Friday, February 15, 2013

5 Broken Cameras

Alright, so I watched 5 Broken Cameras in bed and had some trouble staying awake.  I'm only human!  The basic gist of this is that Israel is evil and killing Palestinians unjustly.  I kind of figured this might part of what was going on over there, but of course it is always disturbing to see it play out before you.

A man in a Palestinian village becomes obsessed with recording the destruction of the town's olive orchards and the systematic stealing of their land by Israeli settlements.  He uses five cameras which are broken over time, almost always by Israeli forces.  The town is super non-violent and plucky in their resistance of the Israeli incursion.

I found myself doubting the veracity of some of the footage. Was this town really always so non-violent?  Because sometimes they are also very angry and rightly so.  And its hard to get a whole village of people to agree on a single course of action.  And if these Israeli forces are truly so aggressive and bloodthirsty in their defense of their illegal wall (which I am prepared to believe) then why are these townspeople so frequently bringing their children along for the anti-wall festivities?  I felt as if I was missing some of a really sad and unjust picture.

Nonetheless, it was a compelling story that will stick with me and no doubt shape my thoughts about the conflicts in that region.

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