- View the short film My Enemy, My Brother. A story of two opposing soldiers who fought in the Iran-Iraq War (1980 – 1988).
- Create a new thread and respond to the following 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 are planning to make a submission. In about two-three paragraphs (1) give a definition of “shared humanity,” (2) give an example of how shared humanity played a role in the film My Enemy, My Brother, and (3) describe how international conflicts might be avoided through the recognition of shared humanity. This initial post should be at least 250 words.
- Reply to at least one of your classmates. In your reply, elaborate upon the ideas presented by your classmate, or ask clarifying questions. Also, reply to any classmates who reply to your initial post. Your reply post should be at least 100.
- This is from one of my classmate : ” To me, Shared Humanity means the recognition that we all derive from different cultures and places, yet we inhabit the same earth and are all truly the same. Furthermore, shared humanity is taking those differences and using them as tools to come together as one. In My Enemy, My Brother we witness an Iranian and Iraqi soldier and their relationship after one saves the other while their countries are at war. Near the end of the short film, the two men share the experience of realizing years later that they had met again. As they recount that day, they began listing off things about the other person to confirm that it was in fact the person they thought it was. They commented on a Quran with a photo of a girlfriend and son, a bellybutton with stitches above it, etc. Those details and items are what humanized each other. Instead of killing, they were spared because he recognized that they, too, were a human being. In today’s world, I feel that we are very detached from the other countries around us. We often do not take tragedy as seriously as we should when it happens in other places because we don’t see it and aren’t effected by it. I think shared humanity is a concept that is swept under the rug because it is easier to detach yourself from the world problems than get invested emotionally. However, promoting the idea of shared humanity may help put people in other people’s shoes. When people can actually feel the effects of an issue, they are more willing to make changes. I believe that if more people found empathy for global issues, more people would be inclined to help in the areas in need that they do not see or live in.”