Pierre Rehov
Encyclopedia
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.
Rehov was born to a Jewish family from Algiers
, then a French department. According to his website, there he experienced terrorism
at a young age. In the sixties, Rehov with his mother and younger brother left Algeria to join his father, already in France. So his family became a part of as many as 250,000 other Jews and about one million French fleeing Algeria, which was to become independent the next year. He made later a film on the Jewish refugees (Silent Exodus) describing the fate of the million Jews who fled Arab countries after 1948. He chose not to describe his own community from Algeria, since the Algerian war was a colonial problem involving France more than the Jewish community. Although he recalls that Jews in Algeria, had been suffering of Muslim antisemitism for decades, even when Algeria was part of France.
Rehov says he was not a pro-Israeli activist until 2000, when he saw the death of Muhammad al-Durrah
on television, and doubted its authenticity. He, among others, requested an investigation into the murder of al-Durrah, in which he claimed that it was Palestinian gunfire that killed the child. This investigation was also featured in the film Decryptage
. Since then, he has been working mostly in the Palestinian territories
, and other Arab countries, including in Iraq, where he was embedded in the US army as a free lance reporter.
His film "The road to Jenin" lists number of casualties acknowledged by both Palestinians and Israelis.
Rehov claims that every reporter must be (or appear to be) pro-Palestinian to work in the Palestinian territories safely and this, among other things, creates systematic anti-Israeli bias, especially on French media outlets. He advocates a two-state solution
, for Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side, but does not believe that peace will be possible for many generations.
In January 2008, Rehov was embedded in the 4/1 US cavalry in Baghdad, where he filmed hours of dailies, showing the situation in Iraq from the field. Those images will be part of his next documentary "The path to darkness".
In 2008 Rehov moved to the United States and now lives in the state of New York.
and its treatment in the media:
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film maker and novelist, most known for his movies which are almost exclusively based on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Rehov was born to a Jewish family from Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, then a French department. According to his website, there he experienced terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
at a young age. In the sixties, Rehov with his mother and younger brother left Algeria to join his father, already in France. So his family became a part of as many as 250,000 other Jews and about one million French fleeing Algeria, which was to become independent the next year. He made later a film on the Jewish refugees (Silent Exodus) describing the fate of the million Jews who fled Arab countries after 1948. He chose not to describe his own community from Algeria, since the Algerian war was a colonial problem involving France more than the Jewish community. Although he recalls that Jews in Algeria, had been suffering of Muslim antisemitism for decades, even when Algeria was part of France.
Rehov says he was not a pro-Israeli activist until 2000, when he saw the death of Muhammad al-Durrah
Muhammad al-Durrah
The Muhammad al-Durrah incident took place in the Gaza Strip on September 30, 2000, on the second day of the Second Intifada, amid widespread rioting throughout the Palestinian territories...
on television, and doubted its authenticity. He, among others, requested an investigation into the murder of al-Durrah, in which he claimed that it was Palestinian gunfire that killed the child. This investigation was also featured in the film Decryptage
Décryptage
Décryptage is a 2003 documentary written by Jacques Tarnero and directed by Philippe Bensoussan. The French film examines media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict in French media, and concludes that the media's presentation of the Arab-Israeli conflict in France is consistently skewed against...
. Since then, he has been working mostly in the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
, and other Arab countries, including in Iraq, where he was embedded in the US army as a free lance reporter.
His film "The road to Jenin" lists number of casualties acknowledged by both Palestinians and Israelis.
Rehov claims that every reporter must be (or appear to be) pro-Palestinian to work in the Palestinian territories safely and this, among other things, creates systematic anti-Israeli bias, especially on French media outlets. He advocates a two-state solution
Two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
, for Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side, but does not believe that peace will be possible for many generations.
In January 2008, Rehov was embedded in the 4/1 US cavalry in Baghdad, where he filmed hours of dailies, showing the situation in Iraq from the field. Those images will be part of his next documentary "The path to darkness".
In 2008 Rehov moved to the United States and now lives in the state of New York.
Films
Rehov has subsequently created 8 films about the Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
and its treatment in the media:
- The Road to JeninThe Road to JeninThe 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...
- One of Rehov's most known films; a response to Jenin, JeninJenin, JeninJenin, 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...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42404, a controversial documentary produced by Mohammed Bakri, in order to portray what Bakri calls "the PalestinianPalestinian peopleThe 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 JeninBattle of JeninThe 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...
". - The Trojan Horse - this film demonstrates that Yasser ArafatYasser ArafatMohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
's true intentions were not a two-state solution, but a Palestinian state on the territory of all of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. - Holy Land - Christians in Peril - a film which exposes the flight of Christians from PAPalestinian National AuthorityThe Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
-controlled lands. - Silent Exodus - a film that talks about the Jewish exodus from Arab landsJewish exodus from Arab landsThe Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries was a mass departure, flight and expulsion of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from Arab and Muslim countries, from 1948 until the early 1970s...
. - Hostages of Hatred - how the Palestinian right of return, supported by the UN, has left Palestinians in camps for half a century and, as Rehov argues, originated the present unsolvable situation in the Middle East.
- From The River to the Sea was voted Best Film at the 2006 Liberty Film Festival
- The War of Images
- Suicide Killers - 2006 documentary film that purports to explore the psychological condition of suicide bombers. Released in theaters, in New York and Los Angeles, and distributed on DVD by WEA, Suicide Killers was considered for the Hollywood Oscars but not nominated.
- First comes Saturday, then comes Sunday - 2007 documentary film about the persecution of Christians under Islamic rule in the Middle East
- The Path to darkness - 2011 ( to be released )
Novels
- Cellules Blanches - Published by the major French publisher, Albin Michel. Soon to be translated in English, under the title "White Cells". A thriller about terrorism.
External links
- Pierre Rehov's official website
- Suicide Killers website
- Interview with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show
- http://pajamasmedia.com/phyllischesler/2009/04/01/pierre-rehov-the-lion-in-exile/
- forbidden territories ( a social network )http://www.forbiddenterritories.com
- territoires interdits ( un réseau social ) http://www.territoiresinterdits.com