Educational Media Reviews Online

The Gaza Strip is a tiny ribbon of land, only 28 miles long and 4 wide. Though a Palestinian territory, it has been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967. It is home to 1,200,000 Palestinians, and about 6000 Israeli settlers. The latter live in fortified compounds and are protected by the Israeli army, the former are often persecuted and victimized by that army, and generally live in a state of fear. This film follows the day-to day lives of Palestinians living in Gaza, and examines how the violence and repression there has crippled their society.

Mohammed Hejazi is 12 years old. He quit school in the second grade, and now sells newspapers for a living. He is the primary source of income for his family, as his parents are unable to find regular employment. Unemployment is endemic to Gaza, and as a consequence the people are often impoverished. The Israelis previously imprisoned Mohammed’s father, and have killed some of his friends, so like most of his neighbors he hates the occupation. He expresses his anger by joining other children at border-crossings to throw stones at Israeli soldiers. This is a dangerous activity! The soldiers often fire on, and sometimes kill, the children. Frequently innocent by-standers are also killed. Mohammed tearfully recounts the death of a friend he lost in this way, further stoking his anger and that of other Palestinians against the Israelis. Other people in the film tell similar stories, and are equally outraged. Such anger promotes a violent Palestinian resistance to the occupation, usually expressed by attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. The Israeli response to these attacks is in many cases extreme. If a soldier is fired on from a window in a particular building, he and his compatriots will not only return fire on the window, but the entire building, and even adjacent buildings. Later they will return to that building with bulldozers, and level it to the ground. This leaves many innocent Palestinians homeless. To stop attacks against Israelis in Gaza and in Israel proper, as well as to humiliate and intimidate the population, the Israeli army frequently throws up roadblocks to search for weapons, explosives and individuals wanted by the Israeli government. Palestinians can sit in traffic for hours waiting to pass such roadblocks, and many find it is almost impossible to carry out their business. If they attempt to turn around, or get out of their cars, the soldiers see this as a provocation and often fire on them. When searching for Palestinian terrorists and opposition groups, Israeli forces will fire rockets into buildings supposedly occupied by these individuals. They may kill those they seek, but frequently they murder many innocents in the process.

This constant violence and repression, and the unwillingness or inability of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make peace, has left its mark on the Palestinians in Gaza. Most are angry, and more and more are ready to join Hamas, and other radical groups ready to use violence against the Israelis, to end the occupation. This is especially true of the young, who make up the largest part of the population. In Gaza there is a deep pessimism about the prospects for a peaceful settlement, and for that matter about the future of the Palestinians. This film shows the viewer no “light at the end of the tunnel” for Gaza or the other Palestinians, it offers no solutions, but it does show their problems in the most human terms; terms that show the tragedy of their circumstances in a way most understandable to all of us. If the problems of Gaza are ever to be fully appreciated and solved, then those involved and the world at large will have to see this situation for what it is, a human tragedy crying out for resolution, and not simply a political conflict between parties intent on destroying each other. This film makes progress toward that end, and as such is a valuable work.

This is in Arabic with English subtitles. Its sound and picture qualities are good. The DVD version reviewed here offers not only the film itself, but Still Images, a Gaza Strip map, Scene Selections and a Director’s Commentary. There is no narration, except for the Directors Commentary. Although this commentary is very informative, it does lay somewhat awkwardly over the film. The viewer is often required to listen to the narration and read the subtitles at the same time, causing key points in the film to become garbled and confusing. To fully appreciate all of the qualities of this film, it may be advisable to either view it a first time without commentary, and a second time with it, or to dispense with the commentary altogether and see it only once, as it was originally intended.