HolyLand transcript (80 minute)
[MAP: WEST BANK]
[TITLE: THE WEST BANK IS A TERRITORY THAT HAS BEEN OCCUPIED BY ISRAEL SINCE 1967.]
[2.6 MILLION PALESTINIANS LIVE IN THE WEST BANK.]
[350,000 ISRAELIS ALSO LIVE THERE, IN MORE THAN 120 SETTLEMENTS.]
[FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS, PEACE NEGOTIATIONS BASED ON A TWO-STATE SOLUTION HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL.]
[TITLE: FALL, 2011]
[TITLE: ESH KODESH. ISRAELI SETTLMENT OUTPOST.]
[TITLE: ARON KATSOF. SETTLER.]
ARON: Look what’s growing here, look at this plant, it’s growing good for us, right?
Right! Remember we planted this little grape vine and in the spring when the sun comes up, all of a sudden it’s going to start to bloom, and then a year after that we’re going to have grapes. Yalla? Yalla. Yalla!.
I live here in Esh Kodesh; I’ve been here for about a year. I’m happy that I’m here now; I’m raising a family, with five kids. I grew up in LA, right near Beverly Hills. I remember as a kid my parents used to always explain to me that, listen, our place is — the Jewish people — is to live in Israel.
[TITLE: RIVKA. ARON’S WIFE]
RIVKA: All my life, this is how I was picturing my life, married, with kids in this type of place. This is our Promised Land; this is where we belong.
ARON: The caravan that I am living in was actually placed here by the government. The government wants there to be a settlement area. You see that they built roads here. It’s in the government’s interest for there to be cities here, and there will be cities here one day. This is going to be the house, sliding door. You’re going to come out, you’re going to have a pergola. This is going to be grass and the kids will be able to play here, I’ll have some fruit trees, a little grape vine, and then I’ll be able to overlook our vineyard that we’re going to plant down there. It’s like — just like, in the view. You read in the Bible, you read in Jeremiah, the Jews, they’re going to come back from around the world, and they’re going to come back to the Land of Israel, and to the mountains of Samaria they’re going to plant vineyards, and they’re going to build houses.
[TITLE: THE UN, THE EU, AND MOST OTHERS NATIONS CONSIDER ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS TO BE ILLEGAL.]
[TITLE: BET OMAR. PALESTINIAN VILLAGE.]
[TITLE: NASRI SABARNA. MAYOR.]
NASRI SABARNA: This town is surrounded by colonies. We’re in constant conflict with the settlements. And the occupation forces. Over there, put it on an angle.
WOMAN: Did you really have to move the tree?
NASRI: No, I’ll tell you — you know what he did? He used a cord to tilt it over his property.
WOMAN: Good.
NASRI: Awadallah is obsessed with this tree. Fix it, I want a masterpiece. It needs to look good. They deserve all our respect.
NASRI: What’s the problem?
MAN: My neighbor stole from me!
NASRI: Really?
MAN: He owes me for 5 kilos. He promised to pay me back.
NASRI: So he was stealing from you? What a guy!
[TITLE: CITY HALL]
NASRI: Hello, good morning.
[TITLE: NASRI WAS APPOINTED MAYOR IN 2008, DURING A PERIOD OF INTERNAL POLITICAL CRISIS.]
[TITLE: BEFORE NASRI, THE TOWN HAD ELECTED HAMAS, THE INTERNATIONALLY BLACKLISTED ISLAMIST PARTY.]
NASRI: We have about 7 years without elections. When Hamas controlled the municipality we lost the international support. Political and financial.
NASRI: We found problems with electricity. Pipes of water were not changed since 1973. The life is stopped in Bet Ommar. It is not easy in this time and this situation. But I feel I can offer my people many things.
[TITLE: HAGIT OFRAN. ISRAELI ACTIVIST.]
HAGIT: I work at Peace Now as the Head of the Settlement Watch Project. What I want to do is to persuade the Israeli public that settlements are bad to Israel and thus we need to stop it.
[TITLE: HAGIT MEETS WITH A PALESTINIAN LANDOWNER ABOUT EXPANSION OF THE NEARBY SETTLEMENT.]
MAN: They cut my Olive trees. They destroyed around 40 grapevines.
HAGIT: I’ll take whatever will help in the investigation and in the media.
MAN: Here is the proof of ownership, showing that the land is mine.
HAGIT: As we know, the law is the occupation’s law.
MAN: What can be done?
HAGIT: It’s an uphill legal fight, but we have to try.
[TITLE: HAGIT CONTINUES TO A VILLAGE WHERE CLASHES WITH ISRAELI SOLDIERS HAVE JUST ERUPTED.]
MAN (OFF SCREEN) The Israelis are shooting tear gas and live ammunition. They hit us with everything.
HAGIT: The majority of Israelis are much more ready for peace than ever. However, at the same time they don’t believe it is possible. We are fighting the democratic fight.
[TITLE: PEACE NOW. JERUSALEM OFFICE.]
HAGIT: We are concluding a record year. We saw at least 3,500 units being built during the year in 142 settlements. And we know how it is. First they build a farm, then they bring a guard, then they pave a road, and a few people start sleeping there. Slowly it becomes an outpost.
[TITLE: YARIV OPPENHEIMER. PEACE NOW DIRECTOR.]
YARIV: The bottom line of our report is tough. At the current rate of construction, we will lose the chance of reaching a two-state solution. Because of the expansion of the settlements.
[TITLE: GUSH ETZION. ISRAELI SETTLEMENT BLOC.]
[TITLE: RABBI MENACHEM FROMAN. SETTLER. PEACE ADVOCATE.]
[TITLE: FROMAN WAS A FOUNDER OF THE POST-1967 SETTLEMENT MOVEMENT]
RABBI FROMAN: We came here in order to be near a holy place. And we came here without any desire to disturb the Palestinian neighbors. That initial intention was ruined.
[TITLE: FROMAN ARRIVES IN THE PALESTINIAN VILLAGE OF BEIT FAJAR.]
[TITLE: A MOSQUE HAS BEEN VANDALIZED.]
[TITLE: EXTREMIST ISRAELI SETTLERS ARE SUSPECTED.]
RABBI FROMAN: In Hebrew as well as in Arabic the very name of God is shalom, peace and he who opposes this opposes God. Allah Hu Akbar. God is greater. God will win victory because He is peace.
[TITLE CARDS: Revenge. [Hebrew] A mosque, you burn! [Hebrew]]
[TITLE: RABBI FROMAN PRESENTS NEW QURANS.]
[TITLE: FROMAN LIVES IN THE SETTLEMENT OF TEKOA AND WAS ONE OF ITS ORIGINAL RESIDENTS.]
RABBI FROMAN: I sometimes tell myself one of the names our people have been given is the Hebrews. It comes from the idea of hubris, of arrogance, of pride. There is Herodion, Herod’s tomb. It is one of the last fortresses that held out against the Romans. It is impossible to build peace without considering the religious element. I think that here in the Land of Israel the place where interfaith peace can be realized in the strongest way is in the settlements.
[TITLE: SHIVI FROMAN. RABBI FROMAN’S SON]
SHIVI: When my father said these ideas 30 years ago when they built the settlements, he was considered crazy. We came back to our land, our country, like spaceships, like aliens. Land here, land there.
MAN (OFF SCREEN): Oh! Here comes our rabbi!
SHIVI: Pay some respect!
MAN (OFF SCREEN): Our rabbi, our Lord!
SHIVI: Bow, bow before me!
MAN (OFF SCREEN): What?
SHIVI: Bow, or something.
WOMAN: How are you? Alright.
SHIVI: Today I am a man of action. My dad is a man of the future. He suggests abstract ideas, spiritual and fantastic ideas, and I suggest how to fulfill them.
[TITLE: NABI SALEH. PALESTINIAN VILLAGE. CENTRAL WEST BANK.]
[TITLE: NABI SALEH IS ONE OF THE MAJOR FLASHPOINTS IN THE WEST BANK.]
TV NEWS: …the place between Afghan and foreign forces in six states. In other news, at least one person was injured as 2 missiles fell in Kabul at…
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD TAMIMI. ONLINE JOURNALIST.]
[TITLE ATALLAH TAMIMI MOHAMMAD’S FATHER.]
[TITLE: KHITAM TAMIMI. MOHAMMAD’S MOTHER.]
MOHAMMAD: I put these papers on the table. You can ask Dad.
KHITAM: I didn’t see them at all. He brings something, then leaves it and goes away.
MOHAMMAD: She lost my documents!
MOHAMMAD: When my mother married my father, he was arrested and in jail for 6 years. She was alone. Her father was arrested, and her whole life was suffering. The occupation is inside us now. Like cigarettes, like heroin. Inside us.
[TITLE: NABI SALEH HOLDS WEEKLY PROTESTS AGAINST THE OCCUPATION.]
[TITLE: CONFLICT WITH HALAMISH, A NEARBY SETTLEMENT SPARKED THE NABI SALEH PROTESTS.]
MOHAMMAD: Bilal is the cameraman for the Friday events. He always films the events.
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD STARTED TAMIMI PRESS ON FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, TWITTER AND OTHER PLATFORMS.]
MOHAMMAD: Increasing violence only increases people’s participation. Not just here — in many Arabic nations. Look at Egypt, Syria, everywhere. Oppression pushed a lot of people to revolution.
[TITLE: BILAL FILMS A SOLDIER APPROACHING MOHAMMAD’S FATHER.]
SOLDIER: Who are you? ID?
ATALLAH: I’m from here.
SOLDIER: I don’t care
ATALLAH: Please come with me.
SOLDIER: Not interested.
ATALLAH: Come to the house, I’ll give you the ID. Here, my house is there.
SOLDIER: Don’t yell.
ATALLAH: I’m not yelling. I’m speaking nicely. I’m from the village. I’m from the village.
SOLDIER: You throw stones at me.
ATALLAH: I throw stones, ah?
SOLDIER: I see you.
ATALLAH: I’m 62 – I throw stones?
SOLDIER: All day you’re throwing stone .
ATALLAH: Don’t tell me – I’m 62 –I throw –
SOLDIER: You throw stones and now you don’t have ID.
ATALLAH: No, I don’t. Please, to the house.
MAN: Hello, don’t be gentle.
MAN: Don’t be gentle with them.
MAN: Stop.
MAN: Give them a bit of gas there. Give them.
KHITAM: You father just got arrested. Just go down this path, right here.
KHITAM: Stop here, my son, I’m afraid they will see you.
KHITAM: Your face is exposed, Khaled.
MOHAMMAD: Don’t be scared, Mom. I’m in the car. Calm down.
KHITAM: Stop here, my dear.
KHITAM: Please kids, don’t throw stones. My God give me patience.
KHITAM: I want to see my husband. You took him and asked for his ID. Here’s the ID.
SOLDIER: Walk slowly, ma’am.
MOHAMMAD: In a new development in Nabi Saleh, occupation forces have just attacked our village. Nabi Saleh is a small village, and we are all one family. So every person they attack, arrest or injure is dear to us. Of course, my father is especially dear. So this is painful. But it’s important for me to broadcast the news. It helps a lot.
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD’S FATHER WAS RELEASED LATER THAT DAY.]
[TITLE: HAGIT IS INTERVIEWED BY PALESTINIAN RADIO ABOUT MIGRON, ONE OF THE MOST CONTESTED ISRAELI OUTPOSTS.]
HAGIT: Hello! Okay, I am ready.
HAGIT: Good morning.
MAN: Mrs. Hagit, did the battle of Migron end?
HAGIT: We went to court against illegal settling outposts. As a result, they have to evacuate some of the outposts. Now, the settlers want to put pressure on the government to prevent the eviction. God willing, we’ll see the removal of the outpost soon.
[TITLE: MIGRON. ISRAELI SETTLEMENT OUTPOST]
HAGIT: Migron is now post in the heart of the West Bank that was built illegally on private Palestinian land. We picked Migron because it was a flagship outpost of the settler movement. The land is private and the state cannot play with it and declare it state land.
[TITLE: MIGRON – A DEFENSIVE SHIELD FOR THE SETTLEMENT.]
[TITLE: MIGRON RESIDENTS LAUNCH A CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT AN EVACUATION.]
[TITLE: LEADING ISRAELI POLITICIANS VISIT THE OUTPOST TO SHOW SUPPORT.]
[TITLE: REUVEN RIVLIN. ELECTED PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL. JUNE, 2014.]
MAN: So who wants to kick you out?
MAN: Peace now.
MAN (OFF SCREEN): Hello, nice kids! A very important guest has come today for a visit. He is the speaker of the Knesset of our State of Israel. We asked him to come to Migron to give us encouragement.
REUVEN: Who knows what the Knesset is? Does anybody know? That’s the place where the nation’s representatives make decisions on different laws. I hope the majority of the Knesset asks, “Should we keep the children of Migron where they are?” If the Knesset decides that Migron stays, then Migron stays. With God’s help.
[TITLE: ARON READS THE NEWS THAT MIGRON, 15 MILES AWAY, IS FACING EVICTION.]
ARON: The Migron story is crazy, some left wing organization comes, finds somebody to say that he claimed the land, doesn’t matter that you have people living there or building houses there.
ARON: Because there is a place where there’s trees planted and we don’t touch them, that way if there is anybody that will ever come with some type of claim said that he planted the trees or him, whatever it is, his father, his grandfather planted the trees; they’re left untouched. Now when we deal with only land, it’s called [inaudible 00:22:58] betula; virgin land, I mean land that’s not touched.
ARON: The settlers and Arabs, the game is already a sold game. You have headlines in the media all over the world; settlers attacked Arabs, right, whether they attacked them inside our agriculture, inside our field doesn’t matter, the settlers attacked Arabs.
ARON: You see, how a lot of it is green and then there is a whole part that looks all white, it’s fire. That is carbon. They tried to burn all the thorns, to try to burn our vineyard. The Army sees them, but they don’t — they don’t try to catch them. I guess it’s not politically correct, you know? The different security tactics; there is the guard tower up there. Every night between 10 at night to 2 in the morning we ourselves do guard duty.
[TITLE: ARON’S CREW MAKES RAPID PROGRESS ON HIS NEW HOUSE.]
RICKA: This is the kitchen.
ARON: Kids, you like the view here?
[TITLE: IN ADDITION TO BEING MAYOR, NASRI FARMS LAND OUTSIDE THE TOWN.]
MAN (OFF SCREEN): Put it in third gear.
NASRI: This is Palestine. Since the Canaanites, people have been connected to this land. And have planted it with grapes, olives, apples and plums. I have six boys. Now they can’t work in Israel. There are no jobs in the West Bank. This is an opportunity for my kids to work on the land and occupy their time. And the result of this is that they are tied to the land that everyone sacrificed for. In addition, I can protect my kids from being lured in to any radical activities.
NASRI: I am making a well here for gathering winter water to irrigate my land.
[TITLE: THE ISRAELI SETTLEMENT OF KARMEI TZUR BORDERS ON NARSI’S LAND.]
NASRI: Karmei Tzur expanded on the mountains, in the valleys, they took most of the agricultural land, and every two or three year they expand the gates and the boundaries. Without any interference from the police or the soldiers, they didn’t want us to stay and survive. We continue working in our land, because it’s my land and it is my life.
NASRI: In 1982 I got married on Saturday evening. In the morning on Sunday I was arrested for refusing the occupation, the first time in three years, and then in 1993 six months. They throw me in the corner and they injured me in my head. I lose all my teeth. Now all of them are plastic ones. I think it is time not only to speak about peace, but to work for peace, and finishing the last occupation in the world, with the hope and good future for the children of the True Nation. This is very important. I hate occupation, not the Israelis.
SHIVI: For a man, in his shape with his disease at such an advanced stage… We are nearing a year and they told us a few months. The reality today is good. Yes, there’s life in the gutter, my friend. There is lots of life in the gutter. Bye. With God’s help.
SHIVI: Go get some sleep. And I’ll see you this evening.
[TITLE: RABBI FROMAN HAS BEEN LIVING WITH LATE STAGE COLO-RECTAL CANCER FOR ALMOST A YEAR.]
[TITLE: HADASSAH FROMAN. RABBI FROMAN’S WIFE.]
HADASSAH: Now since Menachem is sick, I’m here a lot. Creating really enlivens me.
RABBI FROMAN: I am an ailing man. When the disease was discovered the doctors said, two or three months. Because it was at such a level.
SHIVI: Hello! Yes, Dad.
RABBI FROMAN: I will walk away from my work in this world. And Shivi is preparing himself to continue what I do.
[TITLE: RABBI FROMAN CONDUCTS WEEKLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS.]
RABBI FROMAN: As I always say, you have two wings, a right wing and left wing too. Because someone who flaps only one wing enters a spin and doesn’t glide in the air.
[TITLE CARDS: PROTECT THE SETTLEMENTS FROM DESTRUCTION.]
[TITLE: PRO-SETTLER GROUPS INTENSIFY THEIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST A MIGRON EVACUATION.]
[TITLE: PEACE NOW COUNTERS WITH A SERIES OF POLITICAL EVENTS.]
HAGIT: Some might say that we are becoming a smaller organization. We used to have hundreds of thousands with us in the streets; today we have much less in the streets. When people ask me, how can you continue with fighting alone against big forces? I say to myself, this is the right thing to do.
[TITLE: THE KNESSET. ISRAELI PARLIAMENT.]
HAGIT: How are you?
WOMAN: Hello Hagit, my dear.
HAGIT: Thanks for all the help with this.
[TITLE: PEACE NOW JOINS WITH LAW-MAKERS TO HOST A PUBLIC FORUM ABOUT MIGRON.]
[TITLE: ZAHAVA GAL-ON. CHAIR, MERETZ PARTY.]
[TITLE: SHLOMO MOLLA. KNESSET MEMBER, KADIMA PARTY.]
HAGIT: How does it happen that we invite people from Migron to speak at our conference? How come? I mean they would never invite us to speak.
WOMAN: We shall start right away.
HAGIT: How did we get to such a state of affairs? Because the settlers, they knew from day one they weren’t allowed to be there. But they couldn’t care less and stayed. And now they are threatening that if they are evicted, it will get violent. So, if they are afraid of violence, then please don’t act violently and please be so kind and leave. It’s not a hard thing to do! If Migron is not evicted it will mean there is no rule of law in Israel.
SHLOMO: Don’t be mistaken, after Migron many more will follow. Migron is the test case. Once the story of Migron is over. There are 150 illegal outposts that are up next. I fear we are on a collision course with the Palestinians. And that’s very sad. Two states for two nations is what we all should struggle for.
[TITLE: CHAIM TEITELBAUM. MIGRON SETTLER.]
WOMAN: We have a guest here, a resident of Migron, Chaim Teitelbaum, who asked to participate.
CHAIM: I know that there are people that like to depict the residents of Migron with the image of outlaws, of violent criminals. We didn’t build it on our own initiative. We regard ourselves, the people who came to that land as emissaries of the state. This is how we were raised and educated, this is how I raise my four children.
MAN: The legal process is over!
MAN: You’re busting our brains!
HAGIT: I won’t allow this and will have to remove you.
MAN: Why let him speak?
CHAIM: I think those who know us, know that the majority of settlers are absolutely loyal to the State of Israel. We are there because we believe that what we are doing is good for the State of Israel. That is how we see it.
[TITLE: MIGRON]
CHAIM: I’m sorry that the members of Peace Now have made it their mission to do battle with Jews living here. When people think about outposts they imagine Uzis and army jackets. There is a lot of life here. 50 families, over 250 children, thank God. An average of 4 to 5 per family, thank God. I don’t know if other generations are as meaningful as this one that is returning to the land. With all its complexities and all its problems, it is returning and rebuilding itself.
[TITLE: NABI SALEH MARKS ITS TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF ITS DEMONSTRATIONS.]
PROTESTERS: From unity we will not be diverted!
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD’S COUSING, MUSTAFA TAMIMI IS HIT IN THE FACE BY A TEAR GAS GRENADE.]
MOHAMMAD: Mustafa? Mustafa? Ambulance! Mustafa!
[TITLE: MUSTAFA DIED THE NEXT MORNING.]
MOHAMMAD: He was cousin, my friend. He was always there. He was like a brother to me. I really can’t describe my feelings. They killed him in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. Without Mustafa ever being a danger to those soldiers.
MOHAMMAD: There is no god but The God!
MEN: The martyr is beloved by God!
MOHAMMAD: Ok everybody. Sit down, please.
MAN: Mustafa has been martyred. No matter what the sacrifices are, we refuse for the current situation to continue.
MEN: Mustafa! Your blood will not go to waste!
MOHAMMAD: They killed Mustafa and the next day they were treating us like nothing happened. That’s it, the killing has to end. We have to live our life. Hey soldiers, what are you doing here? It’s a peaceful march. We are unarmed people. You go to fight army. Not fight me. Not fight people. Not fight children.
WOMAN: Did you shoot him in the face and kill him? Do you want to show your face?
SOLDIER: Don’t get near me! Move!
SOLDIER: Shut your mouth! Shut your mouth now!
MOHAMMAD: Let’s go, let’s go.
MOHAMMAD: They oppress us any way they can.
WOMAN: You murdered a man yesterday. It’s enough.
MOHAMMAD: Mustafa Tamimi will never be forgotten.
NASRI: No, no that’s not right. You need an hour for the adaptor to cool off.
NASRI: Kids enjoy snow. They are throwing snow toward the Mayor. I don’t know if it is in New York; it is easy for the people to play with the Mayor, but for me, because of my relation with people I —
SHIVI: Snow!
RABBI FROMAN: We play with snow together with Palestinians on the road and [inaudible 00:42:23], yes?
CHILD: One, two, three, hop!
CHILD: Hop! It’s a commandment!
RABBI FROMAN: Give me another one. I have something to tell you, something to tell you about peace, you know.
[TITLE: ARON’S CAR {THE REST OF THE TEXT IS COVERED BY TIMER BAR}]
ARON: They are advancing towards the settlement. They bend the settlement’s fence.
[TITLE: ARON FILMS CLASHES WITH PALESTINIANS NEAR HIS LAND.]
[TITLE: RIVKA, ARON’S WIFE JOINS IN COUNTERPROTESTS.]
ARON: It’s about 100 Arabs on the fence to our vineyard, trying to push down the fence. It’s very scary. You’re preparing a slingshot, throwing stones, aiming right at me. Throwing it, throws, boom! You see the clothes are outside their face, the Army could easily go in and arrest them, but they decide not to. They have no interest in catching them for whatever reason. I don’t know why. We found ourselves protecting our lives, protecting our land. I know one day I’ll be able to walk with my kids through the vines, picking grapes, not being scared, not knowing that we’ll be attacked any moment by some Arab mob. Nothing is going to happen.
NASRI: 500 cubic liters of water, when we plant the land with grapes, it is enough to irrigate the trees.
NASRI: The citizens’ problems are not confined to water and electricity, but also means to survive. There’s occupation, there’s humiliation, there’s no income, there’s no education. The Palestinian Authority does not create any budgets for the towns. There’s no financial support. Ideally we should serve the citizens and back their struggle against the Israelis. I’m seeing that water, electricity and taxes are the priority before the citizens. I offer all my salary to about 50 poor families. So I didn’t take my salary.
WOMAN: Freedom! Freedom!
NASRI: Our policies are based on the delusion that we are a free nation.
[TITLE: HAGIT ARRIVES AT BURQA, A PALESTINIAN VILLAGE ADJOINING MIGRON.]
[TITLE CARD: SETTLER REVENGE! [Hebrew]]
HAGIT: We see what is called price tag attacks, not only against Palestinians, but also against peace activists so the situation is becoming more extreme.
[TITLE CARD: HI FROM DAVID. [Hebrew]]
HAGIT: The discourse is much more racist and much more anti-Palestinian. They want to pressure the Israeli government through the attacks on Arabs. So the government would be scared of evacuating Migron or any other settlement. They’d be scared, because there’ll be –
MAN: A lot more of this?
HAGIT: Yeah.
MAN: So, what’s happening with Migron?
HAGIT: With Migron, there’s a court order to evacuate them. So, we’ll see if –
MAN: We want something sooner.
YOUNG MAN: The longer they stay, the more they will harass us.
MAN: They started the fire over here.
[TITLE CARD: WAR. [Hebrew]]
[TITLE: RABBI FROMAN JOINS ARAB-ISREALI CLERICS AT A RALLY AGAINST VIOLENCE IN SYRIA.]
RABBI FROMAN: Literally, last night I was released from the hospital. My condition improved. Thank God, the deterioration was stopped. If God gives me strength, I will give that strength back to Him.
MAN: So your beard is whiter than me, isn’t it? Maybe you both dyed it?
RABBI FROMAN: You can dye white color, you say? Not just to black?
MAN: Yes, to white!
SHIVI: This is his new statement: that we will agree to live under Palestinian rule.
Not everyone shares this opinion.
HADASSAH: Maybe I’ll go down to the sea, I’ll talk to the sea a bit.
[Music]
ARON: I will give you some stuff to take, okay?
[TITLE: ARON AND HIS FAMILY MOVE TO THEIR NEW HOUSE]
ARON: Jeff, you are happy? That’s close.
ARON: There is no other case anywhere in the world where a nation was exiled and came back to their land. We pray three times a day and every prayer you remind yourself we’re talking about rebuilding Jerusalem.
[Music]
[TITLE: NASRI RESIGNS AS MAYOR.]
[TITLE: THE REST OF THE TOWN COUNCIL ALSO QUITS.]
NASRI: The mayor is the general point between the community and the Palestinian authority. They want us to collect the money and pay the money to them only. We refuse this strategy and we resigned.
NASRI: We tried to support the survival of our citizens. Rather than collect electricity and water bills for the government at the expense of the citizenry. We were working in one direction and government policies in another.
[TITLE: HANAA SABARNA. NASRI’S WIFE.]
HANAA: No leader of any country or city did what he did. He sacrificed his health, family and everything.
NASRI: My salary is from the people. Not the government or anyone else.
[Music]
MOHAMMAD: “Resist!” is a magazine that conveys the suffering of Nabi Saleh under occupation. Through this magazine we hope to deliver our message to the people inside Palestine and out.
MOHAMMAD: Whoever reads the story of Mustafa and sees “Witness to the Crime” will have a reaction. “Witness to a Crime.” This is the best one. It’s a story without even a word. When people read a story, they might think it’s kind of like a lie, but when they see 30 pictures that show what happened, the case is closed.
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD BRINGS MAGAZINES TO THE RESISTANCE COORDINATING COMMITTEE]
MOHAMMAD: Greetings, what’s up guys?
MAN: What’s up?
MOHAMMAD: Welcome back. We printed it.
MAN: Is it hard to find a picture of me? Is it hard to find one online?
MOHAMMAD: Nobody has a picture. I am the editor in chief, and I don’t have a picture. It doesn’t work like that.
MAN: They made me an editor too. And I swear I didn’t write one sentence!
MAN: Is this your story?
MOHAMMAD: The story of Mustafa in pictures, not one letter.
[Music]
MOHAMMAD: The life here in Palestine makes us to be journalists. I want to show the world the reality.
[Music]
[TITLE: THREE WEEKS AFTER NASRI RESIGNS, HIS SON YOUSSEF GETS MARRIED.]
NASRI: The participation of the people in our family wedding was a clear message of people’s sympathy with us. The same people who supported our policies came to share our happiness.
[Music]
MAN: You’ll be back whether they like it or not. But you won’t be brought back by the local authority, you’ll be brought back by the people.
NASRI: The most important thing is that the people —
MAN: We’re going to fix everything up, and you’ll come back. You’ll be brought back by the town.
[Music]
HAGIT: Hello, hello.
MAN: Congratulations, finally.
MAN: Thank you very much.
HAGIT: How are you?
MAN: Good, thank you. Thank God, wow.
HAGIT: Thank you for coming.
MAN: Yes, me coming is one thing, but you, all those years on the hills.
HAGIT: I feel lucky, I really do.
HAGIT: I’m very happy to receive this recognition. It’s even a bit embarrassing that it’s named after my grandfather and I’m the one receiving this recognition.
[TITLE: YESHAYAHU LEIBOWITZ, HAGIT’S GRANDFATHER WAS A PROMINENT ISRAELI INTELLECTUAL.]
[TITLE: LEIBOWITZ WAS AN EARLY CRITIC OF THE OCCUPATION OF THE WEST BANK.]
LEIBOVITZ: Today there’s no moral value. The moral value is a violent Jewish rule on the whole land and over the other nation living in this land. That is the moral content of the State of Israel today.
HAGIT: Peace Now as well as the many other activist organizations who continue struggling against the occupation are not willing to give up hope and are not willing to surrender to despair. This prize is a sign of appreciation for those activists, and it will also be dedicated to continuing the struggle. When grandpa quotes the English historian Gibbon, who said that, “History is the story of the crimes, insanities and disasters of humanity,” and grandpa said it’s just a part of the truth, that history is also the story of the struggle of man against the insanities and disasters. So privileged am I, and privileged are we to be a part of history, and a part of the struggle against our crimes and insanities. And thank you all very much.
[TITLE: ISRAELI SOLDIERS ENTER MOHAMMAD’S VILLAGE. MILITARY OPERATIONS OFTEN TAKE PLACE AT NIGHT.]
MAN: God is great.
MAN: God is great.
MAN: God is great.
[TITLE: BILAL, THE TAMIMI PRESS CAMERAMAN, FILMS THE SOLDIERS.]
SOLDIER: Go on!
SOLDIER: You go inside.
BILAL: Go inside where?
SOLDIER: Go inside.
BILAL: Why go inside?
SOLDIER: Go inside.
BILAL: I’m a journalist and photographing!
SOLDIER: Go inside.
BILAL: Go inside where? This is not my house. This here is not my house.
SOLDIER: Where is your house?
BILAL: That’s not my house.
SOLDIER: Where is your house?
BILAL: Away, below.
SOLDIER: There?
BILAL: Yes.
SOLDIER: Okay, go inside now. Go inside now I’m telling you!
BILAL: I’m here!
SOLDIER: Your house is there?
BILAL: Tear gas?
SOLDIER: Go inside. I’m telling you, go inside there!
BILAL: How fantastic!
SOLDIER: Go inside now.
BILAL: Throw it!
SOLDIER: I’m telling you go inside! Now I’m telling you. Get on with it! Go inside. Take him inside!
BILAL: But why are you…
SOLDIER: Shut up!
BILAL: He’s a man! What a big man!
SOLDIER: Go inside and close the door!
BILAL: What a big guy, big guy!
MAN (OFF SCREEN): Are you aiming at the house?
SOLDIER: Go inside and close the door, I’m telling you.
BILAL: Don’t yell, Don’t yell!
SOLDIER: Shut the door!
BILAL: Don’t you scream! Don’t you scream!
SOLDIER: Go inside and shut the door!
MAN: This is our house.
SOLDIER: You, shut up! I’m not talking to you. Go inside and close the door!
MAN: Come inside Bilal, come.
SOLDIER: Go inside and close the door! Now, now.
[TITLE: SOLDIERS ENTER MOHAMMAD’S HOUSE.]
SOLDIER: Why are you filming?
MAN: Because you are a democratic state.
SOLDIER: Get rid of it.
MAN: You are a democratic state!
WOMAN: You’re also filming, he’s filming.
SOLDIER: Ok, please, just sit over there.
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD’S SISTER-IN-LAW INTERJECTS.]
SISTER-IN-LAW: Can I ask you something, why he is…
SOLDIER: Sit down and forget about him.
SISTER-IN-LAW: To filming us?
MAN: Why not?
SISTER-IN-LAW: Why?
SOLDIER: Why not?
SISTER-IN-LAW: I’m in my house.
SOLDIER: Okay. Sit down.
MAN: Stop, sit down.
MAN: Sit down, sit down.
MAN: Stop, sit down.
SOLDIER: What’s your name?
MOHAMMAD: Mohammad Tamimi, Mohammad Attallah Tamimi.
SOLDIER: How old are you?
MOHAMMAD: 22.
SOLDIER: 22. Okay!
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD IS ARRESTED AND TRIED AT OFER PRISON MILITARY COURT.]
[TITLE: HE IS CHARGED WITH ‘THROWING OF OBJECTS WITH INTENT TO HARM.’]
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD DENIES THE CHARGES.]
[TITLE: HE IS SENTENCED TO THREE MONTHS IN JAIL.]
[TITLE: THE OLD CITY. JERUSALEM.]
[TITLE: ARON LEADS A MILITARY TRAINING BOOT CAMP IN THE OLD CITY.]
ARON: You will be able to fight hard, right? That’s Jews. Jews help each other. You all are brothers. Do you understand?
TRAINEES: Yes!
ARON: That’s a little bit better. Do you understand?
TRAINEES: Yes!
ARON: I run a pre-military course. Jewish kids come from all over the world, prepare them mentally, physically and a lot of them come up to me and they say, listen, I really feel like a family came home. Something to be proud of.
MAN: The enemy, they are watching us. These are dogs in America.
TRAINEES: We can. We can.
MAN: What happens you have a rot wire, people with rot wire, they want to test you now and then. They want to know if you are still the master. What you have to do?
TRAINEE: Punch him.
MAN: Block! Put him in line. If anybody comes to stab us, or punch us, or grab us, everybody puts [inaudible 01:04:48] down, grabs the Arab, jumps on him, grabs his face, his head, ah, grabs his nose, punches him, kills him, spits him, spits him in his head, nobody runs. Grab him and we punch him. Got it?
TRAINEES: Yes!
ARON: Guys, I trust you. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be taking you now.
[TITLE: THE WESTERN WALL]
TRAINEES: All Israelis are responsible for each other!
ARON: Guys, this is Jerusalem here. These are the walls of Jerusalem! The walls of Jerusalem. Stop! All, stop! A Jew walked here, about 30 years ago. And two Arabs came, leaped on him with a knife and slaughtered him. Cut him to pieces and left him here on the floor to bleed. Why?
TRAINEES: Because he’s a Jew.
ARON: A Jew in the Land of Israel. They don’t like Jews in the Land of Israel. Where do they like Jews? Where? In what country is it good for the Jews? Auschwitz is good. In the sea is good. Six million Jews, are killed and everybody sleeps calmly. One Jew stands proudly in the Land of Israel, the whole world says: No! What is he doing here? It’s not his land, it’s somebody else’s. It’s not his home, throw him out of here! What is he doing here? The entire world! But when Jews are killed in Auschwitz? Ah, no big deal. Another Jew. Thousands of years they are killing them. We are here to say, never again. Never again. We are Jews who now come back to our land. The world should start getting used to it. The Jews are home again! I want to hear: The Jews are home again!
TRAINEES: The Jews are home again!
[TITLE: MOHAMMAD IS STILL IN JAIL AND HIS FAMILY CELEBRATES THE AL-ADHA HOLIDAY.]
[TITLE: BET OMMAR HOLDS ITS FIRST MUNINCIPAL ELECTIONS IN SEVEN YEARS.]
NASRI: My people want me to come again to the Municipality, so I decided to run for the elections.
[TITLE: NASRI WAS PREVIOUSLY AN APPOINTEE: THIS IS HIS FIRST CHANGE TO WIN A POPULAR MANDATE.]
NASRI: This is democracy, if the people choose me, I will be happy. If they don’t choose me, I go to work in anything else, but never to surrender not to support and help my people.
[TITLE: NASRI WINS AND RETURNS AS MAYOR.]
NASRI: Now we are elected and not appointed. And as long as I am elected, I represent the people of my town!
NASRI: We are the historical owners of the land. And the future Palestinian State is coming. And the future is for us.
MAN: Raise your hand, raise your hand! Everybody wants you!
[TITLE: SUPREME COURT]
[TITLE: THE MIGRON SETTLERS GO TO THE COURT WITH A SURPRISE NOTION TO BLOCK THEIR EVACUATION.]
[TITLE: HAGIT ARRIVES WITH PALESTINIAN LANDOWNERS WITH CLAIMS ON MIGRON’S LAND.]
[TITLE: THE SUPREME COURT REJECTS THE PETITION AND ISSUES A FINAL EVACUATION ORDER.]
POLICEMAN: Go slow, go slow!
[TITLE: SECURITY FORCES ARRIVE TO EVACUATE MIGRON.]
HAGIT: We won. However, the very fact that people are going to be evicted from their homes and their dreams and their beliefs are going to be demolished is something that I cannot be happy about.
MAN: Ay! Ay! Will not!
POLICEMAN: Tighten his feet, that’s it, tighten his feet.
POLICEMAN: Move it, move.
CHAIM: This we must remember. Let them do whatever they want with the houses. The spirit will prevail.
[TITLE: CHAIM AND HIS FAMILY ARE AMONG THE SETTLERS EVACUATED BY AUTHORITIES.]
CHAIM: Keep your head high! Don’t lower it for a moment!
CHAIM: Bye. Thank you!
CHAIM: This war isn’t about houses or settlements. It is a war for the spirit. The 2000-year history of the people of Israel puts this responsibility on our shoulders.
HAGIT: We are wasting our time and energies in building things that we will have to demolish, and that’s a tragedy. We are reaching a point where the two-state solution might be impossible and this moment of truth is very, very close.
[TITLE: RABBI FROMAN DIED ON MARCH 4, 2013.]
SHIVI: All the words have been spoken between us. There is one word you didn’t let me tell you. Forgive me! And I love you. Daddy, thank you. Dad said that singing is above words. We’ll finish with singing.
SINGER: Rabbi Menachem, your light shines on, and your teachings will remain with us from here and onto eternity.
[TITLE: A PSALM OF DAVID]
SINGER: The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. You prepare a table before me…
[Music]
[TITLE: THIS FILM IS DEDICATED TO ZHIHONG SHI, WHOSE LOVE AND SUPPORT MADE IT POSSIBLE.]