Palestine Is Still The Issue (June 3rd)

Continuing on from the last few classes, we were lectured on Palestine's serious everyday occurrences. I loathe having to get on a congested train every morning to get to school, but what Palestinian students are experiencing is beyond risky, almost life-threatening. Watching the video of students not being able to go home due to the "security gate" was nonsense. I felt infuriated by the guard's attitude and how insane his use of language was. It is children's lives at risk, and it was incomprehensible why it is so hard to open a single gate. Mr.Paterson explained that Islam's aim is to construct a society that is suffocative for Palestinians. When discussing this with my group members, we decided to make it a priority to put ourselves in the shoes of Palestinian's. With this approach, I realized that they are strong and powerful people. If I were in such circumstances, I would have given up and probably fled the country a long time ago. Regardless, these citizens facing hardships for decades, have persevered through so many apartheids and oppressions, that I am absolutely at a loss for words. Therefore I hope that Islam's horrifying acts do not hinder Palestinian abilities to do what they desire, anymore. 

To acquire a deeper understanding of current situations in Palestine, we watched a documentary produced by an award-winning, influential filmmaker, John Pilger. Pilger is one of the most neutral, righteous, and calm journalists I have seen handling issues in Palestine. When reading articles by citizen journalists on other news outlets, as well as professionals workers for the mainstream, the passion and vigor sometimes made their stories seem too deliberately manipulated. These articles have their strengths and merits, but since it is very emotional and biased, it became overwhelming at times. Surely, hearing sentimental statements directly from those experiencing the excruciating pain is imperative in provoking abundant thoughts. Hence, Pilger's perspective showed information with legit images and convincing evidence. The calmness, rationality, and plausibility of the documentary were more than enough to stir my emotions even more. Knowing that the producer is not biased encouraged me to reconsider how I felt towards this entire situation in a positive way. Regarding the documentary, one thought that came to mind was the international reactions towards the violence. Israel's exploitation of Palestine is violating copious rights. Yet, traditional media platforms, including Japan's, still depict the brutality only as a "clash". In summary, this documentary was stimulating and shocking in innumerable ways. The video being able to be found on the internet in its entirety is so great because this is a message that needs to be spread to countless more, using these strong images and words. 

I watched the rest of the film at home and the stirring of emotions only escalated. Even decades after the first military regime, injustice remained unchanged. The most astounding fact of them all was a suicide bombing committed by a former caretaker. This was a segment that my group stopped the video, to converse our reactions about. Suicidal is a severe issue in Japan, but suicide bombing was a concept none of us were familiar with. In the video, it was explained as a form of suicide, but simultaneously involving the people in your vicinity as well. At first, I thought it was a cruel act. Regardless of people's backgrounds and situations, suicidal bombing seemed unacceptable. Notwithstanding, as the video went on, I was not able to say the same. My group and I eventually came to the conclusion that the responsibility of a suicide bombing must not be entirely on the person who did it. The conditions and environment this girl was living under were extremely detrimental, and moreover, society as a whole was exacerbating in multiple fields. This girl's father said something along the lines of "you have to ask yourself, have you contributed in any way for someone's despair". This made me realize, just because someone did something that hurt many, invalidating that person's state of mind and feeling is unfair.  All in all, this documentary contained loads of information I feel more people need to watch in order to salvage current circumstances. I think people who watched the first documentary hoped and believed such occurrences would be prehistoric. Only to have another documentary produced almost thirty years later, with the same title "Palestine is still the issue" must have been devastating.

Notes: 

the brutality is an everyday occurrence, fences are everywhere through the occupied territories

his only bias towards normal people against big corporations. (as neutral as you can get)

25 years later, very little changed. the difference 

http://johnpilger.com/videos/palestine-is-still-the-issue 

international relations, sustain healthy

the documentary has reached the eyes of many, yet still not enough. 

security gate, the separation fence - the torment towards Palestine