Of Land and Bread

Of Land and Bread begins with a Palestinian farmer who is forced to fight for his own land. It belongs to Israel, claims a Jewish man who plans to grow grain here. “You will all be our slaves,” he says. “If you’re found worthy.” This is but one of the many examples of bullying and humiliation that pervades the lives of Palestinians. We see dozens of short films made with cameras provided by the human rights organization B’Tselem, and then edited by director Ehab Tarabieh into this angry montage of provocations. Military personnel seem to love making things difficult for Palestinians and their children, while Israeli citizens continue to stoke the flames by throwing rocks and shouting racist chants. As the film unfolds, things go from bad to worse. By editing together so many documents of the Palestinians’ awful reality, Tarabieh makes the feeling of injustice creep deep under our skin. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)