Palestinian girls stranded after Oscars

Sanabel Al-Fararja was eight when filming started

Two Palestinian girls who starred in an Oscar-nominated documentary have been unable to travel home after attending the Academy Awards ceremony in March.

The teenagers have been told it is too dangerous to return to their refugee camp near Bethlehem, which is under siege from the Israeli army.

My little sister is two years old, when I call home she says, 'There is shooting. I'm afraid.'

Sanabel Al-Fararja

The girls featured in Promises, a documentary that told the story of the conflict through seven children from across the Israeli-Palestinian divide.

Sanabel Al-Fararja, 15, and Kayan Al-Saify, 16, have been staying with a family friend in San Francisco for three weeks.

Their parents had told them it was not safe to return because the Israeli army had blocked roads into their Dheisheh camp.

Al-Fararja said she had spoken to her family on the telephone.

"My little sister is two years old," she said. "When I call home she says, 'Sanabel, there is shooting. I'm afraid. I want you.'

Heart

She said she was curious to see what the United States was like and have some fun, but was always thinking about her home.

"My body is here, but my mind and my heart are in Palestine," she said.

The film followed children from across the divide

The girls travelled to the glittering ceremony so they could address the world from the podium if their film won.

But they have been using their unscheduled time in California to visit schools and give interviews to tell their stories.

Peace

"We are here to send a message. There will be no peace with Israeli occupation," Al-Fararja said.

"We must work as one hand toward peace."

The film-makers behind Promises followed the seven children between 1995 and 1998.

It has won awards at film festivals across the world, including in San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Vancouver.