Filmed after the Cairo Peace Accord and the implementation of the first stage of Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and Jericho, THE ROAD TO PEACE explores the implications of this historic crossroads in Israeli-Palestinian relations - a process now in great jeopardy.

While most media concentrate on the peaks and crises in the negotiation process, THE ROAD TO PEACE demonstrates how peace plays at the ground level: how it is perceived and lived not by politicians or statesmen, but by ordinary people - workers, farmers, doctors, industrialists, artists, teachers, and children.

Constructed in three parts, the film's first section establishes the context and the framework of the peace accord. Although widely supported initially, Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip make radically opposed objections to the plan. The film then looks at education and the economy, areas most likely to benefit from the peace accords. Both employers and workers, Palestinian and Israeli, feel that freer movement among each other would be beneficial. The final section profiles groups which exemplify the potential for Israeli-Palestinian cooperation, including Physicians for Human Rights, an association which provides medical services in rural Palestinian villages where no clinics exist.

THE ROAD TO PEACE concludes at a meeting between two young girls, one an Israeli, the other Palestinian. Separate film crews follow each girl in the hours before they meet in Nablus, revealing their expectations, fears and hopes, as they prepare for their own historic encounter.

"An excellent educational instrument made even more relevant byrecent events in the Middle East. Fernea's film reveals the situation onthe ground, and the tremendous stake that Israelis and Palestinians havein bringing peace to the region."—Professor Clement Henry, Departmentof Political Science, University of Texas

"An even handed exploration of the difficulties and concerns bothIsraelis and Palestinians have as they work to further their march towardpeace. The film provides excellent data on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,the Middle East today, and on conflict resolution generally."—Professor Donna Lee Bowen, Department of Political Science, Brigham Young University

"A very important presentation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.An invaluable documentary that can be used in courses on the Arab-Israeliconflict, or in any other class on the contemporary Middle East."—Dr. Benjamin Hary, Associate Professor of Hebrew and Arabic, Emory University