Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Hisham Zreiq's film Sons of Eilaboun: introduction by Gilad Atzmon


Gilad Atzmon
Palestine Think Tank

"The truth of the Nakba has been hidden for many decades. Not many except the Palestinians are aware of the scale of 1948 ethnic expulsions and even fewer are aware of the atrocities occasionally performed by the newly born IDF. As a young Israeli pupil I was taught to believe that the 'Arabs' (this is how we called them) just run for their lives. No one forced �them� to do so, they were just a bunch of cowards, we were told. Similarly, we were preached that they were not as attached to the land as we, the Israelis, are. While they fled for their lives without fighting back, we, the chosens, schlepped all the way back to Zion after 2000 years to reclaim �our� historic land.

The truth of hundreds of massacres of Palestinian villagers committed by a young and well-trained enthusiastic IDF was absolutely hidden. There wasn�t even a hint that such a thing took place. We knew of one massacre only, the one in Deir Yassin. We were aware of it just because it was there to serve the Israeli so-called �left� leadership, as a means of vilifying their rightwing political rival, namely Menahem (who was directly responsible for this very massacre)......

With pretty much very minimal means, Zreiq manages to deliver a very deep and authentic reading of Palestinian history. He manages also to portray the intense emotional impact of the Nakba on the survivors of the horror. It is a documentation of villagers that were dispossessed and have run for their lives. But it is also an unusual story of a small Palestinian community that managed to return (thanks to UN intervention) just to find out that their houses were looted and they were left with nothing. As if this is not enough, once back, they soon found out that their beloved murdered brothers� and sons� eyes were poked out by the Israeli invaders. Seemingly, mutilating young Palestinians� corpses (eye poking for instance) was another 1948 IDF soldiers� inclination. I presume that not many people are aware of it. One may expect that just three years after the liberation of Auschwitz Israelis soldiers would be slightly more compassionate.

You better see it to believe it."

www.sonsofeilaboun.com

See a Trailer of the Film by Clicking Here

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