Palestinian Director Dies, Media Forgets His Legal Persecution
Mohammad Bakri, director of the powerful 2002 documentary 'Jenin, Jenin,' has died. While obituaries highlight his cinematic legacy, many conveniently omit the decades-long legal battle waged against him and his film by the Israeli government and soldiers who claimed defamation. This was not merely artistic criticism; it was an attempt to legally erase a Palestinian perspective on the 2002 Israeli
incursion into the Jenin refugee camp, an operation Human Rights Watch reported involved 'apparent war crimes.' 'Jenin, Jenin,' which gathered testimonials from Jenin residents, was initially banned by the Israeli Film Board, a decision later overturned by the Supreme Court in 2004. Yet, individual soldiers sued, leading to a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that found Bakri had defamed a specific
soldier. The director was ordered to pay 175,000 shekels and faced a five-year ban from acting and directing in Israel. Remembering Bakri without acknowledging these specific acts of state-sanctioned censorship isn't mourning an artist; it's whitewashing the very forces he dared to expose.