"The Yasser Arafat balloon released by E.S. at the checkpoint emasculates the checkpoint by transcending it. The balloon takes route via the air where no borders exist at all, throwing the Israeli guards into confusion. This scene is highly metaphorical in that way, Arafat’s face implying resistance and betrayal by the PLO that resulted from concessions made to Israel at the Oslo Accords in 1993. A peace agreement, while it never reached fruition, could be seen as the framework it was meant to be for reaching across borders and negotiating a solution. While criticisms of Arafat could cause the interpretation of the scene to be one of release or banishment, the negative reaction of the guards and the significance of where the balloon stops clenches an empowered, not hopeless sentiment. The balloon ends its journey over the Dome of the Rock a site in East Jerusalem captured by Israel in 1967’s Six Day War, where an Israeli flag was planted on top signaling the complete conquest or “a united Jerusalem.” The Muslim shrine was almost bombed out of existence, but instead lives for the Israeli celebration of “Jerusalem Day” where their flag is planted annually. (Tristam) The balloon with the face of a Palestinian leader reclaims the space where Israeli occupation is flaunted. Eclipsing the checkpoint, the “reunited Jerusalem” takes the shape of Palestinian rights to the land. The romance also portrays a Palestinian reunification of Jerusalem where the two lovers can hopefully meet without Israel standing in their way."
(excerpt from a paper I wrote about this film; it was actually the only source I could find that included information on Dome of the Rock)
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