Spring Break
Film, discussion shed light on Gaza
by Jillian Wagner
News Editor
News | 2/12/08
Posted online at 3:57 AM EST on 2/12/08
/ Last updated at 7:06 PM EST on 2/12/08
A film screening and panel program were held on campus last week to raise awareness about the current situation in the Gaza Strip.
The programs were held in conjunction with Lighting Gaza, an international movement symbolized by lighting candles that signify the absence of electricity and other basic humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
The Arab Culture Club and the Slifka Scholars, comprised of one Jewish Israeli student and one Palestinian Arab student who are offered a full scholarship to Brandeis each year and are involved in coexistence work between Israelis and Palestinians, screened the 2001 documentary Gaza Strip in order to promote awareness from the Palestinian point of view. The movie was held in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium last Tuesday night with over 50 students in attendance.
Director and producer James Longley decided to make this documentary because, according to the film's Web site, he felt that the Palestinian point of view had not been sufficiently acknowledged in the U.S. media.
Gaza Strip portrays the life of the Palestinian refugees under Israeli occupation in Gaza City and two refugee camps, Khan Yunis and Rafah. It is presented through the eyes of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Hajazi, who in the film admits, "I would rather die. It would be easier," and later adds, "I want to enter paradise. I want to leave this life."
Several scenes in the documentary depict children scrambling from gunfire and families fleeing from the smoke of a bulldozer about to barrel through their houses.
The Palestinian refugees speak with brutal honesty in the film. One Palestinian, in response to Israel's enforcement of a blockade on the occupied territories, remarks, "Let them close the door. We'll come through the window." Another Palestinian asked, "Are we the terrorists or are the terrorists the ones who blockade us?"
Since the film was largely outdated, the sponsors of the event passed out information detailing the events in the region from 2000 to the present before the film began. The packet concluded, "[Palestinians] are now essentially out of food; the water system is faltering (almost half the population now lacks access to safe water supplies); the sewage system has broken down and is discharging raw waste into streets and the sea; the power supply is intermittent at best; hospitals lack heat and spare parts for diagnostic machines, ventilators, incubators; dozens of lifesaving medicines are no longer available. Slowly but surely, Gaza is dying."
The programs were held in conjunction with Lighting Gaza, an international movement symbolized by lighting candles that signify the absence of electricity and other basic humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
The Arab Culture Club and the Slifka Scholars, comprised of one Jewish Israeli student and one Palestinian Arab student who are offered a full scholarship to Brandeis each year and are involved in coexistence work between Israelis and Palestinians, screened the 2001 documentary Gaza Strip in order to promote awareness from the Palestinian point of view. The movie was held in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium last Tuesday night with over 50 students in attendance.
Director and producer James Longley decided to make this documentary because, according to the film's Web site, he felt that the Palestinian point of view had not been sufficiently acknowledged in the U.S. media.
Gaza Strip portrays the life of the Palestinian refugees under Israeli occupation in Gaza City and two refugee camps, Khan Yunis and Rafah. It is presented through the eyes of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Hajazi, who in the film admits, "I would rather die. It would be easier," and later adds, "I want to enter paradise. I want to leave this life."
Several scenes in the documentary depict children scrambling from gunfire and families fleeing from the smoke of a bulldozer about to barrel through their houses.
The Palestinian refugees speak with brutal honesty in the film. One Palestinian, in response to Israel's enforcement of a blockade on the occupied territories, remarks, "Let them close the door. We'll come through the window." Another Palestinian asked, "Are we the terrorists or are the terrorists the ones who blockade us?"
Since the film was largely outdated, the sponsors of the event passed out information detailing the events in the region from 2000 to the present before the film began. The packet concluded, "[Palestinians] are now essentially out of food; the water system is faltering (almost half the population now lacks access to safe water supplies); the sewage system has broken down and is discharging raw waste into streets and the sea; the power supply is intermittent at best; hospitals lack heat and spare parts for diagnostic machines, ventilators, incubators; dozens of lifesaving medicines are no longer available. Slowly but surely, Gaza is dying."
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