1. Maura Hunter
huntmj22@wclive.westminster.edu
724-504-6273
In a country the size of New Jersey, Alyssa Hanna delves into the truth behind the
stereotypes that Americans believe to be true about women and their religion in Israel.
On Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3:30 p.m., Mueller Theater was filled with supporters for Hanna’s
capstone presentation: “Woman to Woman”. The documentary began in Pittsburgh, PA, where
locals were asked what they knew about women in Israel. Hanna then traveled to Israel and
asked the women there to explain the truth, woman to woman.
“I wanted to combine my major, broadcast communications, with my minor, peace
studies and somehow throw my love for traveling in there as well” said Hanna. “My off campus
advisor, Dr. Yehuda Peled, and I met early last year and he suggested I go to Israel and the idea
just kind of flowered from there.”
Hanna was advised by Andy Borts, as well as Peled, who was the Fulbright scholar in
residence from Israel last year.
Filming was a long, yet enjoyably process recalls Hanna. She ended up spending 5
weeks, June 1, 2011, through July 7, 2011, in Israel to film. The majority of her time was spent
in western Galilee interviewing women from the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze faith. She
explored their thoughts on religion and the negative stereotypes that most Americans believe to
be true about them as a woman in Israel, as well as from a religion standpoint.

2. “I only ask that people are more open-minded and that they don’t fall into believing
stereotypes, you never know if their true until you investigate,” said Hanna. “Seek to find the
truth!”
A lot of time was spent editing; Hanna worked on the editing aspect of the documentary
project from July 2011 through November 2011. During the month of June, Hanna’s interviews
were transcribed for the final project, this step was crucial because so many of the interviews
were lengthy and a few of them were in Hebrew.
“Alyssa spent a lot of time on this project,” said roommate Aleya Tylinski. “There would
be days at a time when Alyssa would just disappear into her room to work on different aspects of
her capstone. It was crazy!”
Israel is most importantly a land of religion, stated Hanna. The country is comprised of
75.6% Jews, 16.9% Muslim, 2% Christian, 1.7% Druze and 3.8% other. Race in Israel is based
on if you are a Jew or a Muslim. However, the interviews unearthed that not one woman is a
“typical” Jew, Muslim, Christian or Druze. The interviews within Hanna’s documentary also
portrayed the differing views of strict and not-strict women within each specific religion. Almost
every single women interviewed viewed the aspect of just being a women, as well as being a
women within their religion, differently. However, one thing they all agreed on was that religion
discriminates in their society and that women are defined differently than men.
“It was incredibly interesting to see how wrong we as Americans have viewed people
from different faiths in places like Israel,” said Thomas Fields, a Westminster Sophomore. “It
was eye opening to see how women from a different country, let alone a different faith, were
treated.”

3. Hanna had been to Israel before and some of the connections she made on her first trip
were crucial in order to obtain the information needed to complete her documentary. These prior
connections introduced her to the women that made her documentary possible.
The final product was 45 minutes long and the end of Hanna’s showcase was met with a
loud roar of applause and snacks and beverages outside.
“I felt really honored at my capstone showcase” said Hanna. “It was amazing to see so
many people there to support me. I worked really hard on my documentary, and to see my work
finally pay off felt so good!”