Mujahid Sarsur is the founder of the Bard Palestinian Youth Initiative, which creates cultural exchanges between Palestine and the US.

As a youth, Ayed Morrar joined Fatah and was jailed for the first of five times at the age of nineteen. His incarcerations and the anguish of armed resistance had taught him a lesson. When Julia Bacha arrived to begin her ever-timely film, Morrar had become the leader of a nonviolent uprising in Budrus, a West Bank village of 1,500. When the Israeli government decides that the security wall should not just encircle the village itself but literally annex generations-old olive groves, a source of livelihood for many impoverished Palestinians, Morrar saw no solution but unwavering protest. The strength of commitment grows as more and more of the villagers find the courage to resist. But it is the refusal of Morrar's fifteen-year-old daughter, Iltezam, to be sidelined that turns conviction to victory. When the women join the men in protest along the rocky ‘scape, their boldness is unbreakable. Soon the village's plight is making international headlines, uniting not only members of Fatah and Hamas under the banner of nonviolence, but also bringing together Israelis, South Africans, and other activists from the global rights movement. Brazilian-born Bacha intercuts interviews with local Palestinians, international observers, and Israeli soldiers to create a complex view of these turbulent times. Like the three thousand olive trees they fought for, the people of Budrus have their roots in ancient soil, but their politics amidst the olive branches.