ISRAELI SOLDIERS PROSECUTE THE DIRECTOR OF "JENIN JENIN" MOVIE
by Saed Bannoura
IMEMC News& Agencies saed at imemc dot org
Monday September 17, 2007 23:12
Mohammad Bakry, an Arab- Palestinian resident living within the
boundaries of Israel, is facing threats of boycott and a law suit
for his movie "Jenin Jenin" which documents aspects of the Israeli
invasion to Jenin refugee camp in 2002.
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV reported on its website that Bakry stated
that he does not fear those threats and that his documentary aims at
"exposing the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people".
In an interview with aljazeera.net, Bakry said that five soldiers filed
lawsuits against him for his documentary on the Israeli offensive which
was carried as part of the so-called "Defensive Shield Operation",
in the occupied West Bank in 2002.
The Israeli Court in Petah Tikva will start legal proceedings of
the suit on Tuesday against Bakry who faces charges of smearing the
reputation of the soldiers who claim that they carried the offensive
but did not commit war crimes.
The soldiers are demanding the Barky should be convicted of incitement
and are demanding nearly 650 US dollars in compensation.
They claimed that "the crimes Barky is talking about did not happen",
and that he is "discrediting" them.
The documentary contains testimonies of Jenin residents who witnessed
the invasion, and the Israeli military siege over the camp which also
included cutting food, water and electricity supplies.
The Israeli army shelled the camp by tanks and aircrafts and bulldozed
the houses of the overcrowded Jenin refugee camp.
At least 55 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed, dozens of
injured and dozens of houses were leveled. 23 Israeli soldiers were
killed in the offensive and dozens of injuries were reported.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli Authorities barred the
releasing of the documentary for two years, but Bakry filed a law
suit and managed to receive a permit to release the movie in the
country and abroad.
Bakry stated that the documentary did not incite, or smear anybody,
and that it only presented facts and carried the dreams and ambitions
of the Palestinians who were displaced in 1948 and became refugees.
Barky accused the five soldiers of serving Israeli intelligence
agencies as he has been perused and threatened to be prosecuted since
the documentary was released three years ago.
He stated that he did not commit any mistake, and called on the
Israeli government to apologize to the Palestinian people.
He also stated that if he was a Jewish director he wouldn’t have
faced those threats and complaints, and added that he does not fear
these threats.
"Even if they convict me, I will not recognize there justice system",
he added, "Israel does not have the right to prosecute me, justice
does not rule in Israel".
He also said that starting next month he will start screening another
documentary about the life in the Palestinian territories and the
internal Palestinians clashes.
Barky added that movie theaters in Europe are still screening his
movie about the massacres against the Armenian people in 1915.
Israeli government continues to pursue Arab-Israeli filmmaker.
Monday September 17, 2007 13:51 by Nisreen Qumsieh – IMEMC News
nisreen at imemc dot org The first Israeli court trial against the
Arab-Israeli filmmaker Mohammad Bakry is to be held on Tuesday.
The director of the film "Jenin-Jenin," a documentary reporting on
the devastating Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002,
has been the subject of intense Israeli scrutiny since the distribution
of the movie.
The director stands accused of "discrediting" five Israeli soldiers
who participated in the invasion and subsequently initiated court
proceeding against him.
The same soldiers also launched a court case against two cinemas in
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that screened the documentary.
The soldiers involved are seeking 2.5 million NIS in compensation,
arguing that the documentary is biased and fails to live up to the
standards of an objective report.