Sometimes truth can seem stranger than fiction. How’s this for an elevator pitch for a drama? «We’re going to focus on a Lutheran minister in #Brooklyn, who wants to represent the Arab community in Bay Ridge by running for office in the #New York# city council. See, the thing is the minister is from Palestine, where he was brutally tortured by #Israeli authorities for nearly two months, but he’s dealt with it and believes in #American democracy#. We follow this guy, Khader El-Yateem, in the weeks leading up to the primaries.»
Luckily, director Ahmed Mansour didn’t have to make a drama pitch. As a documentarian, he had two Jewish producers, Seth Morrison and Sarah Friedland, who believed in following Khader’s campaign as well as an executive producer, Paul Costello, who is a veteran involved in peace-making attempts between #Palestine and #Israel. (Well, Ok, maybe this also seems fictional).
Mansour’s camera is there, documenting the very charismatic and articulate El-Yateem throughout the highly charged campaign. At a Republican rally to which he’s been invited, El-Yateem encounters a very angry and dismissive member of Trump’s party who viciously attacks him. As he walks the streets, some people are clearly non-plussed by his presence. A major issue emerges: of the 40,000 Arab-Americans in Bay Ridge only about 400 have registered to vote. Part of the campaign simply becomes about getting registrations to take place—but with so much #Islamophobia everywhere, it’s obvious that people are afraid to make their presence known to authorities.
Brooklyn Inshallah highlights others who are working to get El-Yateem elected, particularly the remarkable Linda Sarsour, a Muslim activist, who is a dynamic force in her own right. In the last quarter of the doc, many things change as they often do in real life, but one thing remains sure: Sarsour and others like her will get many more Arab-Americans to vote in future elections.
Mansour has made a verité film about democracy in action, a real-life drama that deserves a wide audience.
This article previously appeared in POV Magazine
