A generation has suckled, grown old, and become grandparents since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began to inundate the news. But for a nation which practically deifies the 1st Amendment, we remain curiously ill informed. Why?
Our mainstream media has become the prisoner of special interests as consolidation has limited diversity and newsrooms have become virtual entertainment centers in the service of corporate profits. Having been the 1st nation to diplomatically recognize the state of Israel, Americans are naturally inclined to be sympathetic with the perceived underdog in films like Exodus. Moshe Dyan, the one-eyed general and patron saint of modern Israel, literally owing its existence to his brilliant military mind in the wake of the 1967 war with Egypt, seems like a mythical figure from the heights of Mt. Olympus to us. But there is a darker side, an insidious devolution into the depravity of overwhelming military power inflamed by bitter hatred unheralded by our news sources, unaided by the democratization of modern news gathering technology–the consumer video camera–until now. Today, WE ARE THE MEDIA!
Palestinians Emad and Guy Davidi, dirt poor farmers from the tiny West Bank village of Bil’in, document the bittersweet tragic story of their family’s years long struggle against Israeli encroachment and destruction of the lands on which they were born, depend upon for survival, die to defend. The brutality against their families, their neighbors, their children is graphically…shockingly captured by the most powerful weapon ever acquired by a Palestinian–the most inexpensive modern consumer grade video camera. The soldiers fear its immeasurable penetration into the truth of their brutal occupation and theft of this land from those whose very lives depend on it. No amount of PR or military press releases can explain away the footage of an unarmed Palestinian demonstrator in the tight grip of the rough hands of 3 burly Israeli soldiers while a 4th aims his rifle at the prisoner’s leg and deliberately shoots to maim him.
Emad raises his baby son deliberately, allowing him to see the cycle of life and death to prepare him for the suffering he will have to endure. His 4 year old son, after witnessing the death of men he’s come to love from the village, repeatedly asks his father why he doesn’t stab the soldiers with a knife. “Because they would shoot me,” answers his dad. “Why do you want to hurt them?” he prods. “Because they hurt my friend,” the boy confides.
A quality view of 5 Broken Cameras can be seen on Netflix, but for those without a subscription, please take the time to watch a gritty, in the trenches, emotionally charged, compelling documentary by a peasant producer every bit as important as the one by Steven Spielberg about Oscar Schindler’s acts of selfless heroism, or Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee. Like the book, this is a story finally told from the victim’s perspective. The truth it holds asks a terrifying question about human nature: What was the point of beating the Nazis only to become just like them?
Warning: Some of the scenes are so graphically violent, parental discretion is advised.
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5 Broken Cameras screened to Israeli youth
