BAYIT/HOUSE
Amos Gitai, Israel 1980, b&w, 51 mins, EST, (tbc)

While studying for his PhD at the University of California (Berkeley), Amos Gitai made his first documentaries, including House, having strayed into camera work when flying helicopter missions during military service in Israel.

‘House is the story of a house in West Jerusalem: abandoned during the 1948 war by its owner, a Palestinian doctor; requisitioned by the Israeli government as “vacant”; rented to Jewish Algerian immigrants in 1956; purchased by a university professor...

The building site is like a theatre in which the former inhabitants, the neighbours, the workers, the builder and new owner all appear.’

Israeli television censored the film.

Official website: www.amosgitai.com

LSFC is indebted to Amos Gitai for permission to show this example of his early work.

THE IRON WALL
Mohammed Alatar, Palestine 2006, 52 mins, EST [tbc]

Following the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, more than 200 settlements and outposts have been built in these territories, in violation of international law. The Iron Wall exposes this phenomenon and warns that a contiguous and viable Palestinian state is becoming no longer possible.

Interviews are included with prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, political analysts, settlers, soldiers and farmers.

It has been screened in 19 countries and has gained the attention of diplomats worldwide, including former President Jimmy Carter. 'What I want to do' says director Mohammed Alatar, 'is on the ground. I want to highlight how the settlements are the major obstacle to peace. I want people to know that out of the 600 checkpoints, only 24 separate us from Israel. All the others separate Palestinians from Palestinians.'


Discussion Led by Bernard Regan, Trade Union Officer of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. with Abdul Wahab Sabbah, Abu Dis Co-ordinator of the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association