The Palestinian experience

An interesting new film about the Middle East conflict but from a very different perspective:

A woman from Gaza stands at an Israeli check-point. We can only see her back but it is clear that in shame she opens her top to a female Israeli soldier to show that her breasts have been removed in an attempt to beat cancer. Despite this, she is refused entry to Israel on security grounds.

This is the climactic scene from the first major Palestinian attempt at an animated movie and it is based on a true story.

But this is not an anti-Israeli rant.

There are good and bad characters on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide.

The heroine of the movie is called Fatenah.

She is a Gazan woman whose dream of finding love and leading a normal life is torn apart by cancer and the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

“Usually Palestinians are treated as numbers, but this is not the case here,” said Saed Andoni, the film’s producer. “Behind each number there is a long story and that is why we focus on this one individual.”

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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