Documentary sheds light on struggle of Palestinians
Nick Welsh
Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: News
By Nick Welsh
On Thursday, April 2, students, faculty, and the surrounding community gathered in Frazier Hall to watch the documentary Occupation 101. The film told of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from its origins with the Zionist movement, during which Jews claimed portions of Palestine as part of a Jewish state, as declared by God.
In the United States, the more commonly told side of the story is the Israeli side, so viewing a documentary on the subject from the opposite point of view was new and illuminating.
"Remember that the documentary is biased," said Dr. Timothy Welliver, history professor and member of the panel that discussed the documentary after its viewing.
He had a point. If one were to take the documentary as the complete truth, one's view of the conflict would obviously be biased. The same holds true of any documentary portraying only one side of a story.
After the movie, a discussion was held, led by several prominent faculty members and other knowledgeable figures from around the area, including Dr. Welliver.
Most spoke in favor of the documentary, saying that while it could not truly capture the pain of the conflict for the poor Arabs of Palestine, it certainly got the idea across better than previous attempts.
Perhaps the most emotional part of the documentary was the story of a young college student. At the age of 23, she traveled abroad to Palestine to help with relief efforts and learn first hand of the conflict. She was deeply troubled by what she saw, and gave her life trying to protect a family that took her in as their own from a bulldozer.
A special thanks goes out to everyone who came to the event and participated in the discussion; it made the evening much more noteworthy, posing our own thoughts and questions to educated individuals.
On Thursday, April 2, students, faculty, and the surrounding community gathered in Frazier Hall to watch the documentary Occupation 101. The film told of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from its origins with the Zionist movement, during which Jews claimed portions of Palestine as part of a Jewish state, as declared by God.
In the United States, the more commonly told side of the story is the Israeli side, so viewing a documentary on the subject from the opposite point of view was new and illuminating.
"Remember that the documentary is biased," said Dr. Timothy Welliver, history professor and member of the panel that discussed the documentary after its viewing.
He had a point. If one were to take the documentary as the complete truth, one's view of the conflict would obviously be biased. The same holds true of any documentary portraying only one side of a story.
After the movie, a discussion was held, led by several prominent faculty members and other knowledgeable figures from around the area, including Dr. Welliver.
Most spoke in favor of the documentary, saying that while it could not truly capture the pain of the conflict for the poor Arabs of Palestine, it certainly got the idea across better than previous attempts.
Perhaps the most emotional part of the documentary was the story of a young college student. At the age of 23, she traveled abroad to Palestine to help with relief efforts and learn first hand of the conflict. She was deeply troubled by what she saw, and gave her life trying to protect a family that took her in as their own from a bulldozer.
A special thanks goes out to everyone who came to the event and participated in the discussion; it made the evening much more noteworthy, posing our own thoughts and questions to educated individuals.
Be the first to comment on this story