Of Land and Bread - Trailer
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Synopsis: Offering an unmediated view of reality under Israeli occupation, the film is a series of vignettes about Palestinian daily life governed by state violence and the whims of Israeli settlers. It is a story of a vulnerable life, where your only defense is the camera. About the Film: Human rights organization B’Tselem publishes regular updates and comprehensive reports on human rights violations in the Occupied Territories. In 2005, B’Tselem established a video department, seeking to amplify the impact and power of the written word with visual documentation. Two years later, B’Tselem launched the Camera Project, providing video cameras and training to Palestinian volunteers in the West Bank to document their own lives under Israeli occupation. Since the Camera Project was launched, the real-time images taken by these amateur photographers have become a staple of B’Tselem’s reporting. They have been carefully catalogued, resulting in an extensive and unique video archive. The footage in this film is taken from this archive of thousands of hours of raw material captured by B’Tselem staff and volunteers over the past decade.
Thousands of people – residents of dozens of Palestinian communities located throughout Area C, the West Bank – face imminent expulsion by Israeli authorities on a variety of pretexts. The live blog will pool the regular updates we get from B’Tselem field researchers regarding the communities and any attempts by authorities to expel them. Click on the number of a community cluster and then on the tent icon marked on the map for further information about communities facing the risk of expulsion.
Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation. Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinians casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks. Investigations, if even opened, are usually closed with no action taken against perpetrators as part of an undeclared policy of leniency. The long-term effect of this violence is the dispossession of Palestinians from increasing parts of the West Bank, making it easier for Israel to take over land and resources.
Restricting movement is one of the main tools Israel employs to enforce its regime of occupation. Israel imposes restrictions on the movement of Palestinians within the West Bank, and travel between it and the Gaza Strip, into East Jerusalem, Israel, and abroad. When travel permits are required by Israel, they are given through a lengthy, non-transparent and arbitrary bureaucratic process. These conditions result in a life of constant uncertainty for Palestinians, making it difficult to perform simple tasks and plan their lives, and obstructs the development of a stable economy.
The Gaza Strip is in the throes of a manmade humanitarian disaster. Experts say that unless there are significant changes, Gaza will become unlivable in 2020. This is a direct result of Israel’s official policy, which continues to determine daily life in Gaza. Israel could change this policy and significantly improve quality of life in Gaza. It could also persist in its callous, indefensible policy which sentences the nearly two million residents of the Gaza Strip to a life of abject poverty in near inhuman conditions.