Walls

We had one of Kat's friends from her lab, Khoulud, over for dinner this week. We had a nice dinner of oh-so-tasty lasagna, and then watched a movie about the Israeli settlement movement in Palestine.

The film is called "The Iron Wall," and it was produced by a Palestinian agricultural group, which unto itself is a bit strange because the movie is about 90% about politics and 10% about agriculture... Still, its a lot more entertaining than most agricultural productions I recall from my rural childhood (ie, the 5:00 Corn and Soybean Futures report, Milking Monthly, etc.)

Anyway, the film, which can be viewed in its entirety on Google (its just under an hour long) tells the story of the history and impact of both Israeli settlements into the occupied West Bank territories as well as the more recent and ongoing wall construction project that is underway.

I guess I find it totally astounding that the Israeli's are in the midst of a 650 KM wall project inside the West Bank, that when completed, will form a physical barrier between Israel and a smaller chunk of Palestine than was taken after the 1967 war. Probably the most astounding thing to me was that I was totally oblivious of this fact. SOmehow, in all the stream of news, I need to grab ahold of the actual stories, and not just read the headlines.

The film is unabashedly pro-Palestine, and I would really be interested in hearing the pro-Israel response to it. I have always instinctively "rooted" for Israel whenever I hear of news from that region. Whether because of their Biblical roots, more familiar western lifestyle, or perennially picked on and persecuted status, my bias is always for Israel. Khoulud made some good points in challenging this "gut check" reaction...

The film is interesting while certainly slanted. Its worth seeing and knowing what is going on in the Holy Land. Now I know I will pay much closer attention to anything relating to "settlements" and "walls."