PALESTINE: WAR AND CHILDREN
15 YEAR-OLD NIDAL “AMBASSADOR” OF THE PALESTINIANS
The open forum “Palestine: War and Children” part of the special section of the 5th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival-Images of the 21st Century, titled “Current Issues: Palestine” took place on Wednesday, March 5th, at the packed amphitheatre of the Museum of Ancient Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Instruments of Thessaloniki.
A video prepared by the non-profit organization “Medecins Sans Frontieres” that was filmed at the Gaza strip was shown before the discussion and provided the perfect introduction. The video includes footage from the every-day lives of Palestinian children and a scene that became a topic of discussion: A Palestinian is speaking to the camera from his house in some refugee camp while gunshots are heard in the background. He continues without a worry, -“its normal”, he says- while his baby runs to its mother crying; all part of the daily life of a Palestinian refugee camp. Following the presentation of the video, Dimitri Eipides, the Director of the 5th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival said, “The discussion is in no way a political act. It is an act of compassion meant only to inform”.
The attendees took their place in the panel and the coordinator of the discussion, journalist Stelios Kouloglou introduced them. Teresa Shaloufi from Israel, head of the “Build a Better World” organization, 15 year-old Palestinian Nidal Alayasa, who is part of «Build a Better World», directors Ram Levoy from Israel and Hany Abu Assad from Palestine, who participate with their films “Gaza closed, Closure” and “Ford Transit”, respectively, in the section “Current Issues: Palestine” of the Festival, Kostas Papaioannou, head of “Medecins Sans Frontieres” in Palestine and journalist Dina Vagena, who specializes in the Middle East. The panel was also to include the Palestinian political analyst on topics of the Middle East, Subhi Hadidi, who found the panel disagreeable and refused to participate.
Among other things, Teresa Shaloufi said: “In “Build a Better World” we have set up educational programs for the children of Palestine. We want the children to develop the ability of self-expression. The situation is even harder on the children. They’re deprived of their human rights, even the right for education. The situation is awful everywhere and this has a negative effect upon the children. We want to give them hope and through our program, “Today and Tomorrow”, we want to show them Bethlehem so they can love the city and understand the differences between beautiful and ugly and cleanliness and filth; to teach them simple, basic notions».
15 year-old Nidal nearly monopolized the discussion with his sincerity and spontaneous speech. In his unique way and speaking in perfect English he said: “Palestinian children await their deaths. We don’t have dreams. The only thing worth fighting for is the liberation of your country. The only thing we can do is go to school and even that’s not always possible. In February I only went to school 11 days. All of you probably have pretty memories from your childhood. We don’t have cinema, nor theatre or even parks o play in. Just streets and organizations like ‘Build a Better World’, in which we can partake”.
Mr. Kouloglou asked whether the children were afraid when throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. Nidal had this to say: “I personally don’t throw stones but many of my friends do and of course they’re afraid but it’s the only thing they can do. It’s actually a game and the news, as well as the film-makers can only show these games. They have no access to the places where things are really tragic. There, the children actually throw stones at the Israelis because they want to be shot, they want to die. Their lives are hell and they don’t want to live like that”.
Israeli director, Ram Levoy said that he carries a burden which is none other than the morality of his Israeli heritage. “I wanted my film to show that Palestinians are not monsters, but people who are being tortured. The real tragedy is that the children are paying for their ancestors’ mistakes. Israelis are also afraid, though. My two-year-old grand daughter is afraid for her life. Israelis will never forget the Holocaust which is the reason for their fears”.
Palestinian director Hany Abu Assad said that, “I’ve never used children in my films. They should be doing their own things. Children are experiencing the results of my generation’s errors”. In response to Levoy about the Israelis’ fears, Assad said, “Whenever I’m in Tel Aviv I realize that this fear is implanted by the media. Although Israelis are afraid, the only ones in real danger are those living in the Gaza strip”.
Dina Vagena stated that, “These children taught us how to do a report. History repeats itself. As soon as these children are able to walk they throw stones at older children with guns. We can only report what’s going on, but believe me…there, you can smell the death. Death is an unpleasant smell and, unfortunately, these children experience it before life”.
Mr. Kouloglou asked Nidal if he had experienced the death of a loved person. Nidal spoke about a friend of his who was killed by Israelis and his twin brother who was killed before being born. During the first Idifada his mother was shot in the stomach and lost one of the two embryos growing inside her. Kostas Papaioannou said that children have learned to live with death. “They wonder whether they or their families will be alive the following day. I think that these terrible childhood experiences are the worst thing that can happen to a person. One cannot even imagine what consequences it will have on their mental health in the future”.
