|
|
|
Cultural
Dimensions |
-
Bullets over Bethlehem by Salam Al
Moghraby
|
This week, instead of
watching one of the Hollywood movies playing
at the cinemas around town, I decided to watch Jeremy Hardy v. the
Israeli Army.
The documentary by British-Palestinian Director Leila Sansour was
shown at the Zara Expo Centre auditorium Monday night to a crowd of
mostly young Arabs with a few foreigners interspersed. The audience
left the auditorium unanimously impressed with the film.
After a two-year hiatus, Sansour visited Bethlehem to experience
first-hand the harsh reality of what the incursion by the Israeli
army had done to her hometown.
Feeling that the worst was yet to come, she decided to help by
making a film documenting the happenings; and by recruiting a
British celebrity, give the campaign a higher profile. Jeremy Hardy,
the 98th celebrity on her call list, surprisingly agreed to come
along.
Hardy and Sansour arrived in Bethlehem just before a massive
incursion and were caught up in the 40-day siege. Soon after, Hardy
was evacuated, only to return some time later on his own accord to
finish the film. The documentary follows his journey.
Even though I have no previous knowledge of the comic works of
Jeremy Hardy, he is a celebrity in the UK and is heralded as one of
the nation's foremost stand-up comedians.
His involvement in this documentary is far from light and adds a
crucial dose of humanity. It's extremely heartwarming to watch his
metamorphosis from disconnectedness, fearing for his own life,
questioning the motives of the International Solidarity Movement
(ISM) volunteers, to 100 per cent involvement.
It is indeed a breath of fresh air to see humanity in motion. To
realise that it is part of our nature to help a human in need and
that the forces that take place in our bodies sometimes surpass
caution and common sense.
Hardy for instance has a young daughter that awaits his return, but
he goes back to Palestine with the full knowledge that his life
could be at risk.
A large portion of the film focuses on the role of the ISM in the
occupied territories. ISM is an initiative that calls for volunteers
from all around the world to help build a nonviolent force to stand
between the Palestinians and the Israeli army.
We get to personally meet some of the volunteers and see how
strongly they feel for the situation in Palestine.
As I sat in the auditorium watching bullets fly over Bethlehem I
contemplated this very thought.
I felt guilty for not doing more for a country I call my own and
yet, here are these people that leave their far-removed homelands to
risk their lives for the plight of Palestine.
As I sat and pondered I realised that at some point the boundaries
of nationality become faint and the bonds of humanity surface.
People discard the differences of nationality, religion, sex and
colour for the similarity of simply being human.
The volunteers at ISM fight an intelligent fight. There is
absolutely no violence in their protests. If harassed by the Israeli
army, they simply fight back with words. They know the rights they
have as human beings and they use this knowledge to fight fair.
Palestine has seen a lot of violence and it is undoubtedly
empowering to see that there is a way to fight oppression and
occupation without the use of violence.
Even though there are currently ISM volunteers in Palestine, the
media mostly ignores their presence, and the documentary sheds much
needed light on their operation.
Showing this film abroad gets reactions of bewilderment and shock.
There aren't many people abroad that know the reality of the
situation in Palestine. For our Amman audience things are different,
we've grown up with this topic.
Luckily the movie takes a different perspective and even if you know
the subject inside-out you will still leave with new information and
a new outlook.
After watching the movie I met with Sansour at The Jerusalem Forum
and was impressed by her perseverance in attaining her goal.
Here is a woman who with no funding and against paramount odds was
able to do something that might have seemed impossible to do.
Jeremy Hardy v. the Israeli Army played to a packed screening for
four days in London. People came to her and congratulated her on her
accomplishment and many were moved to contribute to the cause.
When I asked what the Jordanian audience could do to help, she
explained that we need to facilitate a strong change of public
opinion and to rethink our strategies. We need to understand that
the media is all-powerful now and to change public opinion, we have
to invest in the media. We should contribute money, time and effort
to change how the world perceives our situation. We have to start
believing in ourselves and have a bigger dream.
Sansour is now working on showing the documentary in the US and part
of the JD10 ticket price goes to funding the release.
There is, of course, still a lot more money needed to attain this
goal, but it is a work in progress and though it might be slow, it
will hopefully become a reality if enough people are interested in
contributing to or funding the release.
The truth of the matter is that the audiences in the US are the only
ones capable of facilitating major change. If more people in the US
see the reality of the situation in Palestine and react strongly to
it, then change will have to take place, and this is only possible
if the documentary gets enough funding for public release.
After the amazing response from the Amman audience The Jerusalem
Forum is planning another screening of the documentary at the end of
January. I strongly recommend that you do not pass up this chance to
see it if you missed the first viewing.
I personally will watch it again.
|
|
