ZGram - 12/12/2002 - "Israel bans documentary on army's invasion of Jenin"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

December 12, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Somebody ought to get hold of this documentary AND SHOW IT IN EVERY 
CHURCH ACROSS AMERICA!

[START]

Israel bans documentary on army's invasion of Jenin

By Justin Huggler in Jerusalem

12 December 2002

The Israeli film ratings board has banned a documentary on the army's 
invasion of Jenin in March, the first block on a film in 15 years.

The documentary, Jenin, Jenin, was filmed by Mohammed Bakri, an Arab 
with Israeli citizenship, several weeks after the operation. It shows 
the huge area of destruction where Israeli bulldozers levelled more 
than 100 homes in Jenin refugee camp, and includes interviews with 
Palestinians living there.

Nissim Abulouf, the chairman of the film board, wrote in explaining 
the ban: "This is a propaganda film that presents the side with which 
the State of Israel is in a state of war, in a one-sided manner, 
while this war is still going on. It is a movie that severely offends 
the sentiments of the public, which might think mistakenly that the 
IDF [Israeli Defence Force] soldiers carry out war crimes 
methodically and deliberately."

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights 
Watch, have accused the Israeli army of committing war crimes in 
Jenin, although Palestinian claims of a massacre were judged to be 
untrue in a report by the United Nations issued in August. Israel 
says it raided Jenin because of a series of suicide bombings.

The documentary is said to include interviews in which some of the 
residents make claims that were not borne out by the evidence, 
including stories of a mass grave.

Mr Bakri said: "This is a great disappointment with [Israeli] 
democracy, and proof that it is limited." He said he would appeal 
against the ban.

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