Israel’s Iron Will Inspired "The Iron Wall"

With Anti-Palestinian economic sanctions, daily massacres of Palestinian civilians, and the likes of Avigdor Leiberman, Israel's newly appointed "Minister for Strategic Threats” urging Israel to assassinate the entire (elected into office) Hamas leadership, Mohammed Alatar’s documentary, “The Iron Wall” has emerged to shed light into the impact of Israel’s extremely dark and dank body politic. The Iron Wall is not only a New York Times Critic’s pick, President Jimmy Carter who is himself under attack for his courageous book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” has praised the film. According to Carter, “The Iron Wall” is “the best description of the barrier, it’s routing and impact.”

The focus of the film is the non-stop development of illegal Israeli settlements, following the 1967 occupation, within what remained of Palestine following the catastrophe of 1948, al Nakba. It was then that Zionist forces through terrorist acts and military assault brutally confiscated nearly 80% of historic Palestine to create a state which allows full rights for non-Semite Jews, partial rights for Semite Jews, and few rights for Arab Israeli citizens whose homes, property and villages they usurped. Featured in the film are interviews with prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and political analysts. Jeff Halper, Akiva Eldar, Hind Khoury, and others provide riveting testimony concerning the impact of Israeli policies – checkpoints, military outposts, the illegal settlements, the racist Apartheid Wall, assault on Palestinian civilians, their homes and the infrastructure of Palestinian villages, cities and towns. But it’s the interviews with Israeli settlers and soldiers, and Palestinian farmers that are the most disturbing – and revealing.

The central question of the documentary: Is a Two-State Solution possible given Israel’s daily creation of “facts on the ground” within what little remains of Palestine?

According to Alatar, “In 1923, Vladmir Jabotinsky – father of the Zionist right – wrote: ‘ Zionist colonization… can proceed and develop only under the protection of a power that is independent of the native population – behind an IRON WALL, which the native population cannot breach.’ From that day on, these words became the official and unspoken policy of the Zionist movement and, later, the State of Israel. Colonies, often referred to as "settlements," were used to solidify the Zionist foothold throughout historic Palestine.”

“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 follows the timeline, size, and population of the settlements, reveals how their construction has been a cornerstone of Israeli policy, and demonstrates how the Wall secures them as permanent and irreversible facts on the ground,” Alatar reports. “This documentary warns that a contiguous and viable Palestinian state is becoming no longer possible, and that the chances for a peaceful resolution of the conflict are slipping away.”

“The Iron Wall” is 52 minutes long and features English, Arabic, and Hebrew with English subtitles. It was produced by the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees and Palestinians for Peace & Democracy and was the “Official Selection” of the Al-Jazeera Television Production Festival. “The Iron Wall” is a powerful presentation of the facts. I personally recommend that “The Iron Wall” be shown on local access cable channels in the USA and at Palestinian, Israel and Human Rights film series throughout the world.

A DVD of “The Iron Wall” may be purchased at the Palestinian Online Store at http://www.palestineonlinestore.com/films/theironwall.htm as well as information on screening rights and wholesale discounts.

The Palestine Online Store is a not-for-profit activist project featuring over 200 items from informational/educational resources, such as books and documentary films to other products such as apparel, handcrafts, and solidarity items.

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