An Israeli court has blocked the screen of a documentary film about the deadly clashes in 2002 between Israeli and Palestinian armed soldiers in the West Bank town of Jenin.
The Lod district court ruled on Monday, concluding a libel lawsuit filed against prominent leader Mohammed Bakri by Israeli soldier Nissim Magnaji, who is involved in the Israeli Defensive Shield operation. appeared in the film released in 2002.
Magnaji filed the lawsuit after being accused in the film “Jenin, Jenin” of stealing money from a Palestinian veteran, an allegation which he denied.
Management on Monday said Meghnagi was sent “to defend his country and was charged with a crime he did not commit”.
He ordered Bakri to pay Magnaji damages 175,000 shekels ($ 55,000) in addition to 50,000 pence of court costs.
The court also said it found that some of the productions in the film – which describe the events that took place for about two weeks in April 2002 – are incorrect.
At least 52 Palestinians, including women, children and the elderly, were killed in the rampage that erupted in a refugee camp, according to a Human Rights Guard (HRW) study.
Some 23 Israeli soldiers were killed at the time.
Palestinians initially feared that hundreds had been murdered after an Israeli spy demolished 300 homes, many with the residents still inside.
HRW’s investigation on behalf of Israel accused of serious human rights violations, including unlawful killing, improper use of force, irregular arrest and denial of access to medical treatment.
The film was banned in Israel after some screening when it was first released in 2002, but the Supreme Court reversed the ban.
1/2 Mohammed Bakri (director of the terrifying documentary Jenin Jenin, who is recording after the brutal assassination of the Israeli Army in a Jenin refugee camp in 2002) has been harassed and persecuted to hard by the Israeli government for 17 years (since they were made pic.twitter.com/91o7EFK7f1
– Jennine (@lilearthquakess) January 12, 2021
Israel blocked this documentary about its brutal destruction of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002.
They would really hate to see it or spread it around.https: //t.co/hatk4lPj7A
‘Political decision’
Bakri, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, told the AFP news agency that the decision was “unfair” and that the judge had acted on “from above” instructions.
“I intend to appeal the lawsuit because it is unfair, it negates my truth,” Bakri told the Walla News website.
“I will not apologize for what I did… [the film] the Israeli media attacked him horribly, ”he told the New Arab.
For 54 minutes, the film features the stories retold by survivors of the murder.
Without the use of a narrator, he compiles the events of the murder through the stories of the survivors.
Bakri said he did not intend a better court decision based on the current “political reality” in Israel, citing the rise of the “far right”.
His lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, described the ruling as a “political decision” aimed at symbolizing “any voice that differs from the Israeli statement”.
Palestinian Culture Minister Atef Abu Seif rejected the court’s ruling, saying in a statement that the move was an attempt to fight Palestinian statements and hide “racist and fascist” practices. of the “role”.
In addition to banning any screening of the film in Israel, the court issued an order to return the 24 copies of the film.
The film is not banned on YouTube.
– Man in The Sun 🌞 (@AManInTheSun) January 12, 2021
The film Jenin Jenin by Mohammad Bakri was banned today in Israel by a court so don’t watch it or try to find it online because, like, it’s not allowed.
– Nadine Nashef (@nanninenashef) January 12, 2021