Plot

Can justice truly be served in the occupied territories given the current system of law administered by Israel for Palestinians?

The film chronicles Israel's 43-year military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The story unfolds through interviews with the architects of this legal system juxtaposed with historical footage showing the enactment of these laws upon the Palestinian population.—Anonymous

The mechanics of an evolving military occupation reveal themselves through a series of first-ever interviews with the Israeli Judges, prosecutors and legal advisors who created the legal framework of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and upheld it since 1967. Set against the backdrop of historical events and archival footage, THE LAW IN THESE PARTS is a cautionary account of what happens when temporary security measures become permanent reality.

Responding to changing realities on-the-ground over four decades, the films protagonists describe moral and judicial dilemmas that they each faced while trying to apply law and make order. The film unfolds as an insider tour of the logic and reasoning behind the architecture of occupation and calls into question audience preconceptions about terms such as law and justice as well as the portrayal of reality through the documentary form. From establishing settlements in an occupied area to dealing with torture in interrogations to rationalizing parallel legal systems for Palestinians and Israelis, THE LAW IN THESE PARTS explores some of Israel's basic moral quandaries. Can a nation which occupies another people act with genuine adherence to the principals of rule-of-law? What are the costs that a society engaged in such a long term exercise must bear? And what are the implications of the very effort to make a documentary about such a system?