By Susan Abulhawa
"Tears of Gaza ' by Vibeke Lokkerberg is a documentary film that should be monitored by all of us, to see how Israel uses our taxes. All European should watch it to see the true face of Israel. It should be seen by all the Arab to renew our determination not to allow a racist nation to wipe Palestine and her children from the card and history.
I had read the stories from Gaza after Isræls so called "operation cast lead". I had read the reports. I trøde, I had cried enough so as not to cry again. But this film went to my heart stirred everything done tears fall and and here I am now, with a cave spooned out a hole in my gut flora because bombs were dropped on sleeping children, helicopters spread death and disfigurement of white phosphorus on terrified civilians creepeth upon a UN school for shelter … and nobody is doing anything about it.
Tears in Gaza lays bare the lies, cover ups and Richard Goldstone moral flip flop ping. It takes you into the heart of Gaza's troubled landscape to show the truth behind the craven and mendacious headlines with words that describe Isræls slaughter as "incursion" or "self defense". This film shows us these truths through the illuminating spirits of children. It is not to Miss!
I heard "Tears in Gaza" or "Gaza traer" as the original Norwegian title called when Bernard Henri-Levi began an attack against Lokkerberg and me in major newspapers throughout Europe. She and i was in contact after, and I could finally just get in the movie to see it is an incredibly important work. It is beautiful and painful and honest and devastating.
Vibeke Lokkerberg gives us the names, faces and stories about three common Gaza children with exceptional spirits. We first fell in love with Yehya, a 12-year-old boy, who wants to become a doctor, so he can heal people, shot by isrælerne. We see him on a small motorboat, lost in the magic of childhood as he has learned to control the boat. His beautiful eyes and dazzling smile during these moments make his all the more difficult to keep in mind when he talks about his beloved father tears. Loss, follows in his life is incomprehensible and overwhelming just to hear about.
Until you meet Amira, 14 years old, and go through her world.
Amira is beautiful. It is kind of beauty that holds an unspeakable pain not often seen in young people. Her life is also marred by death and destruction and disfigurement of her body by ammunition. She tells us that she wants to be a lawyer, so she can take isrælerne before the Court of first instance for crimes they have committed. Then, recalls his father and brothers, she acknowledges, wishing she had simply "gone with them".
Rasmia is along with Amira, far beyond her 11 years. Arabic speakers may detect things about her non-Arabic speakers will not. This is mainly due to the translation; and this is my only criticism of the film. When Rasmia goes in what seems to be a watchful trance, tells her mother in Arabic, she "imagining". The translation says "learning", which doesn't make sense, and it distracts from an important subtlety. Her mother explains that she sometimes "simulating" things from the attacks. I suspect that most Psychologists testify to these scenes and hear her mother explanation agrees that she was experiencing flashbacks and shows obvious signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Another example where the wrong translation hides important nuances is when Yehya tells us about losing his father. He is really talking in third person: "when someone loses their father, it's like they have lost all over the world", etc. But his word is translated as in the first person: "when my father died, it is like I lost the whole world". The distinction may seem not important until you realize that he cannot get words without breaking down when he speaks in the first person. It is a weak distinction, but it makes the heart break even more.
And we should all allow our hearts are broken in Gaza. It is the least we can do. To hear these three children and ask others to hear them is the least we can do. Vibeke Lokkerberg has given us an extremely important record what happened in December 2009-January 2010; so that no one can ever say, "I knew".
That we forget that our tears dry or outrage the natural disaster, and that our hearts are healed before Palestine is free, I hope that this film will be shown on a world scale, across University campuses, communities, organisations and living rooms. Take this not just as a review, but a call to action.
-Susan Abulhawa is the author of morning in Jenin (Bloomsbury 2010) and founder of playgrounds for Palestine (www.playgroundsforpalestine.org). She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
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