Palestinian Film Screening Blocked as Israel Weighs Information vs. Incitement
Authorities argue the documentary Jenin, Jenin and its 2023 sequel incite unrest and contain misinformation, while critics say the repeated shut-downs by Israeli police are a suppression of Palestinian voices
Israeli police effectively halted the screening of Palestinian filmmaker Mohamad Bakri’s film Jenin, Jenin 2 on Wednesday by entering the Al Saraya Arab Theater in Jaffa and summoning the theater’s manager, Mahmoud Abu Arisheh, for questioning. According to the theater, Abu Arisheh was interrogated for “three hours on suspicion of disrupting public order” despite the fact that he “explained that preventing the screening is a blatant violation of the freedom of expression and represents political persecution of its creators and anyone who screens it.”
Jenin, Jenin 2 is a follow-up to Bakri’s original 2002 documentary, Jenin, Jenin, which depicts the aftermath of the IDF’s military incursion during the Second Intifada (known as Operation Defensive Shield) and the alleged war crimes that occurred—claims that Israel vehemently denied. The first film was banned in Israel shortly after its release, a decision that was later overturned and then reinstated by the Supreme Court following a 2016 defamation lawsuit by an Israeli soldier.
The 2023 sequel revisits the refugee camp following the Israel Defense Forces’ July operation in that year, which lasted 48 hours and led to hundreds of arrests and the deaths of 13 individuals. The new film allegedly includes snapshots from the first movie.
First of all, this movie isn’t the movie they are talking about. It’s a movie that can be publicly shown, and we will prove it. The police should investigate properly before arresting people. It’s an act of oppression without having the right criteria for doing that according to the law.
“First of all, this movie isn’t the movie they are talking about,” Hadeel Abu Salih, an advocate for Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights told The Media Line. “It’s a movie that can be publicly shown, and we will prove it. The police should investigate properly before arresting people. It’s an act of oppression without having the right criteria for doing that according to the law.”
In response to a request for comment from The Media Line, the Israel Police stated: “The police contacted the individual to provide an opportunity to demonstrate that this film is distinct from the prohibited one. However, the individual was unable to provide sufficient evidence to support this claim.”
You can limit freedom of speech in Israel only if there’s a clear and present danger of violence or danger in the state or public safety. Actual clear and present danger.
Israel’s adoption of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty in 1992 recognized that freedom of speech is integral to human dignity and liberty, and it extends to all forms of expression, including political speech, press freedom, and the right to receive and react to information. As former Israeli Deputy State Attorney Yehuda Shaffer explained to The Media Line, “You can limit freedom of speech in Israel only if there’s a clear and present danger of violence or danger in the state or public safety. Actual clear and present danger. That’s the only criteria for you that you are allowed to limit freedom of speech in Israel.”
It was proven in court on several occasions that Bakri lied while covering the events of the operation of 2002, and it could be the case that he may have followed that path again for the sequel.
Shaffer referred to the director’s court admission to using misleading cuts in the film, adding, “It was proven in court on several occasions that Bakri lied while covering the events of the operation of 2002, and it could be the case that he may have followed that path again for the sequel. The court restrains the police through judicial review, so this is why the case will probably be brought to the Supreme Court to reach impartiality.”
“The real question that must be pointed out is why, amid a war, the screening had to take place. This may lead to incitement in a historical moment like this, given the history of the first movie.” However, Shaffer also currently “suspect(s) the role of the Israeli police (in incitement) as well, since (National Security Minister Itamar) Ben Gvir has influence on that front, and this may also lead to his political choices.”
Adalah and Abu Salih are working on a separate case in Haifa, where police shuttered the Israeli Communist Party’s headquarters for 10 hours over the planned screening of the movie. She explained that the police ordinance 1971 that was used is issued in cases of “disturbing and illegal gatherings inside business activities and the lack of a license to do them.” But, according to Abu Salih, “This is not the case here. This is why, after sending a letter to the attorney general, we are planning to bring this to the Supreme Court.”
I think we were targeted for this because we are the only ones that speak up about the genocide going on and about the repercussions of the choices of this fascist regime on the West Bank as well. We decided to screen the movie as part of our activities to collect money for a project called ‘Think About Gaza.’ All the money would have been given to charity in Gaza.
On Monday, Reem Hazan, Haifa district secretary for the party, was brought to the police station for questioning. “I think we were targeted for this because we are the only ones that speak up about the genocide going on and about the repercussions of the choices of this fascist regime on the West Bank as well,” she told The Media Line. “We decided to screen the movie as part of our activities to collect money for a project called ‘Think About Gaza.’ All the money would have been given to charity in Gaza.”
Following her release several hours later, the police summoned her again to tell her that the screening should not occur because of a “risk to public safety.” Hazan explained, “Before our screening, a right-wing activist—Shai Glick, the CEO of Btsalmo—started a campaign accusing us of spreading terrorism. The police didn’t care about this situation. Instead, they preferred to take me in for an interrogation.” She added that they have rescheduled the Haifa screening for September 9. “They had no evidence to bring the case to court, but we are not letting this thing go.”
Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Councilman Itamar Avneri explained to The Media Line, “I expect the leaders of the city and the leaders of the opposition of the Knesset to show their solidarity with the people of Jaffa, to show their solidarity with the people of Haifa, to show their solidarity with the people who already faced those repercussions of a politicized police.”
I think it’s extremely important if you believe in democracy and if you have a voice, to speak up. I think it’s extremely important that the leaders in Israeli politics would say something, would denounce those actions, would say it’s undemocratic, would say it’s coming for all of us if we’re not going to stop it right now.
“I think it’s extremely important if you believe in democracy and if you have a voice, to speak up,” he continued, “I think it’s extremely important that the leaders in Israeli politics would say something, would denounce those actions, would say it’s undemocratic, would say it’s coming for all of us if we’re not going to stop it right now.”
Giorgia Valente is a recent graduate of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and an intern in The Media Line’s Press and Policy Student Program.
