37/30
Seen at the Movies That Matter 2024 film festival in The Hague
Plot
This film by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank by Israeli soldiers and the alliance that is formed between Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval. Impressive and unique images of what is happening in the West Bank, particularly urgent these days when our newspapers and talk shows focus on Gaza. As a logical consequence, the West Bank does not really exist for us, despite many similarities. In both regions, Israeli politicians regularly turn the law against the people who live there.
What is happening in the West Bank is rarely shown on television or written in the newspapers
And we, from a safe distance, let it happen and easily ignore the constant suffering and humiliation of the Palestinians. The images in the film are unique and show how Israel turns the law on its head. They completely ignore the villagers and their rightful owners, forcing entire households to move into caves for lack of better options, while their homes are bulldozed one by one. Every time the army and the bulldozers arrive, it is not known until the last moment which houses will be destroyed.
The politics behind the forced evacuation is appalling)
The soldiers accompanying the bulldozers are informed that the people are living in illegally built houses. So there is no point in insulting the soldiers and appealing to their conscience, because they are soulless tools. The soldiers repeatedly tell the resistance that all they need to do is ask for a permit from the army and everything will be solved (but the villagers know, and we know, that such a permit will never be issued. We learn from secret documents that the annexation of this land was not really intended to create a training area for the army, as the invaders have repeatedly said.
On the basis of this material, they can be identified
Instead, its sole purpose was to prevent the expansion of the village. One question that came up during the Q&A was whether and how these images could be used in a judicial investigation to establish war crimes against the Palestinians. What is new to me is that a considerable portion of the soldiers involved are international and not Israeli. Their actions can be prosecuted because the way Israel achieves these expulsion orders is generally considered illegal.
Denial is impossible, because they see it happening before their eyes
During the Q&A, a very different important question was asked: How do you explain all this to children? In any case, all this leaves us speechless when we leave the theater after the screening. This has been happening for many years now, and it is still happening as shown here. This situation has been further reinforced since the Gaza war, when settlers living nearby are even more than happy to contribute to the evictions, feeling entitled to revenge after October 7.