Rating: 
Summary: The most illuminating documentary
Review: A documentary film this strong about the Middle East conflict -- and particularly about the Palestinians -- is bound to attract a lot of strident pro-Israeli-occupation critics. You can read their 1-star reviews posted here. You can read silly statements about Palestinian children throwing "deadly" rocks at Israeli tanks. You can read utter hogwash about Palestinian children spending their days tunneling to Egypt.Or you can get this film, and see Palestinian life in Gaza as it really is. This documentary is as close as it comes to showing the Palestinians in Gaza in a true light. Though it's not perfect, you will not find a better film about Palestinian life and death in Gaza. I have spent time in the Gaza Strip, and I can vouch for the accuracy of the portrayal in this film. Get it and show it to your friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Meant to be anti-Israeli, it shows Palestinians' true face
Review: Throughout the movie you get an impression that Palestinians live under tough occupation conditions. Which makes you wonder why they did not agree to a state of their own when Barak offered them 98% of the land through Clinton's initiatives.
The movie, upon closer review, makes you think that Palestinians would rather suffer under occupation then to allow Israel to exist. You see hatred to Israel in everything they do; instead of focusing how to get their own state they focus on how to destroy Israel in their everyday lives. Kids throwing stones at tanks is meant to show in a shameless propaganist way how powerless Palestinians are against Israeli military might. Meanwhile, each of those stones can kill because how heavy they are; meanwhile, kids risk their lives on a daily basis digging underground tunnels to smuggle Hizballah/Iranian made weapons from Egypt into Gaza and then distribute these weapons to terrorists instead of going to school to prepare themselves for an independent Palestinian state someday. Kids are being brainwashed by ruthless, heartless Hamasnicks so they can achieve their goal.. to destroy Israel someday. Do you ever see Israelis shouting "Death to Jews" in the streets of Tel-Aviv?? People in Israel want to live in peace - although safe peace, but peace (is that too much to ask for?)
Everyone points at Israel when it acts in self-defense, but noone asks why a democratic, liberal state is forced to obtain its Supreme Court permission to destroy peoples homes.. This movie is propaganist they way it was shot and edited, however it reveals a true face of Palestinians today. Let's live together in peace in two separate states already!
Rating:
Summary: Great film draws fire
Review: This is a really excellent documentary -- probably the best one I have seen about the Palestinian situation. It is full of the kind of personal detail and texture that you will never see in news reports, and it is also brutally honest. That said, it is a verite documentary about the Palestinians in Gaza -- those expecting to hear the Israeli settlers tell their story will be unhappy. On the other hand, the film never makes any pretense of setting forth the Israeli position, or of covering them at all. Let's repeat -- this is a film about the Palestinians in Gaza. And as such, it's a great document and a rare piece of filmmaking. If you feel like you don't know as much as you would like about the Palestinian perspective -- or just what life feels like in the Occupied Territories, then this is a film you should definitely see! Some reviewers here seem very uncomfortable with the film precisely because it shows the Palestinian perspective -- one guy keeps going on about the attack on Jenin refugee camp -- which happened one year after "Gaza Strip" was filmed -- and Jenin is in the West Bank, not the Gaza Strip. Also, it was Israeli foreign minister Shimon Perez who first called Jenin a "massacre"...
And the reviewer comment about Palestinians not loving their children seems a little bit racist. If you go through all the reviews of this film you will see that it has received only two kinds of ratings: 5 stars or 1 star. All the 1 star reviews are written by people who seem to have a direct connection with the Israeli position in this conflict, and are trying to hurt the films reputation by spreading false rumors about it (see the filmmaker James Longley's review) or by bringing up subjects that in no way relate to the film itself. I would guess many of them haven't seen the film they are reviewing... Bottom line -- this is an excellent documentary -- but it is also subjective, filmed from the point of view of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. As a result, it gives much deeper picture of this life than I have ever seen portrayed before.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: "Gaza Strip" is an excellent documentary that reveals what life is like for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, specifically in this tiny strip of land (only 4 miles wide). The filmmaker, James Longley, allows the Palestinians (mostly adolescents) to speak for themselves, for better or for worse. Their comments reveal their collective frustration, sadness, and anger. Those reviewers who gave this film 1 star are being ridiculous - the film does not make any claims to "presenting both sides" or explaining all the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Contrary to what some have said, it does not claim that the Israelis are using nerve gas or intentionally killing civilians, nor does it try to "hide" the supposed fact that Palestinians want to "kill all non-Muslims (Christians & Jews)" (a ridiculous claim). "Gaza Strip" is a simple portrayal of Palestinian life under the Israeli occupation, and the film eschews scripted narration in favor of just listening to what Palestinian teenagers and others have to say. The viewer is allowed to hear what *they* think and no outside interpretation or meaning is imposed. A final caveat - "Gaza Strip" contains a few extremely gruesome scenes, so remember that before beginning the film.
Rating:
Summary: To the person who claimed the arabs created Gaza
Review: I read your comments and i thought you were either making a fool of yourself or joking. The arabs created Gaza? You say that at
that time, they had the monetary ability to move out of Gaza
instead of staying there. Let me ask you something. If someone
barges into your house one day and asks you to leave and find
another house because they want it and anyway, you can afford
another house, would you? And if the person threatens you and
your family, wouldnt you fight for them? Now this is their land,
their everything, Israel comes up one day and says, i want that
land, our land is not big enough. Does that make sense? They
want more water, make war with Jordan, they have the Jordan River.They keep looking for trouble. They Jews killed a prophet for god's sakes. They crucified him. Where is their hearts? Even the United Nations told them to stop. Did they listen, not once. For all of you who say what kind of people would allow their sons to strap themselves to bombs. These kind of people. They have nothing. Nothing at all. To die, trying to protect their family is a much better option then sitting down waiting for a bomb to kill you, without you even making an effort. I think its sad that a boy that young sees no hope in his life. A boy that young witnessing so much death that his childhood and innocence was stripped from him. I think Israel is the real "terrorist". They are just hiding behind a political mask.
Rating:
Summary: gaza strip gas scene
Review: First, let me just say that this is a great documentary film. And second, I notice that there are a bunch of low-bar reviews posted here about one of the scenes in the film, that shows a gas attack on a refugee camp in Gaza. From footage of the camp, the hospital, and lots of interviews with the patients, their families and doctors (including one from Doctors Without Borders) we are shown that the gas the Israelis used wasn't normal teargas, but something else. Some reviewers have talked about this scene, calling it lies -- and saying that Longley (the director) made a false claim of nerve gas use by the Israelis. In fact, the film contains no such claim -- it just shows the material and the interviews and leaves the nature of the gas an open question. Also, I found on the films website a page that has many of the transcripts of these interviews, as well as press clippings about the attack. You can find the website by typing 'Gaza Strip documentary' into Google, or by going to the "Gaza Strip" film listing in the Internet Movie Database. The web page with the transcripts can be found linked from the bottom of the "Palestine Links" page or the "Reviews / Articles" page. Amazon doesn't allow for posting URLs in the reviews, or I could just link it here. Just thought I'd clear the air because it's a controversial scene that's bound to cause a lot of arguments.
Rating:
Summary: excellent film that everyone should see!
Review: This is a very well-made, quite unique documentary. It's probably unlike any other film you will see about this conflict -- it's narrated from the subjective point-of-view of a 13-year-old Palestinian teenager in Gaza. In this way, the filmmaker allows the film to unfold around you and creates a document that truly gives a deeper understanding of what it's like to be a Palestinian living under occupation. This is the way documentary filmmaking was supposed to be -- before the genre went down the tubes with countless made-for-TV docs using only written narration to tell the story. "Gaza Strip" changes all that, and tells it like it is -- from the perspective of the subject. "Gaza Strip" doesn't pretend for a moment to be "objective" -- it is very clearly a subjective view inside Gaza, and it says so in the written text in the start of the film. So watch out for the reviews that pan the film for not being an Israeli government propaganda piece. The fellow from California even completely misquotes Longley's own review, which is posted for all to see! "Gaza Strip" is a telling film precisely because it doesn't edit out the uncomfortable moments, like a 12-year-old whose friend has just been killed by Israelis whispering that he wants to "beat back the Jews and kill them off" before bursting into tears. Longley leaves in these moments -- where anyone making a pro-Palestinian propaganda film would have cut them out. When I watch this film, I really feel that I have spent some time in Gaza and seen what life feels like there. Everything in this documentary has the feel of truth -- and that clearly scares some of the viewers who have posted here with one-star reviews. This IS an important film, a painful, brave and risk-taking film, and as far as I'm concerned, a deeply honest one.
Rating:
Summary: FAKE DOCUMENTARY not even worth the time
Review: This film is absolute trash, and I don't just mean the 8mm film quality and shoddy editing. The objectivity of the film is missing as is the substance. IF you're a person that knows even a little about this conflict, this film is sorely disappointing because it tells us nothing except new. The maker of this film claims in his review, that he made a "very honest portrayal of what I witnessed during my time in the Gaza Strip". If this is true, why didn't he interview the cowardly Hamas terrorists who have a big influence in Gaza. Or show the inciteful Palestinian kids TV programs that urge death towards Jews, or schoolbooks that teach hatred and revisionist history about Israelis. Even though this indocrinated hate is a driving force behind the terrorism and a daily occurrence, people like Longley conviently leave it out of the story in order to close our eyes to the real racism and tragedy going on in this land. It is important to note that Longley also writes it is "probably false" that someone shouted "Death to Jews" in his film (he wrote it in his review) Longley does not address his accusations about Israelis using "poison gas" in the movie. Is he now admitting to being duped into believing that this actually happened? This is a sick lie in which the Palestinians falsely accused Israel of using "nerve gas" on the civilian population. Nobody died or was injured, but Longley still uses this LIE against the democratic Jewish state. Longley also refuses to show how some of the Palestinian teenagers are pressured into acting as rock-throwing shields for the armed terrorists, an action that causes deaths when Israeli soldiers are forced to defend themselves against these snipers. "Gaza Strip" only shows the side of "Palestine" that the Palestinians want you to see, it doesn't show the real side of the story which is a land controlled by terrorist gangs who ethnically cleanse the land of any non-Muslim (Christians & Jews)
The makers of this movie should be ashamed for spreading so much filth.
Rating: 
Summary: between the lines
Review: When I took journalism there are very fundamental truths that are taught that I picked up on. Every publication has an agenda beyond the "Who, what, where, when, why and how" that are expressed within that first paragraph of a news story. Learning to "read between the lines" to get the heart of what is really trying to be said/fed to the reader or, in many cases, NOT said, is an essential part of proactively understanding the full scope of the situation/subject matter at hand and what the "powers-that-be" of the publication think of it. "Gaza Strip" is the incarnation of what many publications try to mute. It shows us the suffering- the very real suffering and objectification of the Palestinian people. It does what many of the publications Americans read every day try not to do- make us all realize that they're HUMANS. Murdered, villified and subsequently objectified, the Palestinians suffer atrocities akin to that of the Native American Indians at the hands of the settlers and I can only think that anyone who calls this video "anti-semitism" or "propoganda" are people who; 1. have not seen the video and simply are spilling forth their hatefull ideals or 2. saw the video and are disgusted at the idea of people they hate being humanized- akin to the "masterminds" of the Jim Crow laws during the margins of darker days of American history.
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