Monday, September 9, 2013, 6:45 p.m.
Location: The Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue Rochester NY ~ Tickets $8 from The Little box office
Film run time: 1:45 ~ Film Type: documentary ~ Language: Hebrew with English subtitles ~ Format: video projection ~ Year released: 2011
What is legal and what is just? The wide gap between the two is explored meticulously by this Israeli investigation of the legal structure created after the 1967 Six Days War, specifically to treat the West Bank and Gaza Strip as occupied territories.
Speaking with some of Israel’s most respected lawyers and judges – men who helped to craft and later interpret these laws – filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz asks tough, pointed questions and gets even tougher answers. He asks his subjects to consider the consequences of their actions in a highly politicized environment. This documentary takes the position that unjust laws create unjust realities. Laws that everyone admits are not perfect but are the best that can be done under difficult circumstances may result in tragedy for everyone: both the judges and the judged.
Winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Sundance and Jerusalem Film Festivals.
Panelist
Jonathan Kuttab
Jonathan Kuttab is a leading human rights lawyer in Israel and Palestine. Born in West Jerusalem, he graduated from Messiah College and the University of Virginia Law School. After practicing with a Wall Street law firm for several years, he returned to his homeland and co-founded the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence, Al-Haq (lawyers and others who assist with human rights issues), and the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners. He also co-founded the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence and the Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems (HURIDOCS). He is licensed to practice law in Palestine, Israel, and New York.
Jonathan Kuttab also is Chairman of the Board of Bethlehem Bible College and of the Holy Land Trust. He has written extensively on international human rights and humanitarian law in the Occupied Territories, including about the military order that is a subject of our film.