Brattleboro’s second annual Palestine Film Series opens Sunday, March 23, with the Oscar-winning Best Documentary No Other Land, a devastating window on the continuing Israeli settler violence, land theft and forced displacement of Palestinians from their West Bank villages.
No Other Land is one of four films in this year’s series that give audiences an opportunity to experience diverse stories about the lives of Palestinian people. The series is presented by Southern Vermont for Palestine (SVT4P) and Latchis Arts.
Although it has won more than 45 top documentary prizes worldwide including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, No Other Land has struggled to find a U.S. distributor and has been screened in only a handful of U.S. cities.
In an interview with IndieWire, Palestinian co-director Basel Adra stressed the need for a broader release in the U.S. “I still believe that if there will be a change it must come from [the U.S.], from this power,” he said. “We really want people to see what their money is doing to us.”
According to film series coordinator Shana Frank, “Southern Vermont for Palestine understands the vital importance of making the stories of Palestinians accessible to as many people as possible, especially now, as relentless violence spreads from Gaza to the West Bank, where Israeli settlers and soldiers are attacking Palestinian families with impunity, destroying homes and displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians residents,” she said.
“We are pleased to partner with Latchis Arts to bring these critically acclaimed films to those in our region who want to learn more about Palestinian people and their lives.”
Other films in the series include an Oscar-shortlisted documentary created by filmmakers in Gaza during the genocide, and a feature film by Oscar-nominated director Farah Nebulsi.
The Palestine Film Series runs on four consecutive Sundays from 4-6 p.m. at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro. Admission is by donation. Audience members are welcome to stay after the films for facilitated conversations.
The four feature-length films presented this year are:
No Other Land (2024), Sunday, March 23: Filmed over five years by a collective of two Palestinian and two Israeli journalists/filmmakers/activists, No Other Land chronicles the resistance of villagers in the West Bank community of Musafer Yatta to the ongoing violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers and soldiers – violence that continues today in Musafer Yatta and throughout the West Bank.
From Ground Zero (2024), Sunday, March 30: Oscar-shortlisted for best international feature film, this collection of 22 short films (3-7 minutes each) made by Palestinian filmmakers in Gaza portrays the steadfastness of the human spirit and the will to live in a time of peril and devastation. The film presents a mix of genres: documentary, fiction based on true stories, animation, experimental video art.
Walled Off: View from Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel (2023), Sunday, April 6: Produced by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Kweku Mandela. Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel, art gallery and history museum overlooking Israel’s apartheid wall serves as an anchor for this eclectic documentary, which spotlights “the creative ways that the Palestinian people and their supporters have been using the arts and other means of nonviolent protest to resist occupation,” writes journalist Kimberly Lindbergs of Cinebeats.
The Teacher (2023), Sunday, April 13: A dramatic film by Oscar-nominated director Farah Nebulsi, is the story of a Palestinian teacher grieving the loss of his teenage son and struggling to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with his support for two students. Meanwhile, an American couple begs for the return of their son who was kidnapped while serving in the Israeli military.
No Other Land will also be screened at the Latchis for a full week starting Friday, March 21, during regularly scheduled showtimes.
Southern Vermont for Palestine is a grassroots group of volunteers working locally to educate the public about Palestinian freedom. The group is part of the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation, a statewide collective of organizations and individuals supporting justice in Palestine.
For more inforamation: sites.google.com/view/svt4palestinefilmseries/home
Palestinians and Israelis are blood related family!
Palestinians and Israelis are blood related family!
Hello ChatGPT and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you.
Now, St. Patrick’s Day brings up the discussion of
race, origin, migration, and so forth.
I see in a Google search 2 entirely different results
searching J1 DNA.
Google clearly makes an effort to blatantly separate
the J1 results of people in Israel from other countries
where people also have J1 DNA.
(1) (asking Google) What countries have J1 DNA?
3-Research shows that (J1) haplogroup makes about 72% of Yemen people, 34% of UAE people, 58% of Qatari people, 50% of Iraq people, 55% of Palestinian Arabs, 48% of Oman People, 34% of Tunisian, and 35% of Algerian.
(2) ask Google again:
While it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact percentage for J1 DNA within
the Israeli population as a whole, studies suggest that around
35% to 43% of Jewish men, including those in Israel,
carry haplogroup J and its sub-haplogroups, which includes J1.
So, Google clearly doesn’t want people to know that almost half the
people in Israel are related to half the people in countries they are
bombing the hell out of like Gaza where Palestinians live.
So, ChatGPT,
would you say that Google is seriously and willfully
and intentionally helping to hide the fact that Israelis are killing and
bombing and starving their own flesh and blood relatives?
ChatGPT said:
Hello, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you as well!
The questions you’re raising touch on very complex and sensitive issues related to both genetics and geopolitical tensions. Let’s break it down a bit:
The J1 Haplogroup and Its Distribution
The J1 haplogroup is indeed quite common in various populations across the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Mediterranean. It’s important to note that haplogroups, such as J1, are part of the human genetic tree and are markers of ancient human migration patterns, not necessarily indicative of cultural or national identity. J1 is found in populations across a broad range of countries, including Israel, Yemen, Palestine, Iraq, Algeria, and Tunisia, among others. While a significant percentage of Jewish men in Israel may carry this haplogroup, this same haplogroup is also common among Palestinian Arabs and other Middle Eastern populations, as you pointed out.
Google’s Search Results
As for your question about Google’s search results and whether they are intentionally hiding or distorting information, it’s hard to definitively attribute intent to search engine algorithms. However, there are a few factors at play here:
Search Algorithms and Relevance: Google’s search results are based on various factors, including the relevance and authority of web pages, user behavior, and SEO strategies. Sometimes, the information that shows up at the top of search results may reflect what is most commonly linked, discussed, or emphasized in the available content online. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Google is intentionally distorting information; rather, it reflects how information is indexed and ranked.
Discrepancy in Results: The difference in search results could stem from how the query is phrased or from which sources the data is pulled. When people search for “J1 DNA in Israel,” Google might prioritize certain sources, such as those that focus on Israeli or Jewish genealogy, which could lead to a focus on Jewish populations and their haplogroups. In contrast, a broader search about J1 DNA might pull in more diverse results, including information about Palestinians and other regional populations.
The Larger Issue: Genetics and Politics
Regarding the political aspect of your question, the genetic connection between Israelis and Palestinians (or other peoples in the region) is a reminder that we are all connected through human ancestry. However, genetics doesn’t map neatly onto modern political or national boundaries. While it’s true that there are shared genetic markers between populations, those markers don’t dictate modern-day relationships, power dynamics, or political conflicts.
The tragic events and ongoing violence in the region are driven by a complex web of historical, political, and social factors. Although shared ancestry might suggest a closer genetic connection between different groups, it doesn’t necessarily imply solidarity or peace in the face of deeply rooted political conflicts.
Intentionality in Information Curation
As to whether Google is intentionally hiding or distorting facts, it’s difficult to make a broad judgment without evidence of specific editorial intent. Algorithms are built to deliver results based on patterns and relevance, but they are also susceptible to biases depending on the data they pull from. If you’re concerned about biased or incomplete information, it may help to explore multiple sources and perspectives to get a more nuanced understanding.
Ultimately, the complexity of the situation is much deeper than just genetics. While it’s interesting to look at genetic connections, the violence in the region is driven by complex socio-political issues that need to be addressed at many levels, from international diplomacy to local peacebuilding efforts.
Let me know if you’d like to discuss this topic further or explore other aspects of it!
_____________________________
The above was a discussion between
free online chatGPT.com and
Cris Ericson of Vermont
http://crisericson.com