Press Release from Eitan Chitayat:

The Fund for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace has unveiled its new brand identity with a viscerally engaging animated video that asks viewers to imagine a future in which Palestinian and Israeli children frolic together on the beach and the region basks in peace.

The animation presents two young boys: David, an Israeli, and Ali, a Palestinian. They play carelessly on the beach in a hypothetical, but poignantly real future time of peace. As they speak of the unthinkable violence of the past, images of suicide bombers, scrambling jet fighters, and an impenetrable wall boil over the screen. The pair, relieved that the chaos has ended so they can be friends, end the 2:00 animation by discarding their shirts and sprinting into the ocean.

The animation was a global pro-bono effort made by Creative Director Eitan Chitayat, Lobo of Brazil, The Ebeling Group, Birdo Studios, Wicked Music, Sweet Sound and Firefly Pictures. "We worked together for two years with one goal in mind: to tell the human story of the conflict," explains Chitayat. "It's not easy viewing, but we hope that what people remember is that working toward a future in which children live in peace isn't just a goal. It's a responsibility we all share&one we're confident the fund will work tirelessly to achieve."

The launch seeks to raise awareness of the Fund's mission: to help Palestinians and Israelis break through deep-seated psychological barriers such as hatred, fear and mistrust, and work together toward ending their long-standing conflict.

"Our goal is to bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians and break down psychological barriers that have kept our two peoples apart," noted fund Executive Director Yitzhak Frankenthal, whose son Arik was kidnapped and killed by Hamas in 1994. "Until our ground-breaking programs launch, we hope people across the world discuss this video on Facebook and other social media platforms and start a transformational conversation."

The fund was established by the generous donations of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who was inspired by bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families meeting each other in peace. The animation was created with different global audiences in mind and can be viewed in English, Arabic, Hebrew and Portuguese on the Fund's dedicated YouTube channel.

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