"Shake that ass for me" was the song playing on the radio when I turned my car on, right after my experience at the Jewish Community Center of Tucson on Saturday, September 9. It was something light I need to hear to melt down my tension that I have felt for the three and half hours that I was there.

The program showed the movie "Paradise Now," a story of two Palestinians that became suicide bombers and what happen in their minds to be able to do or not do it. It was a very difficult movie for me to watch.

I was in tears at the end of it. I was embarrassed of how can a human take another human's life, how can a Palestinian commit suicide bombing and think they are helping their resistance? To me, suicide bombings will never help bring anything good to Palestine and Palestinians.

There was a discussion panel after the movie. Some Jews of the panel expressed that the movie glorified suicide bombing and it was one sided, a valid point of view which I agreed. The Palestinian panelist felt it was a movie about anti-occupation but lacked to show other sides of the Palestinian suffering.

I felt tense during the entire discussion. I was upset with how some answers were given to the audience, how some answers were given to blame either Jews or Palestinians. I was frustrated that almost never the rules of the dialogue was respected (such as to avoid placing blame).

A question was asked why Muslims, especially Arab Muslims don't come out publicly and strongly stop the support for Hammas, Hezbollah and the government of Iran for denying the Jew's/Israel's right to exist? Of course, this question was not answered to my disappointment as well.

It is very difficult to me to trust any Muslim organization and its representatives that does not condemn publicly Hammas, Hezbollah and Islamic governments that deny Jews the right to have a state and to exist.

I think the Palestinian speaker fell horribly short in trying to convince the audience that Muslims/Palestinians are for peace. Giving thousands of Quranic quotes that Islam is for peace is not practical because there is a great disparity between what theology says and what suicide bombers/terrorists actually do. Quotes ain't going to convince nobody, especially victims of terrorism. It goes into one ear and out the other!

Some questions were answered by blaming the opposite side, innumerous times. Sometimes the panelists sounded like politicians, so they were not helping anybody by doing so. What the Palestinian and the Jewish panelists agreed was of the two state solution, which I support it too.

If I were to advise the panel, I would say for the next time to stick to the question, stick to the rules. Answer questions truthfully and directly. Avoid Quranic quotes. When a panelist doesn't answer a question, the audience notices and loses interest quite fast as many did and walked out in the middle of the discussion.

Of course these are all my personal impressions of the program. Perhaps it was a success to some, to me it became a venue to voice frustrations without truly listening to what each other were saying.

I wonder, if we can't come to a resolution, us who live so far away from the actual problem, how can the people there come to peace?

Now I want to see a similar event, with a Jewish movie point of view shown at the Tucson Islamic Center followed by a panel.

It is an ongoing process, I know. I am learning too. It is painful, hard and frustrating. Ahhh...why can't we all get along? A good samba for everyone would make one's day a little more colorful. Shake it!

Ok...I have a really bad headache, it is 1:08am, gotta go to bed.