Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Robin Basselin.
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And I'm Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Have you ever thought that you weigh more than you should? Do you wish you lived a more healthy life? Have you ever tried losing weight? If you have, you are not alone. Being overweight is a growing problem globally. The World Health Organization recently reported that "worldwide, being overweight causes more deaths than being underweight." Because of this global problem, millions of people around the world are trying to lose weight and live more healthy lives.
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Recently, weight loss groups have become a popular way to lose weight. These groups provide support and education about how to live a healthy life. They are also a place where group members can talk, share their private feelings and meet new friends.
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Weight loss groups are very successful at helping people live healthier lives. But could such a group also build peace? It seems like a strange idea, but it was the idea of one young film maker named Yael Luttwak. Today's Spotlight is on Yael and the Slim Peace weight loss groups.
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In 2000, the peace process in Israel-Palestine was not going well. A major peace treaty had just failed. And people on both sides of the conflict were losing hope. At this same time, film maker and American-Israeli citizen Yael Luttwak began her own process - a process of weight loss. Yael joined a weight loss group in Tel Aviv, Israel. In the group, she lost over 10 kilos. She also learned many important things about healthy living, eating and body image. Yael also began to think that many people, in many cultures, must also struggle with the issue of weight loss.
Voice 1
After her experience in the weight loss group, Yael had an idea. She wondered if weight loss groups could help bring Israelis and Palestinians together. You see, Yael very much wanted peace in Israel-Palestine. However, she saw that a major barrier to peace was that Israelis and Palestinians do not really know each other. They often see one another as enemies and fear each other. Many Israelis and Palestinians live only kilometers away from each other. However, there is little communication between them.
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So Yael decided to create the first Slim Peace weight loss group. From her experience, Yael recognized the powerful emotional link that the women in weight loss groups share. So she thought that a weight loss group would be the perfect place for Israeli and Palestinian women to get to know each other. Yael also decided to create a film about the Slim Peace group. She explained what she hoped to achieve through the Slim Peace groups and the film.
Voice 3
"I was interested in exploring particular issues in both Jewish and Muslim cultures. These included issues of eating, weight and women's bodies. Clearly, at the film's centre is the subject of empathy - deeply understanding another person's feelings. Can two groups of women, Palestinian and Israeli, who live so close to each other and who would rarely speak, lower their barriers?"
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The first Slim Peace group began 2006. The group had 14 women - some Palestinian and some Israeli. Some of the women were religious and some were not. The group contained many different kinds of women. However, they were united by their desire to lose weight and live a more healthy life.
Voice 2
When the group first gathered, the women were a little afraid of each other. They did not know what to expect from the gathering. However, soon, the women began to trust and even like each other. They shared their deep emotions about food, weight and their bodies. The women also shared stories about their lives and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Voice 1
The Slim Peace film followed these 14 women for 6 weeks. The group was full of laughing, crying, arguing and shared emotions. The women of the group did not solve the problems of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, at the end of the film, many of the women had lost weight. They also succeeded in meeting women from the other side of the conflict. The women learned how to listen to and understand each other. Some even became friends.
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Yael showed the film to people all over the world. She wanted to educate the world about the conflict. She also wanted to communicate the common humanity of the Israeli and Palestinian people. The film did not become famous, but it did start a movement.
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Since the film was completed in 2007, 11 more Slim Peace groups have met in Israel-Palestine. One recent group member was Madeha Azayzeh. She told the Telegraph newspaper about being overweight and being part of the group. She said,
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"You see, I was not always like this. It is very important to know about nutrition - about the habits that we have. We share our own stories with the other women. It is very interesting to know the other. You find we are the same. The situation is very difficult in this land. But we must think about how to improve our lives."
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The Slim Peace groups are all about improving lives. They want to help women improve their health. And they also want to help improve the women's societies. The Slim Peace Program is now co-led by Yael and a Palestinian medical food and diet expert named Suha Khoury. They both believe that individual health and social health are connected. Suha told "O Magazine" about the power of the program. She said,
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"People discover beautiful conclusions in the end. They say, 'I have more value than I thought. I need to give more time to taking care of myself. They also say 'people from the 'other' side are not as threatening as I have been told to believe.'"
Voice 1
Health and peace have always been two important goals in human life. So, can groups such as Slim Peace really make a difference? This is the hope of Yael Luttwak. She hopes to start even more Slim Peace groups in other areas of conflict around the world. In an interview with "O Magazine," she talked about the program's basic achievement.
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"Group members do not always continue to talk and meet with each other. But what I notice is that they are forever changed by just having met each other. They cannot go back to their lives and easily see each other as simply evil. Through the process, they have become human beings."
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