Reviews

Film review: James' Journey to Jerusalem meets complex road blocks

Maureen Clare Murphy 19 March 2004


If the purpose of a pilgrimage is to reawaken or reaffirm one’s spirituality, James, the title character of the new Israeli film James’ Journey to Jerusalem, certainly does that. However, the idealistic young African’s journey is fraught with unexpected and difficult detours, putting his faith on trial as he becomes seduced by consumerism and power. And while the film is plagued with technical problems, its success lies in the complication of its characters and its universal allegorical message regarding consumerism, power, and religion. 

Film Review: Like Twenty Impossibles (2003)

Tina Dybvik 27 January 2004


“Like Twenty Impossibles” is the work of Annemarie Jacir, co-written with Kamran Rastegar. Jacir is a Palestinian filmmaker, activist, and poet living between New York City and Palestine. The 17-minute short mockumentary tells the story of a journey in a country where checkpoints and a sinister patchwork of controlled areas make freedom of movement itself impossible, aptly portraying the complexities of oppression with a cast and crew that understand it. It is shot on location in Palestine, and the images of guns and power overwhelm the viewer as well as the waylaid film crew. 

Review: Poster art of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Maureen Clare Murphy 16 January 2004


Dan Walsh, creator of the online exhibition Antonym/Synonym: The Poster Art of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, thinks that taking a look at political posters can enable “a new democratic discussion.” His website, Liberation Graphics, which features over 100 posters, a mere fraction of his collection, can only be described as a labor of love. Each poster is catalogued with an essay that both analyzes the poster’s formal and conceptual qualities, and places the subject matter within a brief historical context. 

Review: Arna's Children

Arjan El Fassed 11 December 2003


Speechless. Silent. I could not move. I just sat there, watching the screen, the scrolling text of dedication and the names of Arna’s children: Youssef, Nidal, Ashraf, and Ala. Arna’s children form a small theatre group of Palestinian children in Jenin. Arna’s son Juliano, director of this film, was directing the theatre group. All those years, from 1989 to 1996, Juliano filmed the rehearsals and performances of the plays. He films Ala sitting on the ruins of his home blown up by Israeli soldiers, growing up to become a fighter in Jenin. EI’s Arjan El Fassed saw the film and comments. 

Book review: Resistance - My Life for Lebanon

Maureen Clare Murphy 18 December 2003


The greatest struggle in Soha Béchara’s life was not plotting to assassinate Antoine Lahad, the Lebanese chief of militia in Israeli-occupied Southern Lebanon during the 1980s. Rather, her true test was somewhat parallel to that of her home country of Lebanon — to survive living under the tyranny of the occupying Israelis. But in Béchara’s case, her prison was a literal one. However, Béchara’s memoirs are missing that extra layer of narration that would let readers in on the true mental process of someone who is ready to give their life for their country. 

Book Review: "Reporting from Ramallah" (2003)

Tina Dybvik 11 December 2003


In the foreword to Reporting from Ramallah: An Israeli Journalist in an Occupied Land (2003), filmmaker and activist Rachel Leah Jones describes Amira Hass’ body of work as the complete story on the confiscation of land, paving of bypass roads, and expansion of Israeli settlements. These 37 selected writings form a shorter chronological account aimed primarily at a target audience of Israeli Jews. Hass is an Israeli journalist and recipient of the UNESCO Guillermo Camo World Press Freedom Prize for 2003. From 1993 to 1997, she reported exclusively from Gaza. Tina Dybvik reviews Hass’ new book. 

Art review: Mind, Body and Soul of Palestine - A Photo Journal Exhibit

Maureen Clare Murphy 9 October 2003


In Mind, Body and Soul of Palestine: A Photo Journal Exhibit, time, imagery, and stereotype are challenged and contradicted. Indeed, some of the imagery in the photographs contradict each other, causing the viewer to reconsider what they know about this country called Palestine that is constantly being reported but seldom understood. The show is presented by al-PHAN (which stands for Palestinian Humanities and Arts Now), a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization, and will be traveling around the U.S through next spring. 

Theater Review: Jamil Khoury's "Precious Stones"

Maureen Clare Murphy 1 August 2003


When a playwright tackles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, sexual identity issues, class issues, Arab-American community issues, and Jewish-American community issues (among others), in a 90-minute play, not much room is left for anything else — like character development and breathing room. And that’s the main trouble with Jamil Khoury’s Precious Stones. Maureen Clare Murphy reviews the play for EI. 

Film review: James Longley's "Gaza Strip" (2002)

Nigel Parry 29 July 2003


Cover of the video/DVD. James Longley’s Gaza Strip is a 74-minute documentary filmed between January and April 2001, a period that stretches from four months after the beginning of the Second Palestinian Intifada — immediately preceding the election of Ariel Sharon as Israel’s prime minister — up to the end of Sharon’s third month in office. “I made this film,” Longley notes in the director’s commentary that accompanies the very highly recommended DVD version, “to satisfy my own curiosity about what was happening in the Gaza Strip since I found that it was very difficult to find information in the mainstream media and get a detailed look at what was going on, what people there were like, what they were thinking about.” EI’s Nigel Parry reviews the film. 

People like us: a review of "Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For my parents"

Maureen Clare Murphy 21 July 2003


Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that prove the most resonant. Take Seth Tobocman’s Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For My Parents. The book, a collection of drawings and thoughts, is the end product of the author’s month-long tour of Israel and Palestine during June, 2002. Tobocman was accommodated by the International Solidarity Movement and a visited a West Bank hospital, took a night-time bus ride in Israel, and worked as an art teacher during a summer school session in the West Bank village of Dir Ibzia — sketching what he encountered. Maureen Clare Murphy reviews the book for EI.