" You come here to play?" " We're just wandering." " What was here before?" " I don't know." "Don't film me!" " What's this?" " It's the wall!" " What for?" " They shoot arabs from here." " No, arabs shoot at us." " So we hide behind the wall." "Who shoots at who?" "There's an arab village here." "Beit jala." " What's your name?" " Maayan." " And yours?" " Avia." "We ran away, we thought you were arabs." "We saw the camera and thought it was a weapon." "That stick, it looks like a weapon." "But you came back." "We saw who you are." "Who are we?" "Jews, what a question!" " Are you sure?" " Of what?" "That we're jews... you aren't jewish?" "Maybe not!" "How do you know we're jews?" " I can tell." " How?" "By the language." "And if i spoke another language?" "I can tell by the accent." "And if i spoke arabic, would you know it's arabic?" "Yeah, my mom speaks arabic." "We can tell by the face." " Your mother speaks arabic?" " Yeah, she's from morocco." "When your mother speaks arabic... she doesn't speak arabic at home!" " Why?" " Because i don't understand." "But when she speaks arabic, one might think she's an arab, no?" "Are you filming the wall?" "What do you think of it?" "It's a prison!" "What's the difference?" "None, right?" "Is he filming?" "He's recording." "Let him record!" "What can i say?" "I've had enough suffering." "We've been suffering for 3 years now." "We need to live together, that's it." "And leave our destiny to god!" "God willing!" " What's your name?" " Bilal mansour." "From qalqilya." "Maram." "Hamoudi." "Amir." "Khadije." "General amos yaron, you are the director general of the israeli ministry of defense." "I would like to ask you some technical questions about the construction of the security fence." "Let us start at the beginning." "First, i want to tell you why we needed to go and build a fence." "The reason is clear." "It is an effective way to significantly reduce the penetrative capabilities of palestinians who come to commit terrorist acts inside the state of israel." "In the populous urban centers along the coastal plane, and in other areas." "It is a very effective way to prevent terrorists from committing their crimes inside israeli territory." "This is the primary reason behind this investment." "The secondary reason is that for many years" "the palestinians considered israel to be an unlimited resource for stolen goods, especially cars and agricultural equipment." "This made israelis living on the seam-line feel insecure." "It made all israeli citizens feel insecure." "The rates of theft and burglary have risen drastically." "It's a huge project!" "It's a project which, from an engineering perspective, is the greatest israel has known." "Each day, more than 500 pieces of heavy machinery move and transport millions of cubic meters of earth." "Each kilometer costs around 10 million shekels." "That's about 2 million dollars per kilometer." "In other words, if the project is 500 kilometers long, its total cost will be around 5 billion shekels." "One day, my uncle who works in town, in the samiramis area, saw a military vehicle distributing flyers as it drove by." "We read the flyers and saw that they announced land expropriation." "We collected these flyers, and did what had to be done." "We translated them, and studied them, and met with the other land owners." "We decided to appeal to the court to try and stop the construction of the fence." "Or at least, if we can't stop it, to push it further away." "So it won't separate the inhabitants from their land, neither in kufr aqab nor in qalandia." "We appealed to the judge but he rejected our plea." "Our lawyer, neta amar, god bless her, is a jewish woman." "She worked very hard on our behalf." "We tried to resolve the problem but the judge refused." "As you see, the fence is here." "The army patrols pass by every 2 or 3 hours." "So?" "It looks like they've done a lot of work!" "Has it progressed?" "Oh yeah!" "Now they're doing the asphalt." "What else has changed since you last saw it?" "Now there are cables and sensors." "Could you explain how it works?" "The basis of the obstacle is the fence, erected upon" "a solid concrete foundation." "In addition to being a physical obstacle, it's also an electronic obstacle." "Whoever approaches it, or touches it, sets off an alert in a control room where everything can be seen and heard." "If someone tries to cross the fence, it will trigger an alarm." "The surveillance forces will know it." "If someone tries to cut it, there will be an indication, and within minutes the soldiers will be there to keep him from crossing." "Is it a camera?" "It's cameras, electronic devices, and radars!" "It's a whole system of surveillance around the fence and beyond it." "I also see trenches, barbed wire, paved roads, dirt roads..." "how does it work?" "The entire obstacle begins with barbed wire on the judea and samaria side." "Barbed wire." "This is the first warning." "If someone happens upon it, it says: "go away!"" "If someone wants to cross it deliberately, it will delay him." "Then there's a ditch to keep vehicles from crossing." "Then there's the fence itself on its concrete foundation." "The indicative fence that triggers the alert." "Then there's a dirt road." "If crossed, it will reveal footprints that can be tracked." "After that there's a paved road so our forces can move at speed from one point to another." "Finally, there's more barbed wire." "In the event someone does manage to cross it will delay him further until our forces arrive." "It will give them a few minutes to get there and catch him inside the fenced zone." "That's more or less how it works." " How wide is it?" " About 50 meters." "A good life, that's all we ask for." "Working hard doesn't matter as long as there's peace and quiet." " Where are you from?" " Meitav." "Here, in the taanakhim." " You weren't born in meitav!" " No, in iraq." "Where the war was, where saddam hussein was." "That's where i come from." "We were better off there." "We thought that here, in our land, we'd find refuge from all these problems." "But on the contrary, here, we have problems." " Are these your workers?" " Yes." " Where are they from?" " Here." "The west bank." " From which village?" " This village, jalame." "But they have all the required permits." " They live in this village?" " Yes." "The jews don't want to work." "If it weren't for the west bankers, it would take another 50 years to build this fence." "Isn't it strange that they're building it around themselves?" "No, on the contrary." "It's good for them." "It's not like in israel." "They don't get unemployment." "If they don't work, they'll starve to death." "Would you like to visit iraq?" "Yes." "Very much." "If they allowed me, i'd go tomorrow!" "My village still exists." "Which village is that?" "Arbil." "We lived outside of town." "We were farmers." " You remember?" " Very well." "What did you grow?" "Watermelons, cucumbers, tomatoes." "But there, a watermelon grows this big!" "There, you dig one meter and hit water." "Not like here." "We grew everything there." "We grew dates too." " What's your name?" " Shimon." " Shimon what?" " Abraham." " You're all arabs here!" " Yes." "What's the problem?" "It's strange that arabs are building the fence!" "Arabs, jews, russians, bulgarians... this fence is being built by people the world over!" "Does it pay well, at least?" "I know what i earn." "I can't speak for the others." "As far as i'm concerned, the pay is good." "I got what i asked for." " What's your name?" " Ahmad." "Bye!" "Shalom, ahmad." "Go in peace!" "I'm the foreman here, i'm responsible for the work." "Where do you live?" "Nablus." " Work is good." " Yes." "We need work." "And the fence, is it good?" "This fence is worthless." "Without peace, it's worthless!" "Am i right?" "Just a waste of money." "If he films me, the plo will kill me." "What's your name?" "Abu hani." "Nice to meet you, abu hani." "Good morning!" "Film the east side too." "We're closed on both sides." "To the east and to the west." "Jabara is encircled." "Is there a fence there?" "Yes, behind the village." "A fence in the back, and a gate in the front." "They only open it 1-2 hours a day." "Then they lock it again." "Since when?" "About 4 or 5 months." "Since they started with this barbed wire." "Take his id and his permits." "The mercedes, yes." "Go get theirldsl take theirldsl" "nasser, ali, ghassanl ghassan, nasser, ali, come herel" "stand on the side." "Engine off!" "Give me both your ids." "Where you're going?" "Shufa?" "Kufr sur?" "But you live in shufa." "He too, right?" "Get out." "Open this thing." "Open the box." "Close it up." "What do you have here?" "Don't approach two at a time." "One at a time!" "One by one!" "Why are you approaching?" "Step back!" "Everybody back." "Open the bag." "You live in kufr sur?" "One at a time." "Wait!" "You're an israeli citizen." "What are you doing here?" "What are you doing here?" "How did you enter?" "Your house?" "This is the last time i let you pass through here." "What are you doing here?" "You're an israeli citizen, you're not allowed to be here." "You know it's forbidden for you to enter." "From where?" "From baqa?" "From here it's impossible." "I can't let you pass." "You entered from there, now exit from there." "That's how it goes." "Israeli citizens aren't allowed to go in." "You can't pass." "I can't let you." "Not from here." "Where are you going?" "Tulkarm?" "This way, not that way." "One at a time!" "Where do you live?" "At the first terrorist attack here, the value of the apartments would plummet." "I don't feel 100% safe here." "I don't dawdle." "After work, i come straight home." "My wife doesn't open the door for anybody." "I live in the first row." "It's the most dangerous." "What's the distance?" "2 kilometers?" "He can strap a tank to his back and be here in 30 minutes." "You think he doesn't know the jeep's routine?" "He'll figure out the routine before he comes." "A fence?" "He'll climb over it with a ladder." "I was 20 meters away from the last suicide bombing." "I work on agripas street." "The whole building shook." "We can't live like this!" "We have children." "The solution?" "I don't know." "Maybe this guy from france... will bring kofi annan, maybe a nato force." "Who knows." "There is no solution." "Here, in har homa, people are scared." "Children don't come out to play." "Even at home they're nervous." "They'd enjoy the fresh air if they felt safe, would'nt they?" "They're scared." "The sabbath is upon us." "Let us pray for the holy land, that's all we can do." "And hope for the best." "This million-dollar fence doesn't make you feel secure?" "Secure?" "It's a waste of money." "Were the fence the solution, they'd have built it 50 years ago." "2 million dollars worth of fence will solve the problem?" "Forget it!" "They'll find ways to circumvent it." "They'll get israeli arabs to smuggle in explosives for suicide bombings." "We need to negotiate." "It's like a border:" "Jews here, arabs there." "Let's say we attack them, we do an operation in gaza." "They have children too!" "Let's say we kill their children?" "We're strangling them." "Some unemployed guy will go crazy and will come to attack our children." "A solution?" "I wish i had one." "If i had one i'd bring barak sharon, abu mazen, i'd host them all at my place." "If need be, i'll give my house for peace." "Does anybody have a formula for peace?" "A fence?" "Now that's a joke!" " What's your name?" " Moti." "It's the first time i'm on tv." "Will it be broadcast in france?" "Do people in france think it's scary to come here?" "For example, do you feel unsafe working here?" "Yes." "Have you ever found yourself standing next to a bus?" "When you stand next to a bus, pray for the light to be green." "That's what i do." "It can catch you, it can catch anybody." "We are at the akerstein factory in yeruham." "A factory founded in 1980, that manufactures concrete products." "Over the years, our product line has become increasingly complex and sophisticated." "We manufacture fortified walls in different shapes and sizes, of various types of concrete, depending on the degree of fortification required." "We also produce watchtowers for use in the seam-zone." "We developed these towers over the past few years, in accordance with the army's needs, together with the security officials who deal with such matters." "What's in these towers?" "At the entrance, there's an armored door and an external staircase for access." "Inside, a spiral staircase leads to the operations floor." "In some watchtowers, there are folding beds on the ground floor so two soldiers can sleep while a third stands guard." "On the operations floor, where the guard is, the windows offer a 360º field of vision." "In some watchtowers, there's a rotating chair, so the soldier can sit as he observes, without getting tired." "He can put his equipment on the floor and rotate unobstructed." "There are shooting holes and special barrels for weapons." "There's an armored exit in the ceiling and a folding ladder to reach the tower's roof." "On the roof there's a projector that's activated from inside but lights outside." "Downstairs we can install chemical toilets, and running water, so the soldiers can drink and wash their hands." "Some of the towers have air-conditioning so the soldiers can pass both summer and winter in maximal comfort." "Why are you filming?" "We're filming the fence." " What for?" " It's a film." "You're not from the municipality?" "It's not a public service?" "I thought you might help us." "We're in jerusalem here." "But there's no buses nor garbage pickup." "Nothing." "We pay municipal taxes, we pay everything, but get nothing in return." "Are you recording me?" "Thank you." "Before they built the fence, did you pass through there?" "We'd catch the bus up in gilo." "But it was difficult." "Look, we have to climb!" "And now, it's dangerous." "If a soldier spots me, he'll talk to me rudely, he'll mistreat me." "It's dangerous." "It's unfair!" "We spoke to the officer." "There used to be a captain, captain raz." "Now, it's captain... i've forgotten his name." "Youvil?" "No." "Ofir, maybe." "He's an officer who knows the area well and we told him:" ""Explain to the soldiers that we belong to jerusalem." ""We shouldn't have to pass through the checkpoint."" "They should give us a road!" "We talked and talked, asking for direct access." "But no one responded." "We talked for nothing." " What's your name?" " Cecile." " It's a french name!" " Perhaps." "My father, may god grant you a life as long as his, named his 3 daughters cecile, angele, lucie." "I am sharif omar, a farmer from jayyous." "I'm 60 years old." "I have four daughters and three sons." "All of them have university degrees thanks to the income from my land." "Today, i fear the israelis will take my land away." "I have 2,700 trees on the other side of the fence." "Citrus, olives, hazelnuts, loquats," "grapevines, apples, apricots, plums, avocados, mangos, pears, figs, and walnuts." "Palestine is allah's paradise." "If we get rid of the occupation, this heaven on earth will suffice." "The israeli army claims that the fence will guarantee the security of both peoples." "I don't see how." "It's not being built on the green line which we see as a political boundary." "They push the fence 6 kilometers into jayyous." "How can it provide security?" "They dig 28 meters from our homes." ""To prevent the touch between the two peoples", they say." "If 6 kilometers don't guarantee security, how can 28 meters?" "It's a big lie." "The truth is they want to expropriate our land." "It's a biased way to get us to abandon our villages." "If they take our land and leave us with nothing to make a living, we'll have to go elsewhere to provide for our families." "It's expulsion in disguise so the world can continue to praise israel and treat us like terrorists." "Let's clarify some terms that i get lost with." "You say: "seam-zone"" "others say: "security fence,"" ""separation fence,"" "or "separation wall."" "I don't know what to call it anymore." "Don't exaggerate." "All these terms are similar." "They all describe the same situation and similar means." "What is a "seam"?" "The seam is the line that passes between the palestinian population and the israeli population." "That's the seam, the line that separates." " Is it the green line?" " More or less!" "It's the green line, where there are no settlements." "And it... it passes inward of the green line where there are settlements." "All these terms describe the same thing, what i conveyed before:" "A means to obstruct terrorist penetration." "What do you call it?" "I call it the obstacle line, the obstacle, the fence." "One need not get ideological about the different names this obstacle has." "Why is there a concrete wall in some places, like qalqilya or tulkarm, while in other places there's an electronic fence?" "What's the difference?" "Where you see concrete walls it's to protect the people living or driving near the line from gunfire." "This is where we put concrete walls." "Elsewhere, in most cases, we erect a fence." "In qalqilya and tulkarm, the wall protects cars on the trans-lsrael highway from gunfire coming from qalqilya and tulkarm." "My name is muli peleg." "I live with my wife and 2 daughters in matan, along the seam-line, next to a palestinian village." "Matan and habla are separated by a wall." "We moved here by chance about 7 years ago." "We wanted to raise the girls outside the city, in the open space and fresh air." "That same year, they built the wall." "You must have seen it." "I tried through various means to make contact with the other side." "There are people living on the other side, and i wanted to get to know them as neighbours." "Impossible!" "There were these walls, and definitions, and categories:" "Israeli jews here, palestinians there." "And no access." "A few years later, in the summer of 2000, an opportunity presented itself." "Fate intervened." "I don't believe in fate, but something happened." "A human-interest story, well publicized at the time." "A young man from habla, was vacationing on lake tiberius." "While swimming in the lake, he noticed 2 jewish children drowning nearby." "He jumped in to save them but drowned himself, and died." "This heroic, universal story that traverses cultural boundaries and walls of hatred, was an occasion to reach out to the people of habla, something i was longing for." "I suggested to the members of our municipal council that we make a human gesture:" "Pay our condolences to the bereaved odeh family in habla." "It wasn't easy to convince them." "But i was determined, and eventually succeeded." "We put together a delegation and went there." "We crossed a physical distance of 5 minutes, but a psychological distance of hours, if not days." "There, i made a strong connection with nabil, the mayor of the village, and luai, his assistant." "That was on september 20th." "Six days later, the intifada erupted." "Ariel sharon went to the temple mount, and all hell broke loose." "Hello nabil, hello luai." "How are you?" "Our phone conversations are not enough." "I'd like us to meet and continue making plans." "I'd like to host you here." "You live so close, sometimes i can hear you beyond the wall." "I'd really like us to meet." "Talk, watch movies together, go to the swimming pool nearby." "Share meals." "It would be great." "And i'm sure that one day we will." "Stay strong, and we'll build our future together like good neighbours in any normal place." " You want to get across?" " Yes, to qalqilya." "Is there a passageway?" "Yes, but soon they're going to close it." " Do you cross on horseback?" " Yes." "I've been waiting for 2 hours, but they're watching us." " This jeep here?" " Yes." "When they leave, we'll pass." "What did she say?" "I'm telling her we want to go to qalqilya." "Yes, but the army's there." "They've cut us off from the world." "Here they come!" " Where do you live?" " Qalqilya." "But now, we can't cross to go to work everyday, so i rented a house in habla." "Take the horse and tie him there." "Go and tie the horse!" "Don't cross now, it's dangerous." "I know." "I'll wait." " Here they come." " Move back!" "Are they coming to shoot at us?" "Are they going to shoot?" "It is 5 in the morning." "People are arriving, workers mainly, to cross into jerusalem clandestinely." "They come in waves." "The mini-buses used to take that dirt road." "But the army has blocked it with a wrecked car and rubble." "Now people have to walk." "It takes them 45 minutes to reach silwan in the valley below." "From there, they catch taxis to bethlehem and jerusalem." "This area used to be tranquil, a very calm neighbourhood." "And look what's happened!" "It has become a crossroads." "From the south, north, and center, everyone passes through here." "Our children direct the people:" "This way to jerusalem, that way to bethlehem." "They give out water and cola to the thirsty and elderly." "We could sell pumpkin seeds and pop-corn." "Do business!" "When it rains, they trek through the mud." "All this turns to mud." "But people must, if they want to earn a living." "You're filming the security fence?" "Walls are everywhere now!" "It continues up that way, though it's not finished yet." "What do you see from your house?" "I see the whole area." "Everything that happens here." "I see how people climb through the hills." "Arabic?" "Hebrew?" "As you like." "What's your question?" "No question." "The question is what you see:" "They've closed off the west bank once again." "I also have to walk." "Everyday, i walk 5 kilometers." "And i'm 50 years old, not young." "The checkpoints are closed, ramallah is closed." "Anata is closed." "It's like a curfew." "We no longer know how to feed our families." "Some of my children work in israel." "They have jerusalem id cards, but i don't." "My wife has a jerusalem id." "Half my children too, the others have west bank ids." "Half and half!" "I am shuli dichter, a member of kibbutz maanit." "I'm not a security guard." "I just borrowed this jeep to take you to the fence." "It's the only way to get there." "We are heading east." "From here eastward, until 1942, there were no jewish settlements." "The entire region was populated by palestinians." "In the early 1940s the jews started coming." "Maanit, my kibbutz, was the first kibbutz to be wedged in between the palestinians of baqa al-gharbiye, jat and wadi ara." "Maanit means "row", the first row in the field." "For it was the first row of jews to settle this far to the east, in the foothills of samaria." "Just like settlers!" "Now we are entering the area of the fence." "We passed the green line about 200 meters back." "We're in the west bank." "This village, qafin, has been severed from all its land by the fence." "After being enclosed on all sides, over the past 2 years, they've got nothing to live from, other than these olive trees." "All they've got left are these olives." "The trees on this side are now inaccessible." "The gates, the permits, we know it's bullshit." "This year, in the west bank, the olives rotted on the trees." "They couldn't pick them." "And olives are qafin's only source of livelihood." "Closure and enclosure... are the cornerstones of our lives here." "Our parents in maanit came here from the shtetls and ghettos of lodz." "Their entire lives were spent in closure!" "It was a love story between us and this land." "A real love story." "I say this as someone who grew up here, who knows and loves every rock in these hills." "But it was a mad love, a possessive love, the kind that seizes all." "What is so terrible about this separation fence, is that it's consensual." "In other words, all the jews in israel have lost their minds!" "We love this land so much that we seal it." "It's a post-modern interpretation of the saying:" ""Let me die with the philistines."" "Commit suicide with the palestinians." "Take them with us to our death." "What more can i say?" "This fence blocks the artery that feeds the israeli heart." "If there was some kind of osmosis, deranged as it may have been, between us and the palestinians, if there was some chance that we would integrate into this region, that zionism would flourish, that the jewish people would have a home in this world," "this fence has eliminated that possibility." "It reminds me of that poem i told you about, by rachel the poet." "Her love for her man was so insane that she wrote a suicidal poem" "that read:" ""I shall lock the doors to my heart" ""and cast the key into the sea" ""my heart shall know no more dread" ""upon hearing you approach."" "And she ends the poem thus:" ""I have but one consolation" ""that i have brought this upon myself."" "So sarcastic, so terrible!" "So cynical!" "It's beyond irony." "It's cynicism." "So as to console ourselves for killing ourselves, we'll write in history books that we brought it upon ourselves." "That will be our sole consolation." "Shuli, are you despaired?" "Were i despaired i wouldn't be here." "Were i despaired i wouldn't talk." "Silence frightens me most." "Desperate people keep silent." "I'm not despaired." "I'm fighting." "One last question." "The fence harms the environment." "It damages and destroys everything." "Severe ecological problems are expected." "What do you have to say?" "It's true, the fence harms the environment." "Any artificial intervention in nature causes damage." "We are doing all we can to minimize the damage." "The planners took this into consideration." "We have been in regular contact with the nature reserves authority, and associations for the protection of the environment." "We try to cause as little harm as possible." "We also try to rehabilitate." "Where we cause too much damage, we try to repair." "On both sides?" "On both sides." "On our side and the other side." "First of all, we see both sides as ours!" "Right now, we are the rulers." "We see no difference between this side or that." "We do our best." "But i won't deny it, it causes damage." "It's all the palestinians' fault." "They've been fighting with us for 100 years now." "They never miss an opportunity to keep on fighting." "They've done nothing to come to the negotiating table." "We've demonstrated good will, in the present and in the past." "They must sit down with us to negotiate a viable solution." "No solution?" "Everyone will suffer." "We are sufficiently strong to endure suffering." "I don't wish it to be so, and i'll do everything to avoid it, but if they refuse to compromise, they will suffer more." "Thank you very much." "Thanks." "We're ready!" "Welcome!" "Good to see you, simone!" "I'm well, thank god." "I'm happy to see you on this screen." "I am in gaza and you are in ramallah." "I wish we could be together in ramallah, gaza, jerusalem or tel aviv." "But regretfully, the current situation prohibits friends from meeting." "Gaza has become a big prison, surrounded by barbed wire" "and electronic fences on all sides, and closed off by the sea to the west." "It is a big prison, in which nobody is safe, because it's a prison without a roof." "The missiles can strike at any moment, at any house." "The worst phenomenon today is that 24% of gazan youths, and this is true for the west bank too, wish to become martyrs." "24% wish to die in suicide operations." "It's a terrible sign." "Some people consider such acts heroic." "It gives them pride." "But as a psychiatrist, i think it's very dangerous that a 12 year old wishes to be dead by the time he turns 18." "Film, brother!" "Send us abroad." "Show them how we jump!" "There is a god!" "Subtitles by rachel leah jones processed by c.m.c." " Paris"