Hany Abu-Assad arguably presents a film with a balanced view of the Palestine-Israeli conflict. There is a strong, long-time relationship between the US government and the Jewish community in America, and the country of Israel. Arabs are often typecast as religious fanatics, prone to violent acts. How they are viewed with suspicion was an interesting sub-plot in "Flightplan." It was illuminating and refreshing to speak with someone from Palestine who clearly does not fit the mold of mouthing a television sound bite. He gives hope to what clearly is a very bleak situation.

Demonstrating that he has a sense of humor and is interested in American culture, his first question to me was "What is baseball?" I met with him the day after a White Sox home game in the World Series. There was real pressure to explain baseball and to not whittle away too much of my limited time with him to discuss the film. The benefit for both of us was that the conversation was an icebreaker that got us right into the meat of the movie, which is why someone would blow up himself or herself.

George Singleton: Other films about suicide bombers have people that accept the calling because of extensive brainwashing ["The Terrorist," The War Within"]. In this film, the two men who accept the assignment are clearly not religious zealots but two best friends that spend their time drinking tea and smoking a hookah [a shared smoking pipe], when they are not goofing off as mechanics in a dead-end job that pays next to nothing. How true is this?

Hany Abu-Assad: In Palestine, the reasons have nothing to do with religion. Other than possibly wanting to be a hero, the anger and humiliation that is related to living in an occupied territory can make one want to seek their salvation by striking back at those who they believe have no respect for them.

GS: Two young Palestinian men live and work in the occupied town of Nablus, a ghetto not far from Tel Aviv. [As I searched for a word more gentle than ghetto Hany emphasized that yes, it is a ghetto].

HA: Unlike ghettos in the US, Nablus is governed by the military, as compared to the police. While nearby Tel Aviv is a wealthy city the people that live in Nablus are in a walled concentration camp; they cannot come and go as they please.

GS: Who needs to do what to stop the cycle of violence?

HA: We need to be given similar consideration as Afro-Americans in the US. While I know things are not perfect in the US, there is a semblance of equality and respect.