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Ibrahim

1996 23 min
Coming soon

Ibrahim is an 11-year-old Palestinian Arab boy living in East Jerusalem. We follow him on his way home from school as he passes through several distinct neighbourhoods—Orthodox Jewish, secular Jewish and an Arab neighbourhood where Palestinians wear traditional dress. Ibrahim’s life blends the modern with the traditional. He plays soccer and Nintendo and is at home with the older ways of his grandfather in Galilee and his nanny in the Old City of Jerusalem.

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Ibrahim
  • Children of Jerusalem
    Children of Jerusalem (1991–1996) is a collection of seven films by multi-award-winning filmmaker Beverly Shaffer. The series offers portraits of life in Jerusalem as experienced by seven children from diverse social, cultural and religious backgrounds.

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Ibrahim is an 11-year-old Palestinian Arab boy living in East Jerusalem. We follow him on his way home from school as he passes through several distinct neighbourhoods—Orthodox Jewish, secular Jewish and an Arab neighbourhood where Palestinians wear traditional dress. Ibrahim’s life blends the modern with the traditional. He plays soccer and Nintendo and is at home with the older ways of his grandfather in Galilee and his nanny in the Old City of Jerusalem.

  • director
    Beverly Shaffer
  • producer
    Beverly Shaffer
  • executive producer
    Don Haig
  • camera
    Kent Nason
  • sound
    Jacques Drouin
  • editing
    Sidonie Kerr
  • sound editing
    Danuta Klis
  • re-recording
    Jean Paul Vialard
  • animation
    Jane Churchill
    John Matthias
  • music
    Chris Crilly

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Education

Ages 10 to 16

Study Guide - Guide 1

Ethics and Religious Culture - Religious Diversity/Heritage
Family Studies/Home Economics - Child Development
Health/Personal Development - Human Growth and Development
Health/Personal Development - Identity

Warning: guns/hunting, mentions of war/violence

Brief “lesson launcher type” activity or a series of inquiry questions with a bit of context:

  • Ibrahim shares that he is Palestinian-Arab-Israeli. Why do you think he struggles with the order of the labels? Are the labels important in Israel?
  • Why do you think his city feels like a village? How might it feel differently for different residents?
  • Ibrahim says that travelling from city to city in Israel feels like travelling through time. Why is that so? How differently do people within Israel live?
  • How would peace positively affect Ibrahim and his family? How would it affect followers of several different religions?
  • Has Israel changed at all in the years following the release of this documentary in 1996? Where do you imagine Ibrahim is now?
Ibrahim
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