14/35
You saw it at the Movies That Matter 2024 film festival in The Hague
Tale
This film, made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, shows the destruction of the occupied Masafer Yatta in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and the alliance that develops between Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval. Impressive and unique footage of what is happening in the West Bank, especially urgent at a time when our newspapers and talk shows are focused on Gaza. The logical consequence is that the West Bank does not really exist for us, despite many similarities. In both areas, Israeli policy constantly turns the law against the people who live there. And we, from a safe distance, let it be and easily ignore the suffering and constant humiliation of the Palestinians.
The footage in the film is unique and reveals how Israel is subverting the law
What is happening in the West Bank is rarely shown on television or written about in the newspapers. They completely ignore the villagers and their rightful property, forcing entire households to move into caves, with no better options, while their houses are bulldozed one by one. Each time the army and bulldozers arrive, it is not certain until the last moment which houses will be destroyed. The soldiers who accompany the bulldozers are informed that the people there are living in illegally built houses. So it is useless to shout at the soldiers and appeal to their conscience, as they are spineless tools.
The politics behind the forced evacuation are appalling
The soldiers repeatedly tell the people who are resisting that all they have to do is ask the army for permission and everything will be resolved (but the villagers know, and we know, that they will never issue such a permission). . We learned from secret documents that the annexation of this piece of land was not actually intended to create a training area for the army, as the attackers repeatedly claimed. Instead, its sole purpose was to prevent the expansion of the village. The issue that arose in the Q&A was whether and how this footage could be used in a judicial investigation to prove war crimes against the Palestinians.
They could be identified based on this material
What was new to me was that a significant portion of the soldiers involved were internationals and not native Israelis. Their actions could be prosecuted, because it is generally considered illegal how Israel comes to these eviction orders. During the Q&A, a very important question was raised: how do you explain all this to children? Denial is impossible, because they see it happening before their eyes. In any case, it all leaves us speechless as we leave the room after the screening.
This has been happening for many years and is still happening, as reported here
It is even reinforced after the Gaza war, when the surrounding settlers are even more than happy to help with the eviction, feeling entitled to revenge after October 7th.
No responses yet