Sunday, September 15, 2013, 2:00 p.m.
Location: The Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue Rochester NY ~ Tickets $8 from The Little box office
Film run time: 56 minutes ~ Style: documentary ~ Languages: local language with English subtitles ~ Format: video projection ~ Year released: 2007
This film is screening in the same program as Follow the Money.
“When the stones of Jerusalem become more holy than its people, doesn’t it lose its holiness?” It’s a question well worth reflecting upon.
Jerusalem…The East Side Story is an informative film that wrestles with this very question as it reveals the policies that aim to Judaize the city and control Palestinian demographic growth. The resulting collective punishment is part of a larger scheme to pressure Palestinians into submission or flight.
This documentary squeezes nearly one hundred years of history into an hour or so of cinema. It mainly exposes the past forty years of Israeli military occupation policies in East Jerusalem and their devastating impact on the city and its peoples. Before taking on each issue, historical context is presented through archival footage: from the United Nations hall (1947) with the General Assembly Resolution 181 to partition Palestine; the battles in Jerusalem (1967), which ended with Israel militarily occupying all of East Jerusalem; and Palestinian refugees streaming over the border to Jordan in order to flee the fighting.
The intention of the documentary is to bring the Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence to light. Director Mohammed Alatar hopes and prays that people will realize today’s bitter reality in Jerusalem and do what it takes to bring peace to this troubled city.
Panelists
Dan Fleshler
Dan Fleshler, a writer and publicist based in New York City, is a Senior Advisor to Strategy XXI Partners, a strategic communications company. He is author of Transforming America’s Israel Lobby – The Limits of Its Power and the Potential for Change. He has written numerous op-eds about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has represented a broad range of clients that need to communicate to the American Jewish community, including Israel Policy Forum, Givat Haviva Educational Foundation, Bar-Ilan University and the National Conference. He is a Board Member of Ameinu and Americans for Peace Now and is on the Advisory Committee of J Street.
He’ll participate with us through Skype.
Tom Pessah
Tom Pessah is an Israeli graduate student, completing his PhD in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an active member of the Berkeley chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He also attends the Hillel Hebrew hour regularly.
He’ll participate with us through Skype from California.