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'Where
is God,' an elderly man desperately wonders when surveying the
debris in the Palestinian refugee camp Jenin.
The film, directed
and co-produced by Palestinian actor and director Mohammed Bakri,
includes testimony from Jenin residents after the Israeli army's
Defensive Wall operation, during which the city and camp were the
scenes of fierce fighting. The operation ended with Jenin flattened
and scores of Palestinians dead. Palestinians as well as numerous
human rights groups accused Israel of committing war crimes in the
April 2002 attack on the refugee camp. "Jenin Jenin" shows the
extent to which the prolonged oppression and terror has affected the
state of mind of the Palestinian inhabitants of Jenin.
Bitterness and grief
are the prevailing feelings among the majority of the population.
Many have lost loved ones or are still searching for victims and
furniture among the debris. A little girl, who does not seem to be
much older than twelve, tells her story but knows no fear. The
ongoing violence in her day-to-day life only nourishes her feelings
of hatred and the urge to take revenge. She tells what she would do
to Prime Minister Sharon if he visited the camp and she shouts that
the Palestinians will never give up the struggle. They will keep on
producing children, who can continue the fight against injustice.
The sad question
forces itself on the spectator. What will become of a country, a
people when its children are confronted with war and violence from a
very early age?
Banned in Israel, "Jenin
Jenin" is dedicated to Iyad Samudi, the producer of the film, who
returned home to Yamun after the shooting of the film was completed.
On June 23, as Israeli forces besieged Yamun, Samudi was shot and
killed as he was leaving a military-closed area with three friends.
Type:
Documentary
Director:
Mohamed Bakri
Year:
2002
Time:
54 minutes
Produced by:
Iyad Samudi and Mohamed Bakri
Written by:
Mohamed Bakri
Edited by:
Leandro Pantanella
Language:
Arabic with English subtitles
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