Jenin, Jenin
Encyclopedia
Jenin, Jenin is a film
directed by Mohammed Bakri, a prominent Arab actor and Israeli citizen
, in order to portray what Bakri calls "the Palestinian
truth" about the "Battle of Jenin
", a clash between the Israeli army and Palestinians in April 2002 which drew Palestinian accounts of a "Jenin Massacre" .
.
During Operation Defensive Shield
in April 2002, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) invaded a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin
. The Israeli military refused to allow journalists and human rights organizations into the camp for "safety reasons" during the fighting, leading to a rapid cycle of rumors that a massacre had occurred. Jenin remained sealed for days after the invasion. Stories of civilians being buried alive in their homes as they were demolished, and of smoldering buildings covering crushed bodies, spread throughout the Arab world
. Various casualty figures circulated, according to official Israeli figures, later some human rights organizations accused Israel of war crimes, but cleared on alleged 'massacre', 9% of the camp was leveled and over 50 people were killed, a senior Palestinian official accused Israel of massacring more than 500 people in the camp. UN fact-finding mission was not allowed by Israeli to enter Jenin.
Bakri participated in a nonviolent demonstration at a checkpoint during Israel’s 2002 invasion of Jenin and was shocked when Israeli soldiers shot at the crowd, wounding a fellow actor standing next to him. He tells audiences that this experience inspired him to sneak into Jenin with a camera and ask residents, “What happened?” The result was the documentary Jenin Jenin, featuring a range of testimonies which suggested that a massacre had indeed occurred. Bakri gave voice to the perspective of Palestinians which would not reach the media due to the sealing of the city; as a result he chose not to interview Israeli officials for the film.
Israeli investigations found no evidence to substantiate charges of a massacre; Israeli findings were largely substantiated afterwards by human rights observers from such organizations as Human Rights Watch. Final estimates concluded that between 53-56 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli offensive, just over half of them suspected to be armed combatants.
The film title referenced Palestinian taxidrivers calling "Ramallah, Ramallah, Ramallah," or "Jenin! Jenin!" to Palestinian workers and travellers moving through Israeli checkpoints. Bakri dedicated the film to its producer, Iyad Samoudi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers, at al-Yamun
in the Jenin Governorate
of the West Bank
, shortly after filming ended. The IDF said that Samoudi was an armed member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
.
", made by Pierre Rehov
. The court rejected his request under the statement that regardless of the claim about the connection between the films, there is no legal basis to deny the screening of the film. The Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Cinematheques in Israel showed Bakri's film despite the ban.
Bakri took the ban to court and the Supreme Court of Israel
overturned the decision. According to Supreme Court Judge Dalia Dorner: "The fact that the film includes lies is not enough to justify a ban,"; she implied that it is up to viewers to interpret what they see, citing the Maimonides
quotation: "And with intellect shall distinguish the man, between the truth and the false." On appeal, the Supreme Court's ruling was stayed, but in August 2004 the Supreme Court reaffirmed the overturning of the ban, stating that the film board does not have "a monopoly over truth". Although the Supreme Court described the film as a "propagandistic lie," the ruling affirmed that choosing not to show 'both sides' of a story is not grounds for censorship.
in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield
(Head of Pediatric Endocrinology
at Hadassah University Hospital
in Jerusalem) issued a public statement titled Seven Lies About Jenin, giving his personal accounts about his visit to a private premiere screening of the film at the Jerusalem Cinematheque
. In his statement, he cited 7 discrepancies he had hoped to raise in front of the viewers who denied him the possibility to get past the second point. He claimed Bakri has 'skillfully made a crude, albeit well-done, manipulation' that it is difficult not to be drawn into the created distorted picture; and that he was amazed that the audience was not willing to hear his own accounts, a person who had 'physically' been there. It should be noted that the version distributed in the English language is modified from the original movie, and some of the problematic scenes Zangen pointed out were omitted.
The main line of defense for Bakri and his film is that, as the Supreme Court found, choosing not to show 'both sides' of a story is not grounds for censorship. Bakri is being represented by attorney Avigdor Feldman
, who told Haaretz
, "Bakri doesn't say anything in this film. The people who talk are those he filmed. So the residents of the refugee camp say things which sometimes are true and sometimes not. It's a movie. It reflects the subjective understanding of the speakers. Sometimes they say things that are harsher [than they actually were] because that is how he experienced it."
The Mohammad Bakri Defense Committee adds: "For his artistic integrity and his focus on the experiences and narratives of his fellow Palestinians, Mohammad Bakri faces the potential of financial ruin in the face of spurious legal charges and dubious claims of defamation." A major component of the argument for the defense in the most recent allegations is that none of the plaintiffs, Ofer Ben-Natan, Doron Keidar, Nir Oshri, Adam Arbiv and Yonatan Van-Kaspel, are mentioned by name or shown in the film.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Mohammed Bakri, a prominent Arab actor and Israeli citizen
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
, in order to portray what Bakri calls "the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
truth" about the "Battle of Jenin
Battle of Jenin
The Battle of Jenin took place in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Israel Defense Forces entered the camp, and other areas under the administration of the Palestinian Authority, during the Second Intifada, as part of Operation Defensive Shield...
", a clash between the Israeli army and Palestinians in April 2002 which drew Palestinian accounts of a "Jenin Massacre" .
Background
A month after 18 Israelis had been killed in two separate attacks, and a few days after a suicide bombing in Netanya killed 30 and injured 140, the Israeli Defense Forces called up 30,000 reserve soldiers and launched Operation Defensive ShieldOperation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
.
During Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
in April 2002, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) invaded a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
. The Israeli military refused to allow journalists and human rights organizations into the camp for "safety reasons" during the fighting, leading to a rapid cycle of rumors that a massacre had occurred. Jenin remained sealed for days after the invasion. Stories of civilians being buried alive in their homes as they were demolished, and of smoldering buildings covering crushed bodies, spread throughout the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. Various casualty figures circulated, according to official Israeli figures, later some human rights organizations accused Israel of war crimes, but cleared on alleged 'massacre', 9% of the camp was leveled and over 50 people were killed, a senior Palestinian official accused Israel of massacring more than 500 people in the camp. UN fact-finding mission was not allowed by Israeli to enter Jenin.
Bakri participated in a nonviolent demonstration at a checkpoint during Israel’s 2002 invasion of Jenin and was shocked when Israeli soldiers shot at the crowd, wounding a fellow actor standing next to him. He tells audiences that this experience inspired him to sneak into Jenin with a camera and ask residents, “What happened?” The result was the documentary Jenin Jenin, featuring a range of testimonies which suggested that a massacre had indeed occurred. Bakri gave voice to the perspective of Palestinians which would not reach the media due to the sealing of the city; as a result he chose not to interview Israeli officials for the film.
Israeli investigations found no evidence to substantiate charges of a massacre; Israeli findings were largely substantiated afterwards by human rights observers from such organizations as Human Rights Watch. Final estimates concluded that between 53-56 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli offensive, just over half of them suspected to be armed combatants.
The film title referenced Palestinian taxidrivers calling "Ramallah, Ramallah, Ramallah," or "Jenin! Jenin!" to Palestinian workers and travellers moving through Israeli checkpoints. Bakri dedicated the film to its producer, Iyad Samoudi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers, at al-Yamun
Al-Yamun
Al-Yamun is a Palestinian town located nine kilometers west of Jenin in the Jenin Governorate, in the northern West Bank. Al-Yamun's land area consists of approximately 20,000 dunams, of which 1,300 dunams is built-up area....
in the Jenin Governorate
Jenin Governorate
The Jenin Governorate is one of a number of Governorates of the West Bank and Gaza Strip within the Palestinian Territories, it covers the northern extremity of the West Bank including the area around the city of Jenin....
of the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, shortly after filming ended. The IDF said that Samoudi was an armed member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank. The group's name refers to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
.
Film content
The film has no narrator or guide and consists only of interviews with the inhabitants of Jenin edited by the producer.Official positions: Libel or censorship?
After a few screenings, the film was banned by the Israeli Film Ratings Board on the premise that it was libelous and might offend the public. In response Bakri contested the screening of a counter-response documentary "The Road to JeninThe Road to Jenin
The Road to Jenin is a 2003 documentary directed by Pierre Rehov, a French-Algerian film director, whose documentaries mostly deal with the Middle East conflict...
", made by Pierre Rehov
Pierre Rehov
Pierre Rehov is the pseudonym of a French film maker and novelist, most known for his movies which are almost exclusively based on the Arab-Israeli conflict....
. The court rejected his request under the statement that regardless of the claim about the connection between the films, there is no legal basis to deny the screening of the film. The Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Cinematheques in Israel showed Bakri's film despite the ban.
Bakri took the ban to court and the Supreme Court of Israel
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
overturned the decision. According to Supreme Court Judge Dalia Dorner: "The fact that the film includes lies is not enough to justify a ban,"; she implied that it is up to viewers to interpret what they see, citing the Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
quotation: "And with intellect shall distinguish the man, between the truth and the false." On appeal, the Supreme Court's ruling was stayed, but in August 2004 the Supreme Court reaffirmed the overturning of the ban, stating that the film board does not have "a monopoly over truth". Although the Supreme Court described the film as a "propagandistic lie," the ruling affirmed that choosing not to show 'both sides' of a story is not grounds for censorship.
Defamation law suit
Five Israeli reserve soldiers who served in Jenin filed suit in 2005 against Bakri for defamation arguing that the movie had sullied their good names. The plaintiffs were not mentioned in the film. The judge dismissed the case, ruling that while the film did in fact slander Israeli soldiers, the five Israeli soldiers were not personally slandered and thus had no standing to sue. The judge said in her verdict that Bakri had not shown "good faith", had brought no witnesses, and had not proved his claim that his charges were backed up by reports from human rights groups.Public critics
Dr. David Zangen, who was the chief medical officer for the IDFIsrael Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
(Head of Pediatric Endocrinology
Endocrinology
Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions called hormones, the integration of developmental events such as proliferation, growth, and differentiation and the coordination of...
at Hadassah University Hospital
Hadassah Medical Center
Hadassah Medical Center is a medical organization that operates two University hospitals at Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, Israel, as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The hospital was founded by Hadassah,...
in Jerusalem) issued a public statement titled Seven Lies About Jenin, giving his personal accounts about his visit to a private premiere screening of the film at the Jerusalem Cinematheque
Jerusalem Cinematheque
Jerusalem Cinematheque is the Cinematheque and National Movie Archive, which works in Jerusalem.The Cinematheque was founded in 1974 by Lia van Lear, and housed in a glossary. in 1981 passed a new building in Hebron rd. near to the Valley of Hinnom. Cinematheque building four halls screening...
. In his statement, he cited 7 discrepancies he had hoped to raise in front of the viewers who denied him the possibility to get past the second point. He claimed Bakri has 'skillfully made a crude, albeit well-done, manipulation' that it is difficult not to be drawn into the created distorted picture; and that he was amazed that the audience was not willing to hear his own accounts, a person who had 'physically' been there. It should be noted that the version distributed in the English language is modified from the original movie, and some of the problematic scenes Zangen pointed out were omitted.
Defense
The Mohammad Bakri Defense Committee argues that "the importance of this case reaches beyond Bakri as an individual," amounting to repression of Palestinian self-expression. At a screening of his latest film in New York, a disturbed audience member confronted Bakri with accusations that Jenin, Jenin exaggerated the atrocities of the invasion presented a one-sided view, and Bakri responded that he had "seen hundreds of films that deny and ignore what happened to Palestinians, yet never complained or tried to ban any film."The main line of defense for Bakri and his film is that, as the Supreme Court found, choosing not to show 'both sides' of a story is not grounds for censorship. Bakri is being represented by attorney Avigdor Feldman
Avigdor Feldman
Avigdor Feldman , is an influential civil and human rights lawyer in Israel.Feldman is respected by both Palestinians and Israelis for his work as leading advocate for justice. He has appeared before the bench in many of the significant petitions presented to the Israeli High Court of Justice ...
, who told Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
, "Bakri doesn't say anything in this film. The people who talk are those he filmed. So the residents of the refugee camp say things which sometimes are true and sometimes not. It's a movie. It reflects the subjective understanding of the speakers. Sometimes they say things that are harsher [than they actually were] because that is how he experienced it."
The Mohammad Bakri Defense Committee adds: "For his artistic integrity and his focus on the experiences and narratives of his fellow Palestinians, Mohammad Bakri faces the potential of financial ruin in the face of spurious legal charges and dubious claims of defamation." A major component of the argument for the defense in the most recent allegations is that none of the plaintiffs, Ofer Ben-Natan, Doron Keidar, Nir Oshri, Adam Arbiv and Yonatan Van-Kaspel, are mentioned by name or shown in the film.
Awards and nominations
Jenin, Jenin was awarded Best Film at the Carthage International Film Festival and International Prize for Mediterranean Documentary Filmmaking & Reporting.External links
- Jenin, Jenin, distributor's site
- The Road to Jenin YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
(video.google) - Movies of the Year HANNAH BROWN
- Jenin - Massacring Truth, FRANK KITMAN © The Calgary Herald 2004