Reviews

Book review: Victor Kattan's legal history of the colonization of Palestine

Mazen Masri 19 June 2010


In order to understand how the law works, one needs to situate it in its political and historical context, otherwise it loses its relevance. That’s what Victor Kattan’s new book From Coexistence to Conquest does. It is a novel attempt to examine the legal history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, describing law as one factor among many that shaped the development of events. Mazen Masri reviews. 

Cherien Dabis' journey to "Amreeka"

Jimmy Johnson 15 June 2010


Why migrate? What do you leave when you do? What’s waiting for you? How do you bring the social construct of “home” with you? Or replace it? And in a collection of such heavy questions, where is there room for marijuana jokes? Director Cherien Dabis’ award-winning feature-length debut Amreeka investigates all of these and much more in an hour and a half of marvelous cinema. Jimmy Johnson writes for The Electronic Intifada. 

The return of the colonial: Laor's "The Myths of Liberal Zionism" reviewed

Max Ajl 19 May 2010


Israeli new mandarins have to try to sell settler-colonialism to Western states with populations that increasingly regard Zionism’s spiritual core and physical reality as somewhere on the spectrum between mildly embarrassing and overtly revolting. It is those mandarins that anti-Zionist Israeli poet Yitzhak Laor meticulously vivisects in The Myths of Liberal Zionism. 

Book Review: Norman Finkelstein's "This time we went too far"

Ziyaad Lunat 19 April 2010


Despite Israel’s attempts to spin its 2008 Gaza invasion, global public opinion of Israel has sunk to an all-time low. In his latest book, “This Time We Went Too Far,” Norman Finkelstein argues that Gaza marked a turning point in public opinion reminiscent of the international reaction to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa. Ziyaad Lunat reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Film Review: Simone Bitton's investigative documentary, "Rachel"

Jimmy Johnson 16 April 2010


One of a filmmaker’s primary roles in any inquiry is to illuminate the topic of the narrative through entertainment, information, posing challenges or any other kind of engagement. Simone Bitton’s Rachel, a new documentary about the death of International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie, struggles to do this. Jimmy Johnson reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Film review: Missed opportunities in "Checkpoint Rock"

Jimmy Johnson 15 April 2010


Sometime early this decade the Israeli army issued a military order banning Palestinian musicians from using simile and metaphors. This order also prevented them from singing about anything but the occupation. Ok, that’s not actually true. But if your only contact with Palestinian music was through the documentary Checkpoint Rock you could be forgiven for coming to that conclusion. Jimmy Johnson reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Film review: Uncovering truth and humor in Edward Salem's "Impunity"

Jimmy Johnson 13 April 2010


Edward Salem’s is not a conventional documentary in the sense that it doesn’t offer any one or series of narratives for the audience to follow. Impunity is instead best appreciated as a profound ethnography on the coping mechanisms of a people under siege and in the aftermath of the massive destruction of Operation Cast Lead. Jimmy Johnson writes for The Electronic Intifada.