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Jenin Jenin
Mohamed Bakri
"Where is
God?" an elderly man desperately wonders
when surveying the debris in the Palestinian
refugee camp Jenin.
The film,
directed and co-produced by Palestinian
actor and director Mohammed Bakri, includes
testimony from Jenin residents after the
Israeli occupation forces' so-called "Defensive
Wall" operation, during which the city
and camp were the scenes of fierce fighting.
The operation ended with Jenin flattened
and scores of Palestinians dead. Palestinians
as well as numerous human rights groups
accused Israel of committing war crimes
in the April 2002 attack on the refugee
camp. Jenin Jenin shows the
extent to which the prolonged oppression
and terror has affected the state of mind
of the Palestinian inhabitants of Jenin.
Bitterness
and grief are the prevailing feelings among
th majority of the population. Many have
lost loved ones or are still searching for
victims and furniture among the debris.
A little girl, who does not seem to be much
older than twelve, tells her story but knows
no fear. The ongoing violence in her day-to-day
life only nourishes her feelings of hatred
and the urge to take revenge. She tells
what she would do to Prime Minister Sharon
if he visited the camp and she shouts that
the Palestinians will never give up the
struggle. They will keep on producing children,
who can continue the fight against injustice.
The sad question
forces itself on the spectator. What will
become of a country, a people when its children
are confronted with war and violence from
a very early age?
Banned in
Israel, Jenin Jenin is dedicated
to Iyad Samudi, the producer of the film,
who returned home to Yamun after the shooting
of the film was completed. On June 23, as
Israeli forces besieged Yamun, Samudi was
shot and killed as he was leaving a military-closed
area with three friends.
Relevant
Links
Jenin
Jenin website
"Jenin
Jenin" features at International Documentary
Filmfestival
Israel’s
Supreme Court lifts ban on “Jenin,
Jenin”
Related Item
Searching
Jenin - a collection of testimonies edited
by Ramzy Baroud
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