2006 while studying Arabic in Jordan I met many talented and positive skaters from Amman. I started hanging out with them and we became very close friends, skating together almost every day at the Street of Cultures, a marble plaza that is a perfect spot. I also had the opportunity to travel West to TelAviv and Jerusalem where I met many talented Israeli skaters. I realized that these groups were less than 100 miles apart, shared the same passions, and yet because of the political situation had never met. My goal was to change this and to see if skateboarding could be used to start a relationship between these two groups.

R2C: What were the logistical difficulties in making this documentary?

It is easy for an Israeli to get a visa to Jordan. It is issued at the border and was free the first time because the Jordanian guards said they really liked the tricks we were doing. Actually the visa is free for everyone at this southern crossing but they were just being nice and we didn't know this so it all seemed a very good start to our trip. Unfortunately it is not possible for Jordanians to get a visa to skate in Israel.

R2C: Did you or the skaters involved ever face any hostility or resistance from people in either the Jordanian or Israeli community.

Well when we went to Hebron, Khalid took us to the best Kanafe place in all of Palestine. We were outside the cafe' waiting for Khalid and 2 local teenagers saw us. We obviously looked out of place and they asked Mohammed where he was from. He said Jaffa and the teenager immediately changed his expression, spit on the ground, and said that he would see us in hell. They kept staring at us menacingly but fortunately Khalid came out, we went to his car, and nothing came of it. Of course it sucks to realize that these teenagers wanted to start shit just cause of the city Mohammed was born in but that is the reality. This is what we are hoping to change.

A lighter story was when we got in a street fight in Tel Aviv because some kids called Tzahi a girl and they started making fun of him. We all went back to stick up for him, a punch was thrown and then a brawl started. I got punched in the jaw, Mohammed got his board taken but he got it back once he found a big stick and threatened to wack the kid in the head if he didn't give back the board. When the fight broke out Tzahi ran like a girl and didn't get involved so that was the funniest part about it. This shows that a lot of fights are random and usually start over stupid shit to begin with. Another time in Jerusalem I got a taxi with an American friend and I said Salam Al-Akum and then the taxi told us he doesn't take Arabs. It was bullshit and he started yelling at us to get out of his taxi so we found another one.

R2C: What are the skater’s views of the whole Israel/Arab conflict situation and do you think skating and the “Sour” experience helped in shaping those views?

Well this might be difficult to answer as there are many different views. I will say this though, while I am an optimist, I’d be lying if it was as simple or as easy as skating. Many of the skaters are reluctant to consider these cross-cultural skate sessions as “making peace” because they do not want to be viewed as ignoring the atrocities being committed by the other side. Likewise, some of the skaters view peace activism as contradictory to loyalty to their homeland. But they continue to skate.

R2C: I’ve always believed that skating is one of those activities that helps foster a fierce independent spirit in the participant, and encourages the development of a healthy amount of skepticism Do you see skating as a tool for change?

Skateboarding in its essence is about abolishing rules, flipping the script, and transforming something wasted and desolate like islands of concrete or road barriers into something positive. In this vein, skating is about transforming entrenched prejudices and misunderstandings.

R2C: How has the documentary been received in the Middle East region?

It has screened in Eilat, Israel as part of their film festival and many different people and cultures our excited about the premise of this film. However, at the same time it is hard to have a peace film that attempts to be unbiased and accepting of both sides without upsetting some people. There are those that are not ready to start a relationship with the other and so they are not supportive of the mission of this film. They are against it in principle and feel that peace translates into complacency. But this is not my intention as I have always felt that instead of sitting back and complaining we have to do something positive even if gets misinterpreted by others. After 9/11 I felt utterly sad and confused. One of the reasons was that my countrymen were both the attackers and the attacked. At a loss as to how to reconcile this internal conflict, in 2002, I set off alone on a dirt bike from Saudi Arabia to Greece. This trip was an eye opener for me and changed my life. It gave me hope that there are peaceful and generous people everywhere and that we don't have to feed into the cycle of violence if we don't want to.

R2C: Where do the Palestinians hail from in the region?

Because there are so many Palestinians in Jordan many of the skaters involved are Palestinian but not living in Palestine, essentially refugees. When we do the US tour I would like to include at least one Palestinian living in the West Bank so as to broaden our group's perspective. Obviously it is very different living in Occupied Palestine than living outside it. In 2009 one of the Israeli skaters asked me if we could go to Ramallah because he knew that I went into Palestine often and that I had friends there who could take care of us even though he is Jewish. I made some calls and we ended up going into Palestine with 2 of the Israeli skaters. It was the wildest trip I have been on and I wished that I filmed more of it but we were so excited and nervous that filming was not at the front of our mind. In the village of Beit Omar we saw an Israeli soldier yelling at some people with a grenade in his hand while we drove past in the taxi. We got to skate outside the church in Bethleham where Tzahi did a rock and roll on an old roman pillar and Mohammed did a boardslide on it.

R2C: Are the Occupied Territories skateable?

Yes – see the attached photos.

R2C: I’ve read on the Bedouins site that there are plans for an Arab/Israeli skate tour in 2011, what information can you give me about that?

We are officially launching theBedouins.org with an event called “Yallah! Artivism for Peace”, a collaboration of skate art, video, photo and music. The Seattle show was the first of a series of events meant to raise money to bring the Muslim and Jewish skaters to the United States next summer for a national skate tour intended to share alternative perspectives of the Middle East using a grassroots approach. If you would like to be involved in this tour in any way please email us at peace@thebedouins.org

R2C: How can those interested see the documentary?

The easiest way to get a copy of Sour is to visit reframecollection.org

R2C: How can interested folks lend a hand and get involved with the organization and the documentary project?

As we are fairly new and very grassroots we welcome all the help we can get at this stage. Our big needs are artists willing to collaborate with us because art shows and artistic expression go hand in hand with what our project is about. We are also looking for people that have the connections to organize these shows or host them, as this helps us get the word out.

* Next Week We'll Have More From Nathan About Taking The Skate Trip Into The Occupied Territories. -Stay Tuned Channel 7 Plan 9........................