The Iron Wall

I saw the film, The Iron Wall this afternoon at the Iowa Memorial Union. The film was produced by Mohammed Alatar for the Palestinian Agricultural Committee and a group called, Palestinians for Peace and Democracy. The film reviewed the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the creation of the separation wall, the apartheid wall, or in this case what they call "the Iron Wall."

I can't say that I really learned anything new, but it was troubling to see the images of places and people I saw this past summer. The depiction of Hebron and the violent settlers who live there was particularly troublesome. When we walked around Hebron we ran into settlers who cursed us, spit at us and threatened to throw rocks at us. I don't think any of them actually pointed a gun at us, though we did see them carrying guns. Part of that may have been because of the large number of soldiers present. The day after we arrived three settler families were removed from a Palestinian home they had taken over for a few months. There were a lot of media people around the first couple of days we were in Hebron, but by the end of the week, when the IDF welded shut six Palestinian shops for "security reasons" only one lonely person from the media was there to record the action. I was in Hebron for only a few days. I can't imagine the stress one who lives there permanently must endure. This film did a good job of showing the stress and hardship Palestinian residents endure on a daily basis.

The film was good and worth seeing. One of the more interesting things for me was talking with a Palestinian man who was there to see the film. He was from Gaza and hasn't been able to visit his family for 2 and 1/2 years. It was interesting to hear his perspective about what has been going on in Gaza during the last week. I also talked with a man from Syria and his teenage son he brought along to see the film. The son was not much impressed with the film or its ability to change anything. Sometimes I think teenagers are much more realistic than we give them credit for but to not do something seems to be even more of a problem. The film also reminded me of the hope for peace and improved lives which I heard from many of the Palestinians I met last summer. Again, the hope expressed doesn't always seem realistic, but giving up hope seems even more problematic.