My Enemy, My Brother: Prompt

PROMPT:

Every year, the United Institute for Peace hosts a National Peace Writing contest. The Institute was created to “mitigate international conflict through nonviolent means.” Imagine you will submit a piece of writing for this contest. Write a post describing Zahed and Najah’s story. How is their story an example of living in a nonviolent way? What do you think the filmmaker is telling the world by filming Zahed and Najah’s story?

My Enemy, My Brother is a documentary about two child soldiers during the Iran-Iraq War and their story. Zahed was 13, and Najah was about 18 years old when the war happened. Zahed was from Iran, but Najah was from Iraq. During a battle in Khorramshahr, there was an attack on the bunkers on each side. Najah was in the Iraq bunker when the attack happened. He almost died in the attack. However, Zahed went in to an Iran bunker where Najah was attacked. Since they were on different sides in the battle, Zahed was originally supposed to leave Najah to die and suffer. However, Zahed found a holy book called Quran in Najah's pocket that had a picture of Najah's girlfriend in it. Zahed changed his mind and saved Najah from suffering and dying by doing things a human would do aside from the war because he saw that there was a family waiting for this soldier back home. Zahed took Najah to a military hospital.

The terrible war ended in 1988. After Najah was free from the hospital in 1997, he went to Vancouver, Canada to live his life. Zahed also went to Vancouver after he got released from being a prisoner of war to become a seaman. A few years later, Zahed went to Vancouver Association for Survivor of Torture. The same day, Najah took his brother there too. Najah sees an Iraqi man and talks to him. After a while, Najah realized that the man was Zahed, who saved him during the war. From that day on to this day, Zahed and Najah have a brother-like relationship and is helping each other out.

Zahed and Najah's story is inspiring and is also and example of living in a nonviolent way because although they were each soldiers for different sides during the war, Zahed saved Najah from suffering to death. Zahed did not think about being in different sides and did a great human-like action which saved Najah.

I think that the filmmaker is trying to tell the world a message through filming Zahed and Najah's story. He is probably trying to say that if a person does heartedly actions without thinking of rules such as being in a different side during a war, he/she can help out the needed, or even save a life of a person. Everyone should always at least try to help out someone for a good deed if they are in need, even if there may be certain rules which say you cannot, because doing so might save and help the person very much.