In 2005, the Palestinian director and writer, Hany Abu-Assad, released his award winning motion picture, “Paradise Now.” The film follows two Palestinian friends, over a period of two days, who are chosen by an extremist terrorist group to carry out a suicide mission in Tel-Aviv during the 2004 Intifada. The mission: to detonate a bomb strapped to their stomachs in the city. Because the film industry seldom portrays terrorists as people capable of having any sort of humanity, you would think the director of “Paradise Now” would also depict the two main characters as heartless fiends. Instead he makes an attempt to humanize the protagonists, Khaled and Said, by providing us with a glimpse into their psyches from the time they discover they’ve been recruited for a suicide bombing operation to the very last moments before Said executes the mission. The film explores how resistance, to the Israeli occupation, has taken on an identity characterized by violence, bloodshed, and revenge in Palestinian territories. Khaled and Said buy into the widely taught belief that acts of brutality against the Israeli people is the only tactic left that Palestinians have to combat the occupation. In an effort to expose the falsity of this belief, Hany Abu-Assad introduces a westernized character named Suha who plays the voice of reason and opposition. As a pacifist, she suggests a more peaceful alternative to using violence as a means to an end. Through the film “Paradise Now,” Abu-Assad not only puts a face on suicide bombers but also shows how the struggle for justice and equality must be nonviolent in order to make any significant headway in ending the cycle of oppression between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The statement that the film make...
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...both sides of Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an integral factor in the political landscape. Oppression largely defines the political landscape depicted in “Paradise Now.”
“Paradise Now” is a form of political cinema because much of the film has political content that emphasizes Hany Abu-Assad’s message. He communicates that violence is no way to solve the issue of oppression in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Violence actually makes the conflict even more difficult to deal with and therefore harder to find a solution to it. The filmmaker wants his audience to understand that violence is never a solution to anything, and that these terrorists are human as well. Though they may seem heartless and immoral, they themselves do not perceive it in that way because they were taught to resist the occupation and violence is the only way they know how to fight back.
September 11, 2001 will be replayed and remembered in the minds of this American generation as one of the greatest tragedies on domestic soil. In one day, the world was dramatically altered; but in the days that followed, no group of Americans was affected more intensely nor uniquely than Arab-Americans. Once in a Promised Land, the 2007 novel by Laila Halaby, depicts the real world aftermath which assaulted one fictional Arab couple. Halaby's work accurately portrays the circumstances Arab-Americans found themselves in after the 9/11 attacks, highlighting several themes relating to patriotism, fear, and shame through her accessible characters and narrative stylings.
Jr ,Burhans ,Clinton S. “This side of Paradise”,(Oct,1969).Published by University of Illinois Press, Vol:68,No.4,p.p. 605-624,http://www.jstor.org/stable/27705772.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
In an article published by the Palestine-Israel Journal, it spoke about a survey done of Palestinian living conditions in parts of their homeland, including West Bank and Gaza Strip. The findings of the survey provided insight of the Palestinians constant war against unbelievers. The article stated, “In examining social change in Palestinian society, it was found that a high level of social integration exists together with a low level of social advancement. And the economic disadvantages of prolonged occupation with restrictions on movement and unexpected curfews and closures have created an environment of uncertainty and an inability to plan ahead of time for individual, family and group
We have all heard of the bombings of women and children. We ask why anyone would do such a horrible thing to a woman and her child. It is usually due to the belief that they are defending their family and the village from assaults (Tirman). I was under the impression that these human bombers were made to carry out these attacks on soldiers. However, Nicole Argo said that these people actually volunteer this, and with researching this, she found that these people actually are invested in their community. I have associated the war in Iraq and Afghanistan a war on terrorism, but the Muslims have seen it as religious war called jihad. These human bombs have been used since the 1970’s (Argo, 2006).
The situation in the Middle East is portrayed in a different perspective from American media and cinema. Paradise Now focuses on social, economic, and racial forms of oppression because culture is continuously changing and evolving, therefore, oppression is considered a global phenomenon. Dickenson states that the industrial trends of Hollywood globalization, becomes pillars in the hegemony of corporate ideology (240). Cultural hegemony, along with cinema and media, are co-responsible for the social and economic forms of oppression, such as racial inequalities. This essay will focus on social and economic forms of oppression in Paradise Now and the racial inequalities that co-arise from American cinema.
Critics have already begun a heated debate over the success of the book that has addressed both its strengths and weaknesses. The debate may rage for a few years but it will eventually fizzle out as the success of the novel sustains. The characters, plot, emotional appeal, and easily relatable situations are too strong for this book to crumble. The internal characteristics have provided a strong base to withstand the petty attacks on underdeveloped metaphors and transparent descriptions. The novel does not need confrontations with the Middle East to remain a staple in modern reading, it can hold its own based on its life lessons that anyone can use.
Being that the rate suicide terrorism has amplified globally and has taken many lives in the process it can be seen why this issue may be of significance. Furthermore this issue is of relevance because this method of resistance kills more than any other tactic (Ashworth, Clinton, Meirowitz, and Ramsay, 1). Therefore it can be seen as to why this issue is of such important. Many have speculated as to what exactly motivates such behavior. Robert Pape defines suicide terrorist as one who is willing to sacrifice his life as well as the lives of others in hopes to coerce his opponents. Experts , including Pape, have wondered what causes an individual to take such drastic measures. Others have also proposed possible solutions to this issue. It will be seen as to what those solutions are and the possible issues that these solutions may be comprised of.
“Terrorism involves the use of violence by an organization other than a national government to cause intimidation or fear among a target audience;” at least, this is how Pape (2003) defines terrorism in his article “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism” (343). The goal of this article by Pape is to discuss suicide terrorism and how it “follows a strategic logic, one specifically designed to coerce modern liberal democracies to make significant territorial concessions” (343). Similar to Pape, Bloom (2004) and Horowitz (2010) also delve into the exponential increase of suicide terrorism and why it occurs. Although Pape, Bloom, and Horowitz concur that suicide terrorism is increasing, they disagree why it is so prominent. While the arguments presented from each of these researchers is powerful and certainly plausible, suicide terrorism is in fact not irrational, but strategic and is most often caused by state occupation and, when organized, aimed specifically at democracies.
A young male created a documentary on the situation on nuclear issues in the Middle East. The documentary was titled The Unclear Truth. The film was also the First International Independent Film Makers Festival Tehran Winner in 2012. This documentary interviews many different members of society and their views on the modern day Middle Eastern struggle. The film is very bias in the sense that it only gives one side of the story. The interviewees are members of the Middle Eastern countries that believe Palestine should be freed and all violence should stop. Most of these people though blame everything that is going wrong on either America or England.
Edward Said “States” refutes the view Western journalists, writers, and scholars have created in order to represent Eastern cultures as mysterious, dangerous, unchanging, and inferior. According to Said, who was born in Jerusalem at that time Palestine, the way westerners represent eastern people impacts the way they interact with the global community. All of this adds to, Palestinians having to endure unfair challenges such as eviction, misrepresentation, and marginalization that have forced them to spread allover the world. By narrating the story of his country Palestine, and his fellow countrymen from their own perspective Said is able to humanize Palestinians to the reader. “States” makes the reader feel the importance of having a homeland, and how detrimental having a place to call home is when trying to maintain one’s culture. Which highlights the major trait of the Palestinian culture: survival. Throughout “States”, Said presents the self-preservation struggles Palestinians are doomed to face due to eviction, and marginalization. “Just as we once were taken from one habitat to a new one we can be moved again” (Said 543).
From 1095 to 1291 C.E., the Crusades spread across Europe in the name of Christianity. The high tension between the Muslims and the Christians was caused by the want of the city of Jerusalem. The Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims believed Jerusalem was theirs, and went to violent efforts to achieve it. In the movie, Kingdom of Heaven by Oliver Stone, the main character, Balian is thrown into the fight between the Christians and the Muslims. Kingdom of Heaven is a portrayal of one of the Crusades, and although the movie was based from real people, the film makers decided to change aspects about the characters and situations to relate to current events and audiences.
There are billions of movies around the world whether it involves comedy, horror, drama, action etc. There are also many movies that include different races and cultures such as Italians, Greeks, Britain’s, Africans Americans, Arabs and so many more. What I will be focusing on is how Arabs are portrayed in movies. Many movies that are encountered around the world which include Arabs are very informative, interesting and rich in history. What I will be writing in this paper is how Arabs are portrayed in “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan” and analyzing is as well. A famous actor named Adam Sandler was the main character in this movie in which he also produced this comedy genre movie. Even though this movie didn’t get the best ratings, reviews and it was stereotypical in a way, however, I liked it because of the fact that it involves Israel’s and Palestinians and since I am a Palestinian, I was interested in watching this movie, even if it upset me because it reminded of what is currently going in Palestine now and the fact that they tried to make Zohan look like an angel in this movie. However, Palestine and Israeli has been an issue for thousands of years and this movie touches some base on it. So I will be giving a description of this film, my opinion on it and some history that involves this film about the Palestinians and Israel’s.
...ous and being there can raise concern. These political concerns relate closely with issues addressed in the film particularly with the war in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism. The senior Taliban leader Ahamd Shah depicts an accurate image of what members of the Taliban are like, which means killing any American who comes into their country.
More countries experienced at least one terrorism-related death in 2016 than in any other year since 2001, with 77 countries affected — 11 more than in 2015. From our point of view we see terrorism as a curse, however some people believe that terrorism isn’t a crime when interpreted accurately. Egyptian MP Ragab Hilal Hamida, from the Muslim Brotherhood says: I specifically wanted to explain that [the term] ‘terrorism’ is not a curse when given its true meaning. [When interpreted accurately,] it means opposing occupation as it exists in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq!…” He explains that where he comes from the person doesn’t view terrorism as something bad because it’s part of their religion. This Palestinian is therefore [called] a terrorist, but he does not care that he is called a terrorist, since the Koran calls him so! We shouldn't be calling them terrorist, but instead murderers or criminals. However, many people disagree with his statement. If they aren’t allowed to kill citizens from their country then why do they go to a different country to kill innocent citizenry? How can the act of killing hundreds of people not be something you are ashamed of? In conclusion, there are two sides of terrorism but most agree that terrorist attacks are a crime and shouldn’t be carried