In 2002, April 3rd through 12th, the population OF Jenin, a Palestinian refugee camp and home to some 14 000 people living under strict military curfew, was exposed to a merciless assault by Israeli soldiers, tanks, armored bulldozers, and helicopters. Much of the camp was shot and blown to hell, while an area the size of several football fields in the centre of town was completely leveled, purportedly the gravesite of many hundreds of people. That is the clear aftermath. The exact details of the occupation are still debated, accounts varying from "the Palestinians asked for it" (Israel) to claims of generally bloodthirsty behavior on the part of Israeli soldiers (Palestinians, Red Cross workers, and just about any outsider who's visited the site). "Jenin Jenin" is a documentary lending voice to Jenin's survivors wishing to participate in that debate (which ended up costing it's director his life).
Through "Jenin Jenin", you'll take a stroll though the rubble. You'll listen to shattered people give accounts of brutal murder of their kin that are so horrid, you'll have trouble believing them because you cannot wrap your mind around such carnage being perpetrated by mere men. Except that at one point, you'll see footage apparently shot during the occupation -- footage of captives lined up on the ground and run down by an armoured vehicle. You'll see a young girl with a disturbing cold gaze, and come to understand just how deep her hate for Israel already runs. Ten years old at most, she pledges to do all she can to destroy Israeli lives.
In the end, you'll either declare it all bulls**t, believe the Israeli claims that whatever happened, the Palestinians asked for it, and I'll call you a flaming moron, or you'll want to do something about it but find you can't, your government won't, and you'll hate the world.
Through "Jenin Jenin", you'll take a stroll though the rubble. You'll listen to shattered people give accounts of brutal murder of their kin that are so horrid, you'll have trouble believing them because you cannot wrap your mind around such carnage being perpetrated by mere men. Except that at one point, you'll see footage apparently shot during the occupation -- footage of captives lined up on the ground and run down by an armoured vehicle. You'll see a young girl with a disturbing cold gaze, and come to understand just how deep her hate for Israel already runs. Ten years old at most, she pledges to do all she can to destroy Israeli lives.
In the end, you'll either declare it all bulls**t, believe the Israeli claims that whatever happened, the Palestinians asked for it, and I'll call you a flaming moron, or you'll want to do something about it but find you can't, your government won't, and you'll hate the world.