critical Israelis in the Netherlands

Film screenings

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Living with walls – a series of films and discussions

5 November – 17 December 2008, Gemak The Hague

In June 2002, the state of Israel decided to erect a wall around itself, calling it a “separation barrier”. The official purpose the state gave for building this barrier was to separate Israel from the West Bank in order to protect its citizens from suicide attacks and the like and to control the entry of Palestinians into Israel. To this day, this “separation barrier” has materialized into a hundreds kilometers long structure that consists of stretches of eight meter high concrete walls and electronic fences. This wall at the same time creates a real border between Palestinians and Israelis, although there has never been any official arrangement or agreement between the two parties regarding such border. Importantly, most parts of the wall and fences have been built on confiscated Palestinian lands, not on Israeli territory. This separation, which has been imposed on both Israelis and Palestinians by the Israeli government, only leads to more violence and hatred.

However, not only are walls being built between Israeli and Palestinian land, also within Israel barriers are erected to separate Jews from Palestinians or Bedouins living in Israel. Much effort is furthermore made to separate groups of “others”, such as immigrants from the Jewish collective.

Surrounding itself with walls is part of a long process with which Israel has been secluding itself from the rest of the Middle East in order to protect its Jewish identity. In November-December 2008 gate48 will organize four screenings and discussions in Gemak that will draw a tragic portrait of Israel as a state that prefers to live with walls surrounding and dividing it over getting to know its neighbors and minority groups; a state that is so fearful of its past as a victim, that it prefers to become a victimizer. Israel has become a state that builds real barriers, which in fact stand only as symbols for the mental barriers it has created over time.  The event in Gemak will feature four different instances where such barriers are created; physical and symbolic.

 

PROGRAM

Thursday 5 November 20:00

On the separation regime

4 short films: from ‘Jerusalem Moments’ and by ‘Machsom Watch’

followed by a discussion with Hilla Dayan

Thursday 19 November 20:00

Borders within

The film Paper Dolls (Tomer Heymann)

followed by a discussion with Barak Kalir

Thursday 3 December 20:00

David and Goliath: portraying a nation under siege

The film Avenge But One Of My Two Eyes ( Avi Mograbi)

followed by a  discussion with Erella Grassiani

Thursday 17December 20:00

Cultural boundaries

The film Bridge over the wadi (Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann)

followed by a discussion with Yael Lerer