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Summary: I am the filmmaker and I have a few comments
Review: Because Amazon has allowed several slanderous reviews apparently written by the same person to be posted regarding my film, I feel I should clear up a few things:1) I made this film to document what is taking place in the Gaza Strip, the thinking of the Palestinians I met there and the character of the events I witnessed. Though my film is not a portrayal of the Israeli government's position in this conflict, it is a very honest portrayal of what I witnessed during my time in the Gaza Strip. Those seeking the Israeli government position may look to other films also available on Amazon. 2) Contrary to the false statements posted on this site, nobody in my film shouts "Death to Jews" in Arabic -- this accusation is simply politically-motivated slander and is provably false. 3) Contrary to false statements posted in reviews of my film, the bulldozers (not tanks) shown destroying Khan Younis refugee camp were filmed at *exactly* the same time as the material from Nasser Hospital in the same camp -- by Palestinian cameraman Abed Shana -- on the night of April 10, 2001. 4) Contrary to false statements posted regarding my film, it was never submitted to or rejected by the IFC. Those TVs who *did* reject the film often remarked that, though they liked the film, they would face intolerable political pressure if they chose to air it -- as the BBC did when it aired only one minute of my film as part of a documentary called "Israel's Secret Weapon". The BBC was blacklisted by the Israeli government and denied interview access to Israeli officials. I suggest those reviewers choosing to slander my film on this website at least check their facts first.
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Summary: This film shows the reality behind the conflict
Review: Maybe you don't know much about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; maybe you know an awful lot. But either way, this is a film that you ought to see. At once delicate and terrifying, this documentary is a rare glimpse inside the Gaza Strip, a place most of us only hear about and can barely imagine. More than a glimpse, actually, this film is more like a long, hard stare.
We start off following in the footsteps of a 13-year-old Gaza boy, Mohammed, who works a paper boy and throws rocks at Israeli tanks in his spare time. Through his eyes we are led deeper and deeper into one of the most intractable conflicts around, and we see a side of it that almost never gets seen, especially in the US.
This film has a wider scope than the stone throwing kids of Gaza City, however -- it extends all the way south into the Rafah refugee camp and lingers for long periods in Khan Yunis, the site of a very disturbing gas attack on a Palestinian refugee camp by the Israeli military. This scene is so controversial that it has aroused a lot of argument in interested circles -- inclusion in a BBC documentary and fierce denials by the Israelis that such things ever happened at all.
Many important issues are covered in this film -- we witness children being shot at, the demolition of Palestinian homes by the Israeli military, and the growing sense of hopelessness among Palestinian civilians. In very telling scenes, we see what seems to be the genesis of a new generation of suicide bombers, giving up all hope for life on this earth.
This is not a happy film, but it is an honest one -- and one filled with dense layers of meaning. This is not simply journalism or a man filming interviews with officials -- this documentary is a piece of art, and a cry for justice.
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Summary: Arabic is Lovely
Review: What I like about this film most of all is the chance to listen to Palestinian Arabic the way people really speak it. And the main character in this film -- a Gaza City paper boy -- can really talk and has something to say. This is not a film where the original speech is faded out and replaced by an English voice-over. It's all in Arabic with English subtitles, and I could watch it with the picture turned off. Besides all that, it's an excellent documentary, a rare find, and probably unlike anything you have ever seen about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Because it is totally, brutally honest.
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Summary: Gaza Strip
Review: Prepare for conversion: its not everyday that we come across a movie that can change your life. If Gaza Strip did not convert you to a more balanced perspective, it will show you the story that is seldom told and it will make you think.
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Summary: gripping and unsettling documentary
Review: This film has changed the way I look at the Palestinian - Israeli conflict. It's the first film I have ever found that really feels like an inside view of Palestinian life -- not just a light glossing-over of their situation like in the film "Promises" or on the rare news reports that actually have cameras inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip areas. Also, it was made by an American, which is unusual -- when you see the film, which is all in Arabic with english subtitles, you think it could have been made by a local person with a camera -- Longley seems to have a lot of access. One thing the DVD has that makes it excellent is an optional audio track with the director's notes on making the film. Without all of this extra information I might have had a lot of unanswered questions about how the film got made and why the director chose to film in the way he did. Instead I could watch the film a second and third time and still continue to get new information I missed before. The director audio track also has a lot of background information that isn't covered in the film itself, and explains the context of some of the scenes where it's not clear otherwise. But all the same, this isn't really a "newsy" documentary -- it's not a bunch of interviews with international law experts or historians. This film is more experiential. You can get something like the feeling of being in that place, inside the Gaza Strip, and walking around. There is a lot of atmosphere and sound, and no distractions from the conventional narration you find in most TV documentaries. This film is more like a film for the theater, not TV. I found watching this film a very gripping experience, and one that really expanded my understanding of what is going on over there. There is definitely a lot of stuff we Americans don't get to see on television! And what is up with some of the reviews of this film? One guy even refers to it as a "book" and gives it one star. Another one goes on and on about how everything is the Arabs' fault -- but never mentions the film! There must be people who just surf the Internet giving bad reviews to anything that is remotely critical of Israel, even if they haven't seen it/read it. Now that's dedication! Even though this film is only about the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and doesn't interview Israelis at all, I think it's wrong to dismiss it as "one-sided". After all, films about black life under Apartheid in South Africa were valuable documents even if they didn't interview whites, and films like "The Battle of Algiers" (which this film kind of feels like, weirdly) are still great and illuminating even if they do clearly take a side. This film doesn't cover everything, but I think it's being honest about the stuff it does cover -- and that's stuff we missed in the "mainstream" media. So it's an important piece of the picture -- no film can tell it all.
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Summary: Horrible film that furthers HATRED OF JEWISH PEOPLE
Review: If buy or rent this junk, just realize that what you are watching a film that was heavily edited to portray Palestinian terrorists & their admirers in a good light. Some of the comments about this film are severly inaccurate. Gaza was once a historical Jewish land, but has since grown into a hotbed for arab terrorism. This film does not show us what life is really like in Palestinian settlements, it shows a biased view that will not allow us to see that Palestinians hate Jews and Israelis more than they love their own arab children. Remember when Palestinians said that there was a "massacre" in Jenin? About 50 palestinian terrorists were killed and if you search the internet you'll see it's just one more LIE in a long line of lies called Palestinian history. It's amazing that some people out there HATE ISRAEL so much that they go to the extreme of telling false stories in order to make their cases. The only thing I learned from this film is that Palestinians in Gaza are racist, hateful people who favor an apartheid land that has been ethnically cleansed of anyone Jewish or Christian. This gets 0 out of 5 stars from me for it's utter lack of truth & objectivity. Go see Relentless or Decryptage instead.
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Summary: Watch the bitter truth - Thank you Mr. Longley
Review: I would like to begin by thanking Mr.Longley for his efforts in making this much needed documentary. This documentary is hard to watch as the inhumane conditions that the Palestinians live in under the Israeli occupation are very distrubing and painful. It's about time an issue like this is being addressd in vivid detail and it's time for people to deeply think why when you criticize Israel in any way, you're automatically labeled as Anti-Semite..could it be so that we don't pursue the painful truth further? we live in a world where "Democracy" and "Antisemiticism" are words used for political purposes and to hide the truth. I still can't believe Israel gets away with all this and we Americans give a big chunk of our taxes to further prolong the occupation, build more settlements against international law in Palestinian lands and make the already complex situation in the occupied etrrtories even worse for these poor people.
I stand ashamed and appauled at our ignorance to the outside world and our gullibility to the unbalanced and unfair news covering here in the U.S. Apparently censorship and biased news are embedded with us here at home and many don't realize it.
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Summary: A Portrait of Life in the Gaza Strip
Review: This film allows you to see the daily life of the people of the Gaza Strip, how the current war is affecting the daily routine of their lives, and the more basic conditions of human existence: food, shelter, basic health, and safety. You see the widespread violence that constitutes their environment, the difficulties they face in simply travelling within the Gaza Strip, and the less obvious victims of this incredibly stupid war-- for example, a young boy plays with a "glove" which detonates, killing him and wounding his friends. It's not just rockets and automatic rounds; it's homelessness; despair; landmines; amputations.
This is a great way to see the other side of the conflict.
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Summary: still a timely and compelling film
Review: The material in this documentary was filmed in 2001 -- but it still feels like it could have been made yesterday. Unfortunately, the situation in the Gaza Strip has remained almost exactly the same for three years -- if anything it has just gotten worse. This film is quite strong, original and even brilliant in its portrayal. The narrative of the documentary flows in and out of the life of a 13-year-old newspaper boy in Gaza, making transitions into scenes from other parts of the Gaza Strip: A road blackade that has forced Palestinians onto the beach, an Israeli gas attack on Khan Yunis, house demolitions in the middle of the night, the death of a child and the seeds of young martyrdom. This is the most powerful documentary I have found on this subject, and it's important for anyone who wants to expand their view of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
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Summary: excellent film, & THANK YOU for your review, Mr. Longley!
Review: This is a MUST SEE documentary, whether or not you know much about the history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.(Also, before you read this and any other review, I strongly recommend scrolling down to James Longley's own Amazon review of his film and his response to those who have attempted to label the reality his film presents as hatred or anti-semitism. Indeed, it is not!) I work at the Univ of California, at Santa Cruz, and we purchased an educational copy "Gaza Strip", to show to students. About 500 students showed up for the film and many people were stunned, shocked, horrified by crimes of the Israeli gov, and confused as to why they do not see this type of footage on mainstream media. Last night on campus, there was a screening of Benny Brunner's new documentary "The Wall" (which further exposed a reality that is so well hidden by the US media/gov.) about the the Berlin-like wall that is currently being built around, and imprisoning hundred's of thousands of Palestinan people, using our American tax dollars. We need to expose as many people as possible to this reality and do everything we can to challenge these atrocities being committed in OUR NAME!!
It is no wonder why this stuff is hidden, as this occupation is (as is the new one happening in Iraq) extremely profitable and is big business for the U.S. and Israel.
So watch this film, and see life and reality thru the eyes of a young Palestinan boy, and learn about the deathly billions we are spending killing innocent Palestinans while defending Israel and its 'dozers from the rocks these kids throw.
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