News & opinions from a Palestinian-American
living & working in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine
For Palestinians, 1948 marks the ‘Nakba’ or the ‘Catastrophe’, when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes. But for Israelis, the same year marks the creation of their own state. This series attempts to present an understanding of the events of the past that are still shaping the present.
What is anti-Semitism today, two generations after the Holocaust? In his continuing exploration of modern Israeli life, director Yoav Shamir (Checkpoint, 5 Days, Flipping Out) travels the world in search of the most modern manifestations of the “oldest hatred”, and comes up with some startling answers.
From the directors: “This film series is an unprecedented effort; a kind of people’s history of the Palestinian refugee experience on the global level. Rather than focusing on one camp or one country, we filmed all over the world to put together a social history, and then to tackle some major issues facing Palestinians today, including difficult, often taboo subjects.”
You may recall the review I wrote about the excellent documentary Jerusalem: The East Side Story, “Dispossession, Occupation, and a Challenge to Survive.” Well, I write today, as promised, to advise that it is now on DVD.
Dear friends, Education is a RIGHT!! I highly urge you all to watch this documentary about how Palestinians are struggling, NON-VIOLENTLY, to get a basic education and remain sane in this insane reality of Israeli occupation. Nablus is in the West Bank. Multiply what you see here by 100 and you can start to imagine the Gaza and Hebron reality.
In the Spider’s Web is a 47-minute long documentary produced in 2004 by Al-Haq and directed by Hannah Musleh. The film is part of Al-Haq’s campaign to stop collective punishment practiced by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The audience anxiously awaited the lights to be turned out and the film to start. One constituency that was clearly missing was Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Those from Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Jericho, Gaza, Rafah, and Hebron are all prohibited by Israeli regulations from entering Jerusalem without special permits that are rarely issued.
A look into the complex and contradictory personality of Yossef Nachmani, the man largely responsible for the first Zionist settlements in the Galilee. As director of the Jewish National Fund office in the Galilee, Nachmani acquired as much land from Arabs as possible to establish Jewish settlements upon it.
Edward Said traces the course of European involvement with the Near East via the Crusades to Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt and the French and English entrepreneurs, adventurers and empire builders who came in his wake. Its main focus is on the plight of the Palestinians which can be seen as the most enduring residue of the modern encounter between the Arabs and the West.
Recent Documentaries![From Mormon Idaho, Through Youngstown, to Everyone in Palestine and Israel [Book Review]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/educated-tara-westover.jpg)
