ia_2011_d_carter

=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

** Daily life ** __ Usefulness __ Throughout the majority of the film, Miller and Shah [1] present the audience with the lives of Ahmed and Mohammed, two Palestinian boys of 11 years old. The pair has activities that could be interesting in the eyes of a historian; for example, they sometimes ‘attack’ Israeli tanks by throwing rocks at them. This only aggravates the soldiers, who in turn shoot warning shots to frighten the children. However, (as shown in the film) sometimes children are hit by the shots. This is the case with Salem [2] one of Ahmed’s friends. Another example of their daily activities is a game they play with multiple friends, ‘Jews and Arabs’. One scene shows some children with Ahmed and Mohammed playing this game with toy guns. Although it is just a game, this is a direct representation of the real situation between Israelis and Arabs. However, in terms of ‘daily life’ the film only fully depicts the lives of three children. This means that the historian can only have a glimpse into the millions of Palestinians that are living in Palestine. ** Politics ** James Miller shows a good awareness of political issues that were occurring in the years before the film was made. Some of these issues are explained in the film and this information is valuable for the historian studying the conflict. For example at the beginning of the film, the opening line introduces their mission [3] and briefly mentioning about the Six Day War of 1967. Another example is about the death toll, “Since the (second) Interfada [4] - 800 Israelis 2000 Palestinians have been killed.” Then, the titles mention about a political proposition, “During a summit in 2000, Israel proposed handing control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, ultimately rejected the deal.” This is an interesting point as it mentions the Palestinian leader, whom the historian might have not heard of before. The last political title is: “In 2000, Israel voters elected Ariel Sharon – a prime Minister who promised to hunt out and kill suspected militants in Gaza and the West Bank.” Another figure whom the historian might find interesting to complete his work. Yet, the source shows is not very dense on political dates; these quotes are the only ones mentioned in the film. It is understandable as the film is not a documentary about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and thus, political ‘facts’ in the film are not a strong point for a historian studying the film. They could reinforce ‘solid knowledge’ about the Middle East conflict but certainly not teach a historian the history from scratch.

** Martyrdom ** Throughout the film, the notion of martyrdom is explored with quite some depth. Miller makes a point that it is somehow ‘unjust’ that children such as Ahmed make themselves believe that martyrdom is the ‘noblest way to die’ [5]. In the film, Ahmed presents Miller with the paramilitary group he is acquainted with. Ahmed says that it is common for children to write letters to parents ‘in case they die’. In Ahmed’s letter to his parent the following can be read, “Martyrdom for the sake of God is our noblest wish”. This can be compared to my second source //Tomorrow’s Pioneers// where one of the characters //Farfur//, a Mickey-mouse look-alike describes what he will do for the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he says, “we will annihilate the Jews…I will commit martyrdom.” These two statements are quite similar and have the same intentions about martyrdom. Ahmed also says “I intend to continue Jihad until I’m martyred.” This bold statement shows how he has been led to think in such a radical manner, that his dedication to the Palestinian cause could cost him his life. The theme of martyrdom is very heavily discussed in the film although it is not fully represented in its entirety here. But overall this notion in the film can be useful to the historian. Although there are no factual records of the paramilitary groups and facts like such, the film provides a good sense of how children are being exploited into radical groups.

[1] Saira Shah, the narrator and co-director of the film [2] Salem is one of Ahmed’s friends, he dies of his wounds several hours after being shot [3] “In early 2003, James Miller and Saira Shah went to the Gaza Strip to make a documentary about what its like to grow up in a conflict zone.” – from the opening titles. [4] The Second Intifida was the a Palestinian uprising (2000-2005). A period of intense Palestine-Israeli violence. [5] “Martyrdom makes many promises, a ticket to paradise, their sins forgiven, a better future than life in Rafa” – says narrator Saira Shah