Jenin Jenin (2003)

a double ‘thank you’ to both Max and Jon for your combined spotting and fixing duties re the link.

i tried to load it via the gofile link last night (1fichier super-slow for me these days, 12 hours for 700mb??), and when that seemed to lead to the wrong film, i resorted to ripping it from okru instead just to be able to watch it this evening.

but as the okru ripped film (710×480) weighs in at a mere 322mb, i’m glad that Max beat me to notifying Jon (el jefe!) about the glitch and i can now download the full size copy.
it’s a film to treasure and a film to share widely, so the better the quality the happier i am.

re the film:

it’s a superb documentary. a deeply heartwarming testimony (it literally bears witness) to the eternal steadfastness and absolute courage of the Palestinian people in the face of the most terrifying plight.
and i found myself particularly moved (even overwhelmed) by the interviews with the children.

though many hundreds of thousands of the children of Palestine (Gaza in particular) will be left traumatised for life by the horrendous circumstances in which they have been forced to live daily for several generations at this point (in particular during times of war, but not only during times of war – living under occupation is a constant threat and so a constant source of stress), i was profoundly struck by both how fearless and how absolutely resolute (‘steadfast’ again) the children presented as when they spoke of the situation in which they find themslves with the narrator.

and most remarkably, as they explained their feelings, they never once attempted to complain of their own personal pains or privations, big or small, which one would expect and would feel children (above all) have every justification to do.

no children living in a war zone should ever feel as if they are being selfish or petty to put themselves and their own need for safety and comfort first. quite the opposite, every child on earth should expect those things as the fundamental conditions which the adults who run the world should be expected to provide for them.

and yet the focus of the commentary of these children was always absolutely clear and absolutely uncompromising ;
i am a palestinian, this is my land, the land on which my parents, my grandparents and their ancestors have lived for millennia. and it is my duty, as a palestinian, to stay on it and to defend it from anyone who tries to take it away from me.

we are used to hearing that language of resistance to occupation from adult mouths, be it famous representatives of the palestinain resistance (for example Leila Khaled), or be it the many supporters of their struggle around the world.
but to have those ideals presented with such clarity and such conviction by young children will certainly surprise, perhaps even shock, viewers of this documentary who have not heard palestinian children speak of these things in such clear and forceful terms before.

and above all, it’s the selflessness of the children that (i think) will seem most alien to parents in the west.

for example when the narrator asks two girls what they would do if they were given a great sum of money (a million dinars), it doesn’t seem to cross their mind for a single instance that they might buy the latest iphone, or some extravagant consumer toy for themselves. the urge to indulge oneself first.

instead one girl says that she would use it to buy blood for the injured and to repair the refugee camp, and her friend agrees with her and goes on to add that she would also rent some caravans to house the homeless while their homes are rebuilt.

not unusual sentiments from adults who appreciate the human costs and needs of civillians caught up in a war, but these two girls are maybe 8 or 9 years old. that awareness a decade of more beyond their years is startling.

and it is also important to note that both girls insist that the homes must be rebuilt, and not that the owners should consider a move away to somewhere safer.
that absolute moral certainty in their young minds that palestinian people must stay on palestinian land is expressed a fundamental assertion, to be understood as the core condition of their existence.
and they seem to express that duty to their land in the same terms as they might express a duty to their parents and grandparents.
to them, the land and the people are as two halves of the same thing, each defining the other, their identity, their purpose, and their place.

and yet there is nothing ever hard or brutalised or dark in the way the girls express themsleves. they are as just as giggly and joyous as two girl friends anywhere in the world might be when discussing their thoughts with a curious adult.
but it’s that profound awareness of self and place and purpose that i don’t think occurs to children in the west until well into adulthood, if it even occurs at all, because we all take it so much for granted. but palestinian children can’t, and so they don’t.

i won’t spoil the film by citing more examples, but i mention the above scene (a momentary vignette which crystalises the essence of the film as a whole) purely as a teaser to draw those on the fence about whether to watch it in.
if you have any interest in the subject, i think it’s a must-see documentary.

a huge thank you to Jon for choosing and this uploading this film (indeed all the films on this site), and for pursuing a resolute campaign of his own to keep must-see outsider gems like this visible for the whole world to find, share and enjoy.

hasta la victoria siempre Jon!

Olivia.