{"id":172204,"date":"2020-11-09T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T12:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=172204"},"modified":"2024-06-12T21:24:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T20:24:57","slug":"three-short-films-including-the-present-about-the-brutality-of-israeli-checkpoints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/11\/three-short-films-including-the-present-about-the-brutality-of-israeli-checkpoints\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Short Films–Including ‘The Present’–about the Brutality of Israeli Checkpoints"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 Nov 2020 – Oppression of the Palestinians, child hunger, and the COVID-19 pandemic are dealt with in two short films and an hour-long documentary currently screening at international film festivals or available online.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Present<\/em><\/h4>\n
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The Present (directed by Farah Nabulsi)<\/p><\/div>\n

The most striking is The Present<\/em> by British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi, concerning the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, and focused on the brutal checkpoint system.<\/p>\n

The film, co-written by Nabulsi and poet Hind Shoufani, was shot over six days at or around the infamous Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem, Palestine. At that entry point thousands of Palestinian workers queue up as early as 3 a.m. to cross into Israel for work.<\/p>\n

Yusef (played by the world-renowned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri\u2014The Band\u2019s Visit<\/em>, The Time That Remains<\/em>, Wajib<\/em>) takes his young daughter Yasmine (Mariam Kanj) to buy a gift for his wife Noor (Mariam Basha) on their wedding anniversary. The simple excursion, which also involves buying groceries, requires going only a short distance. But nothing is simple when confronted with the enormous hurdle of crossing through a checkpoint manned by Israeli soldiers who would rather abuse and demean Yusef than allow him to pass.<\/p>\n

At the entry, Yusef is forced to remove the contents of his pockets and some of his clothing. He is then put in a cage with other men waiting for admittance. During the long wait, the traumatized Yasmine urinates in her pants.<\/p>\n

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Saleh Bakri in The Present<\/p><\/div>\n

The return trip home is made even more difficult because father and daughter are pushing a trolley with a new refrigerator\u2014the anniversary present\u2014that won\u2019t fit through the gates of the checkpoint. More dehumanization: along with their groceries is a bag with Yasmine\u2019s soiled pants. \u201cYou\u2019re all disgusting,\u201d sneers one of the Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n

Rifles are instantly pointed at Yusef when he loses his temper. Chafing at the injustice of not being allowed to circumvent the checkpoint gates with his refrigerator, he nearly becomes another Palestinian casualty of war.<\/p>\n

Beautifully shot by seasoned French cinematographer Benoit Chamaillard, the 25-minute movie dramatizes its points eloquently, forcefully and efficiently. In a world in which millions of refugees face insurmountable borders, Nabulsi, in an interview with eninarothe.com, speaks about a people whose freedom of movement is continually trampled upon.<\/p>\n

In Palestine, she explains, there are more than \u201c130 Israeli military checkpoints, another 100 or so \u2018flying\u2019 check points\u2014that can appear anytime, anywhere\u2014separate roads, curfews, the separation wall, a convoluted permit and ID system and of course the inhumane blockade of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

These control mechanisms, Nabulsi says, \u201care all an assault on this basic human right, that in turn destroys so many other rights\u2014like the right to get to work and earn a living and put food on the table for your children, like being able to visit friends and family, tend to your lands, get to a hospital or clinic, school, study at university\u2014or in the case of my film, something as simple as being able to go and buy someone you love a gift!\u201d<\/p>\n

The director also speaks about the psychological ramifications and the \u201cimpact on the human spirit, and the harm it can cause an individual, families, children, and whole communities, caught in such an exhausting, stressful and deliberately humiliating infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n