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The Peace Activist

Hussein El Hajj Hassan, a young Shi’ite in Lebanon, grew up immersed in Hezbollah propaganda that demonized Israel and Jews as “zombies … spreading and growing, who aim to conquer the entire Arab region from the Nile to the Euphrates.” Then, as a college student, he participated in a series of exchange programs in the U.S. and Europe, where he met Israeli students. The deep friendships he formed changed his understanding of the world. Returning to Lebanon, he began advocating—at great risk—among his fellow Shi’ites for peace with Israel.

After the events described in this animated documentary short, a Hezbollah operative threw a hand grenade at Hussein. Narrowly escaping with his life, he fled Lebanon for Canada, where he continues to speak out on behalf of Arab-Israeli peace and a different future for Lebanon.

  • Joseph Braude
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Animation, Social action
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Lebanon
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Joseph Braude

Joseph Braude, president of the Center for Peace Communications, studied Near Eastern languages at Yale and Arabic and Islamic history at Princeton. He developed his Arabic to broadcast quality over a seven-year stint on Moroccan national radio and added Persian to his Arabic and Hebrew as a graduate student at the University of Tehran.

He is the author of "The Honored Dead: A Story of Friendship, Murder, and the Search for Truth in the Arab World" (Random House, 2011); "Broadcasting Change: Arabic Media as a Catalyst for Liberalism" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018); and "Reclamation: A Cultural Policy for Arab-Israeli Partnership" (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2019).

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Director Statement

Hezbollah does not want the world to hear the voices of the millions of Arabs in Lebanon and Syria who want a different future, free of its domination. We created this unusual documentary short in order to lend a platform to one of them, using digital animation to protect his identity and provide a creative representation of his life story accompanying his actual recorded voice.

Now Hussein El Hajj Hassan is free to speak out -- because he survived a Hezbollah assassination attempt in Lebanon and enjoys asylum in Canada -- but many others who share his views remain muzzled. We dedicate this telling of his story and life mission to the many Lebanese who seek peace with all their neighbors.