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Subscribe to RSSSee a clip from the new Israeli film 'Testimony,' which tells the stories of Palestinian humiliation through Israeli actors.
TEL AVIV, Israel – For decades, Israelis have heard so many tales of the daily humiliations suffered by Palestinians – from being hassled at checkpoints to house demolitions to curfews – that many of them have grown numb.
But Israeli director Shlomi Elkabetz has deployed an unusual storytelling device to draw attention to Palestinian grievances and catch the attention of his Israeli audience: In his new film, the stories of Palestinian suffering come out of the mouths of Israelis, speaking in Hebrew.
“For three years I have been reading these Palestinian testimonies, which were given to human rights groups, and didn’t really know what to do with them,” said Elkabetz. “At first I was shocked, then I wanted to reject it all, then I wanted to shout and finally I wanted to do something.”
He did. His film “Testimony” uses a combination of dramatic and documentary devices while top Israeli actors stare straight into the viewer’s eyes and act out the Palestinian testimonies.
“By using Israeli actors I turn the viewer into a firsthand witness. By looking at a famous actor’s face, who’s speaking in Hebrew, the Israeli viewer becomes the witness himself.”
For many here, the army roadblocks, which dot the West Bank, represent the cruel face of the occupation. Palestinians on their way to work, hospitals and schools are forced to wait for hours in extreme weather just to show their I.D. cards at the checkpoints.
In one scene, Ronit Elkabetz, a famous Israeli actress who is also the director’s sister, explains how she was stopped by soldiers near the town of Jaljulia trying to cross into Israel. “The soldier stopped me and cursed me, I cursed him back. The soldier kicked me in the chest and I fell. He hit me for fifteen minutes,” she says in the film.
I asked the director if it was difficult to recruit Israeli actors for the project. “I can’t say it was a difficult mission; some actors really wanted to take part in this project, but of course there were some who rejected my request.”
Palestinians aren’t alone in feeling the effects of the occupation. Some Israeli soldiers come back from their obligatory service in the IDF in places like the West Bank traumatized by events they witnessed and took part in.
So the film also presents their experience as an occupying force. “For us, they are all terrorists,” one actor portraying a soldier dryly says about the Palestinians. “They ordered us to take him down, I shot him. I killed him.”
The film, which premiered last spring at an Israeli film festival and was subsequently screened at the Venice Film Festival, was released at select theaters in Israel last week.
To critics who say that the film only tells the story from the Palestinian perspective, Elkabetz said in an interview that “the purpose of the film is not to create a balance between the two peoples but to share an experience.”
Many of the people who attended a recent screening of the film were interested in the director’s purpose in making such a controversial film.
“I will be happy if only two Israelis meet in the street and talk about the film,” said Elkabetz. “I’m of course also hoping my film will be one more step in the changing of the Israeli awareness to the reality out there.”
Watch a clip from the film above.
Leave a Comment:
Elkabetz has the luxury of living in a free society under a government elected by the people. He can make films like these, but he has the moral obligation to present a film that shows the other side. He can make a film about a school bus being attacked with an RPG, or the massacre of an Israeli family which includes the heinous murder of a baby at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. He can make a film about the murder, by a Palestinian killer, of a Christian missionary in Israel. If he doesn't approach in an equitable manner then he is driven by an ulterior motive other than telling the whole truth. At its most fundamental level, Elkabetz is editing the violence between the Israelis and the Palestinian terror machine and presenting it out of context. He should be ashamed of himself. Exile him to Gaza. Onward Christian Soldiers!
Israel will punish these honorable folks for telling the truth about the plight of the Palestinians. Time for the UN to step in.
Here's what the anti-Semites at MSNBC won't tell you:
The anti-Israel bias at MSNBC and others is nauseating!
Sometimes the truth hurts Steven B. and until you acknowledge and accept it you can not have peace of mind for yourself and others. Rants and accusations is just your defense mechanism kicking in so as to avoid acknowledging it. Accept it for what it is and not what you want it to be.
Personally, I'd rather see a movie from this perspective.
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/?p=7475
Like the article said - stories. Did the producer actually verify the anecdotes? I'd be more impressed with an article about a Palestinian movie with an Israeli perspective.
The troubles -- and debates -- respecting the Palestinians and the Israelis have been going on for so long now that many people are simply "sick and tired" of hearing about it. What needs to be done is to start analyzing -- and preparing plans -- to help foster a true and lasting peace by focusing on the YOUNG CHILDREN of each "side," and using the "innocence of the young" to have the children make peace which each other, which is the only way to ensure a lasting peace, because the children of today will be the adults, and government officials, of tomorrow.
I recently saw a short documentary film about the plight of Palestinian children in not being able to get to the beach in Israel simpy to have a fund day playing around. In America, going to the beach is an important part of life for many of us lucky enough to live close enough to do so -- or even more lucky, to have a summer cottage to go to at the beach. I am in the latter category. And I, as I believe would be the opinion of many Americans, find it difficult to believe that Palestinian children have such difficulty going to the beach to play when they are merely ten or twenty miles or so away, simply because of the many checkpoints and other "needless hassles" ivolved in getting into Israel, and then getting to the beach, which take so long that there is basically no time left to play.
I think that there should be a system for Israeli and Palestinian children to form special "pen pal" or other relationships, which also involve special travel permits for these Palestinin children and at least one of their parents. This way, the Palestinian children can get through the border quickly, meet-up with their new friends (and their family mambers) and get to the beach to play together and learn more about each other in a setting aboout as far removed from all of the "politics" as I can think of.
I cannot even grasp the fact that Palestinian children have grown to be 15, 16, or even 18-years-old without ever having had the opportunity to swim in the ocean. I think many Israeli citizens would feel the same way. If we can succeed ingetting the future leaders to play together -- and learn about each other and become friends -- then not only will they be able to teach important lessons to their own parents, but they will learn how not to hate simply because it is what they are "supposed to do." If the adults are too stuborn to make peace, then let the children at least lay the groundwork for a true and lasting peace when it is their time to govern.
Do you mean something like this???
http://traubman.igc.org/camps.htm
I remember seeing a documentary some years ago about one of these camps in Maine and the kids all became great friends. Later on, after all had gone back to their lives, some terrible event erupted. The specific one escapes me right now. Part of the film focused on interviews of how these kids reacted. The Palestinian boy was angry and was starting to revert back to his previous feelings. It was the Jewish girl who contacted him regarding concern for his family, etc. In other words, there was no animosity on her part in spite of what was happening. If I can find that film, I'll be back to post the link.