Palestine Post 9/11

According to filmmaker Osama Al-Zain's Palestine Post 9/11, the terrorist attacks of September 2001 constitute a great leap backward for the Palestinian cause, linking Palestinians with terrorism in the minds of those in the West. In Al-Zain's view, not only are "oil, Israel, and stability" the three pillars of America's foreign policy (which makes little attempt to be evenhanded in Arab-Israeli conflicts), but Americans also naively view U.S. policy around the world as essentially benign. Accompanying human rights activists as they tour occupied territories in Israel, the film illustrates how the daily indignities of occupation--including curfews, body searches, and Jewish settlements on Palestinian land--help to stoke Arab anger. Did the 1987 intifada (Palestinian uprising on the West Bank) and subsequent suicide bombings help or hurt the Palestinian quest for self-determination? Who or what is a legitimate target? Provocative questions, to be sure, but Al-Zain's passionate sense of advocacy takes the film far from its original focus (the effects of 9/11 on the Palestinian cause). Palestine Post 9/11 makes no attempt to present either the troubled history of this region, or any Israeli points of view, and the film's claim that there is an "unholy alliance" between American Jews and right-wing Christians is sure to be controversial. A much better choice for most public and school libraries would be David Shipler's Arab & Jew: Return to the Promised Land (VL-3/03), although this should be considered for academic collections. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)