The prize-winning documentary made quite an impact on the audience. The story is told by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat. He lives in Bil’in, a Palestinian village on the West Bank, which is occupied by the Israeli. “They took our country and drew a dividing line.”

Emad is a man who can no longer store all of his memories and feelings and started filming to make sure he wouldn’t them. He has five cameras, one for each aspect of life.

One of the main story lines in the film is the birth and childhood of one of his sons, Gibreel. “Between my childhood and the birth of Gibreel, only more settlements were erected. Our fertile soil was taken so Israeli occupiers could start living on it.”

‘Unlearn’ propaganda

The dialogue took place between Yuval Gal of anti-Zionist community Erev Rav and Mohammed Kotesh (Palestinian Community in the Netherlands). They clearly agree on how wrong the actions by Israel are, but they both arrived at this conclusion in a different way.

Kotesh grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and made a lot of effort to preserve his Palestinian identity. Gal grew up in Israel, “with Israeli propaganda that was very difficult to unlearn”.

“The Israeli propaganda machine taught me that Palestinians teach their children to hate us and that the military is there to protect us. Later on, this was followed by a slow process of asking questions. Questions about why there are such high walls, why there are protests. If you do enough searching and find enough answers, your critical spirit slowly starts developing. You don’t become anti-Zionist overnight, it’s a process. And in a way, it’s also saying farewell to an identity and a process of decolonization.”

Media

The way in which the media are reporting on the violence in Gaza and other regions where Palestinians live pains the gentlemen. “One’s choice of words may seem like a trivial matter, but it has a huge impact on public perception,” says Gal. “If you talk about casualties on the Palestine side versus people that were killed on the Israeli side, that’s already one of the many differences.”

“But which speakers to invite is also a deliberate choice made by the media. We seldom get asked. And when there are reports of a protest, for instance, they tend to focus on the number of people that got arrested or on someone misbehaving. But it’s also important – or especially important – to properly convey the message of the people who are protesting.”

Cutting ties

The moderator specifically asks about the role of education in this situation. “What can the university do to put a stop to this? What’s your wish for TU/e?” Kotesh is very clear on this. “Cut the ties with Israel. You cannot support this genocide. Israel has a great many war-waging options because they receive so much support in the area of technology. So it’s crucial not to contribute in this respect.”

“Don’t forget that Israel is a colonial project. The West (Great Britain in particular, ed.) is the reason Israel was created. If Israel can no longer develop drones, this will undoubtedly save lives. An occupier simply doesn’t have the right to self-defense.” Gal agrees with him: “Indeed, technology is very important to Israel, so we should have no part in this. But we also shouldn’t normalize Zionism. Which also means: stop working together with Zionists.”

Delft University of Technology has a research collaboration with Israel that involves arms trade. TU/e had something similar in the past in project MAAXIMUS. And there are other research projects with Israel as well. There’s no comprehensive overview of all ties with Israel, as universities have refused to disclose these until now. The Rights Forum already demanded openness and after they were turned down, the organization filed a lawsuit. This seems to be bearing fruit, as the universities ‘are obliged to process the request for information about their ties to ‘pro-Israelian’ organisations submitted by The Rights Forum. This is what the court decided last Thursday,’ Cursor wrote on the subject in December 2023.

Living under occupation

Protests for Palestine, such as the ones taking place in the Netherlands right now, didn’t start on October 7, the day Hamas launched a major attack on Israel. Palestinians and their sympathizers have protested against their occupier for decades. This is also clearly featured in the film. Emad records many things and is often beaten up or even shot at. His cameras are destroyed one by one, but camera number six is still rolling, the credits read. “I keep filming, to heal and to survive, even if they knock down my door to arrest me again.” Kotesh: This film actually showed a very small part of what it’s like to live under occupation, what daily life is like in an apartheid regime.”

Gal: “These brave people from Bil’in taught us a lot about apartheid. The Israeli army is using an unprecedented amount of force against Palestinians, purely because they live on this land.” Kotesh: “My grandfather was exiled from Palestine, just like many others. They can take our people out of Palestine, but they can never take Palestine out of us.”