Saw this at the Movies That Matter 2024 filmfestival in The Hague. Impressive and unique footage about what happens on the West Bank, particularly urgent nowadays when our newspapers and talk shows are focused on Gaza. As a logical consequence, the West Bank does not really exist for us, despite many similarities. In both areas, Israelian politics are steadily turning the law against the people living there. And we, at a safe distance, let it be and easily ignore the suffering and the constant humiliation of the Palestinians.
What happens in the West Bank is rarely shown on TV or written about in newspapers. The footage in the movie at hand is unique and exposes how Israel turns the law around. They completely disregard the villagers and their rightful ownership, forcing complete households to move to caves, short of better options, while their houses are bulldozered one by one. Each time the army and bulldozers arrive, it is uncertain until the last moment which houses are to be destroyed.
The soldiers who accompany the bulldozers are briefed that the people live there in illegally built houses. It is thus useless to yell at the soldiers and to call on their conscience, as they are spineless tools. The soldiers repeatedly say to people resisting that they only had to ask for an army permit, and all would be solved (but villagers know, and we know, that such a permit will never be issued).
The politics behind the forced evacuation is appalling. We learn from secret documents that annexing that piece of land was not really intended to create a training area for the army, as repeatedly told by the invaders. Instead, its only purpose was to prevent the village from expanding.
An issue that came about in the Q&A was if and how this footage can serve in a judicial investigation to establish war crimes against the Palestinians. New to me was that a considerable part of the soldiers involved are international and not native Israelian. Based on this material, they can be identified. Their acts can be prosecuted as it is generally deemed unlawful how Israel comes to these eviction orders.
During the Q&A a very different important question was asked: how do you explain all this to the kids?? Denial is impossible, as they see it happen before their eyes. Anyway, it all leaves us speechless when we leave the venue after the screening. It happened for many years already, and still happens as shown here. It is even reinforced since the Gaza war, when nearby living settlers are even more than happy to help with the evictions, feeling entitled to revenge after 7th of October.
