Checkpoint
Over three million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli military authority since 1967. Israeli director Yoav Shamir documents the impact of the enforced boundaries known as “checkpoints” on the Israeli border guards drafted to monitor them and the Palestinian citizens who must pass through them daily.
Shot in a cinema verite style, a style of documentary filmmaking that stresses unbiased realism, the film shows these anonymous, one-time encounters between both sides and the lasting political, social and cultural effects. Checkpoint gives a chilling look at the destructive impact on both societies.
This movie is riveting. I can only call the treatment of the Palestinians trying to get through the checkpoint humiliating (and shocking). The woman are harassed and the men are abused. The border guards fair no better in system that places these young men in situations beyond their training or capacity for judgement.
It is a real-time tragedy unfolding on the screen, full of hapless players, endless conflict, and implied ripples for generations. When the old Palestinian heads for the border line saying “Shoot me” you wonder how far it will go. If you love freedom, this movie is painful. (Excerpt from amazon.com)
Watch the full documentary now
Inhuman
As I watched I could feel the oppression.
The remark by the soldier at 50:50 says it all. We are human. They are animals. Its seems the IDF has dehumanized Arabs in the same way the Nazi soldiers did with Jews in the 40s. No one should have to live with this kind of oppression. Things like the soldier hitting on young girls, not allowing a mother to go through with her young children, and making the man stand in the cold and rain when they could have let him stand in the dry. Today Israel sows the wind and someday they shall reap the whirlwind.
Harrowing documentary, but it needs to be watched.
Why wasn’t Judaism/Zionism given the Rhineland, Boveria etc as opposed to Palestine, for what the Germans supposedly did?
How could a race that was subjected to such horrors become as bad if not worse than the Nazi’s?
Why do her good, honest people permit such things in their name?
Is this the reason Hitler managed to rally so many people against Zionism?
Israel’s friends continue to dwindle and enemies just increase daily. If any good honest Israeli’s are waiting for the right time to stand up, that time is already overdue. And for the rest, shame on you.
Hi Realist,
I agree, it’s a harrowing doc. I’ve been to Israel, have stayed in Gaza for a couple of weeks, went to the West Bank… The Palestinians are really being treated like animals by the Israelis. I was appalled by what I saw, although I spent just a short period of time there. These guys are seriously a paranoid nation, I myself almost got a heart attack when I was taken aside at the airport in Tel Aviv (as a suspect of some sort?) and my whole luggage searched only to find out that the havoc was due to a f…ing 2 euro flash light I had in there – they examined it for half an hour – and I was close to shitting myself. I threw it away immediately after. Some years prior to that, my husband, who has worked his whole life for the International Red Cross, was put in a padded room, at the same airport, with his briefcase waiting in the middle of it & was ordered through a loudspeaker to open it (perhaps because he’s Irish)! Of course, there was nothing dangerous in there.
But, I beg of you, not to put into question the death of millions of innocent Jews in the Nazi Germany. The Nazis did not “supposedly” kill them, they actually killed them. There is no, and there never will be, a higher cause which could justify what has been done, or may be done, to any people.
Greetings.
Hey WTC7, thanx for the reply, but could you clarify “There is no, and there never will be, a higher cause which could justify what has been done, or may be done, to any people.”
Are you saying that, there is no justification……. but IF there ever was one, then the holocaust was it??? (I hope i’m mistaken)
Being from Ireland, I geuss that would entitle us to half the planet for what the Brit’s have done to us during the past 400yrs? How about Egypt, or I hear Jamaica is nice. I’m sure with the help of the UN we could kick the **** out of the natives and create an Irish homeland in a land in which we have no justifiable claim to (all unsigned possible works of fiction from 2000yrs ago not with standing).
Its wrong, boycott Israel.
Hi Realist,
I fear that you misunderstood about what I said about the Holocaust (intentionally, I may say, ’cause I was very clear in what I said).
You stated ” Why wasn’t Judaism/Zionism given the Rhineland, Boveria etc as opposed to Palestine, for what the Germans supposedly did?”.
I underlined in my response your “supposedly”. But now, since you pursue the issue, what do you mean by “supposedly” in this context? Do you mean that the Nazis actually didn’t commit the Holocaust?
I really don’t know what further clarification my following statement needs: “I beg of you, not to put into question the death of millions of innocent Jews in the Nazi Germany. The Nazis did not “supposedly” kill them, they actually killed them. There is no, and there never will be, a higher cause which could justify what has been done, or may be done, to any people” (in the context of what the Nazis did to Jews).
The “IF” that you implant into my words is malicious, btw I’m Jewish, although not a practicing one (and I’m not Irish, though my husband is).
Greetings.
I knew there were going to be anti semitic comments here! Study the subject,pick up a freakin book then make an informed opinion. I’m sure most of you have only seen this documentary and that’s it. How easy I find, that most people are so eager to blame and hate the Jews. Pathetic! Sick of the pro anyone and anything as long as Israel is the culprit.
“we’re humans,and they are not”…I wonder if the guy is aware of his own history? And I wonder, if he is familiar with the word holocaust?
“[Abba Eban] said that there are two kinds of criticism of Zionism. One is criticism by anti-Semites and the other is criticism by neurotic self-hating Jews. That eliminates 100% of possible criticism … The assumption is that the policies of the state of Israel are perfect, so therefore any kind of criticism must be illegitimate.” -Noam Chomsky
loli – hear hear! Too many over-opinionated, under-educated fools with mis-directed “passion” about a sensitive subject they know all too little about, ranting their ill-informed views all over the internet from their ivory towers.
Realist – get off your soapbox and educate yourself properly on the topic before you spew your ill-informed, biased views.
Check out what Hamas is doing to the children of Palestine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTGbP55HGi8
“Realist” – … Then tell me who is “as bad as if not worse than the Nazis”.
@humanist
The way you respond is as if all Palestinians were involved with the Hamas paramilitary. Your argument amounts that in their fear, Israel is completely justified to treat treat every single Palestinian as a prisoner, because there’s a chance this individual could be a terrorist.
Looking at the behavior by Israeli forces documented here (and I’m sure there’s worse when they know they aren’t being filmed), it’s no wonder people can be recruited to terrorism.
The only way I see the conflict being resolved is to somehow unearth and relocate Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the moon. Let the fanatics go fight for their precious holy land somewhere else, and let the civilians live and prosper, and not be blown to bits by missiles or riddled with bullets.
“unearth and relocate Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the moon”
There’s a brilliant idea.
Better yet, relocate to Texas and they can have religious ménage à trois.
@Lee Evans. – “The way you respond is as if all Palestinians were involved with the Hamas paramilitary.” – how so? I never made such a claim/sweeping generalisation. That’s your interpretation. I merely state that it’s not a black/white good Vs evil situation.
“it’s no wonder people can be recruited to terrorism.” – So? That’s a common view of leftist Guardian readers sheltered from the horrors and complexities of such a conflict. Very biased siding with David instead of Goliath, because of the view that “power=evil”. The same could be said for the Israelis and the way HAMAS and the Islamic world at large act towards them. A lot of Muslims (including those in Iran, including their government) also believe that the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people will hasten the coming of the Hidden Imam.
“The only way I see the conflict being resolved is to somehow unearth and relocate Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the moon.” – Thank you. You’ve just outlined the hopelessness of Israel’s predicament.
@humanist and loli
Perhaps both of you would do better to enlighten people instead of calling everyone ignorant and uneducated. You insult everyone by making emotionally charged, yet unsubstantial and biased arguments. Please, if you want anyone to be sympathetic towards your viewpoint, stop being so condescending.
@humanist
I appreciate the higher quality of your last response, but I stand by what I said of your earlier post, when all you did earlier was bash everyone else and post a youtube video of Hamas indoctrination.
@ Lee Evans. Okay, guilty as charged. I do get over-heated sometimes. I need to keep away from youtube and places where people express their views on the topic. There are lots and lots and lots of people who criticise Israel with bigoted unfair insults. I get frustrated at the torrent of ill-informed, biased abuse directed towards Israel. But you’re right responding with the same scathing tone is hypocritical and unhelpful.
the illegal state of israel has become an insult to Jews everywhere, to the survivors of the holocaust, and the victims of it. the fact that israel exploits the holocaust for its own agenda is an anti-semetic tactic in itself.
God will repair this very soon. You can’t treat people like this and think you can get away with it. U.S. wont use her influence to stop this type of ****. But there is a God that will!!!
I feel the pain of the Palestianans. I am black and live in America, and I am a descedant of slaves. I know what racism is. These are not real Jews. The say they are Jews and are not. No jewish person who went through the holocuast would sanction this. Germans did this to Jews. So why are Muslims paying for this? This is a war clearly against Islam.
Watch occupation 101, it’s an award winning documentary, on this site also. It talks about the origins of the conflict, as well as U.S. involvement.
If you have any questions and want to know more about the issue visit ifamericanknew.org, an excellent website full of information and statistics from legitimate sources.
Disgusting, bullies. Feel so bad for Palestinian people, its racist. They should spit on faces of these Israeli people.
watching this makes me ashamed of being a human… to treat people like that? disgrace!
actualy stevel segal is jewish hehe :-) and the most actors in hollywood are jewish..
I used to be a supporter of Israel and held it the highest esteem -especially the professionalism of their military- until i learnt the truth. That I’ve been lied to by zionists my whole life. Their not Semitic – their caucasian.
These ‘Israelites’ that these zionists claim to be are nothing of the sort -they are 7th century converts to Judaism, while the palestinians are the true descendents of those who have lived there for thousands of years. These zionists have no claim to the land they’ve stolen.
We know all you are the true anti-semites – zionist caucasians.
What a ****** extremist group you Zionists are – so ****** you believe that you ownership of the mainstream media will prevent those who WANT to know the truth from learning it, and overestimating the support they will get from those wilfully ignorant and brainwashed that believe the zionist lie when the awakened will hold them accountable.
Thank god for the internet – without it we would not have known what lying thieves and murderers the zionists are.
I can’t wait until the truth flows to those of the Jewish faith – when they realise their religion has been hijacked by criminals, and their people’s suffering is being abused by a bunch of dimwitted morons who are in over their head.
God bless all those who have the courage to look the truth in the face and speak up at this evil that is zionism and the ethnic cleansing of palestine.
Every Palestinian killed was payed by our tax money.13 million is given to Israel everyday with one third of that used for arms.We Americans are the suckers in this carnival.Until we stop our government from giving Israel billions for aid and arms,we are just as responsible for every Palestinian that has and will be killed .I guess if your a Christian it,s your duty to protect god chosen people.After all it’s in the fantasy bible that was written by people who couldn’t read or write at that time.Or was it written to control and to instill fear into people.Are you a God fearing person.booo
just because there are factions of hamas that are extremists does not excuse the Israeli armies behavior. And let us not forget that the israeli army is funded in part by the US and has the support of most of the international community. These are acts are atrocious so are those of some of the people of Palestine. I am from Northern Ireland originally and we had to leave our beloved land because my father married a protestant. People who fight fore a peace of land are in my mind ******. No land is worth the blood of your child. Fueled by religious fanatics people are brainwashed into thinking this has something to do with it. This is complete nonsense it is all about possession. I was brought up we have no claim to the land we just borrow it its not worth dying or killing over. Let us live in peace and don’t judge to harshly. If you have never lived in these types of conflicts its hard to understand. If you do ore did you will know that they are complete horse **** and waged by just a few. While the majority of the people just want to live there lives in peace and just don’t care.
These are the things i have learned i hope some of it rings true in your hearts. I felt what it was like when being pulled over fore no reason en felt what it was like always living in fear of another ***** blowing something up. Fore me both side are wrong who cares to which country you belong as long as you can live in peace. And i know people will talk of discrimination and living conditions. And theres are worse. But it still comes down to the same thing die fore land yo don’t own never will own and never owned.
Yours truly i soft spoke and kind hearted irishman.
Ps.Its great to see discussion and interest in these conflicts taken place. But be wise and careful not to speak words of hate and intolerance fore then we turn out to be those we criticize most.
Thank you fore reading.
How unbelievably disturbing this video is. It shows the true nature of the Occupation, and how the Israelis are stepping on Palestinian’s dignity. This shows how the occupied territories are in dire need of humanitarian aid. And also, how Israel as a goverment should be cease to exist.
Owen: sorry to say,that logic is completely ******…the worst thing one can do is stand idle and say “God will fix this”.Perfect excuse to do nothing.
And besides, what is God waiting anyway if he/she even exists? He/She waits for them to kill eachother? wow,what a concerned “citizen” he/she is… the allmighty allpowerful is silent and does nothing.Somewhat a contradiction.
That’s why i think this is up to people of good will. No god is match to human conflicts, history teaches us that!
Well, it is like saying the afro-americans were racist for rebelling against racism. Same argument about Israeli policies (i’m not talking about their people – no doubt there is a majority of people of concience). What justification has a terrorism sponsoring state like Israeli or U.S.A. to say that Palestinians have no right to defend themselves.Their arguments are mute.
And besides, the U.N. council comprised also of jewish judges , concluded that Israel is guilty of war crimes (against humanity also? i dont have an international law degree so i’m not sure if the term “war crime” applies for the crime against humanity too)
Some palestinian leaders are also wanted for war crimes. The fact remains that Israel illegaly settled on the soil of Palestinians.Illegialy occupied their territory and boycotted allmost every single peace process. U.S. vetoed several resolutions etc. … I think Israel ,because of their POLITICIANS, looses their word on justified use of force. The comments of anyone about Palestinians doing the same thing – Palestinians didnt invade Israel.Your arguments become NULL,not because of you (the israeli people) but because of the politicians your people ellected.
I hope i made some little sense…if not, i would like to hear your arguments.
p.s.: I don’t care for intolerance in words. Someone may cry upon intolerance just because their arguments are weak. Who cares. If you are offended by some low-life who is trying to provoke you, it is only you to blame to feel offended.
Can you really blame someone else for offending you? How we feel and live our lives remains our own responsibility. Yes,even if somebody tells you to F@#$ OFF, it would be ALSO your doing for feeling offended. Sure, that person would be provoking and giving more chances for a conflict. Therefore, everything has a beginning and an end in ourselves. Conflicts, wars etc. … if WE don’t act upon it constructively, NONE will.So be real: democracy is an illusion made by oligarchs and ancient cultures; a figure (like god?) that is chosen by numerous people, to save them from impending doom sounds like fantasy, does it not? Why do we crave for someone to lead us? why don’t we distribute responsibility for our society among ourselves? Are we that limited as beings?
(i made these arguments/questions on purpose… it doesn’t mean i think this way :) I would only like to hear what your views are. I’m studying history and i have a very important exam… and i have to talk like this ,lol)