From what I can see, there are plenty of articles and reviews of the new Meryl Streep flick “The Iron Lady” touting her performance as Margaret Thatcher and emphasizing Thatcher’s victories in the man’s world of British politics. Too few, it seems to me, are actually taking any kind of look at Thatcher’s actual policies – and questioning whether or not this is a person we should be holding up as a feminist icon.

Before you see the film, please read this excellent piece by Laura Flanders for The Nation. Key line:

Today, in a new time of budget wars, The Iron Lady’s depiction of draconian cuts as feminist guts is chilling. What Thatcher called “harsh medicine” meant one thing for the poor and another for the very powerful then, and it still does. In both instances, there is hell to pay in social fabric.

Just Vision (the folks behind the documentary films “Encounter Point” and “Budrus“) has just released “Home Front” – a new series of four video portraits that profiles Palestinians fighting Israeli settler takeover of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah as well as Israeli solidarity activists who are standing with them in their struggle.

If you ‘re unfamiliar with the situation in Sheikh Jarrah (and similar circumstances in other parts of E. Jerusalem and the West Bank) this film will provide you with a powerful and expertly documented introduction.  Click above to see the first clip. Click here to see all four.

Highly recommended.

Last March, Academy Award nominated documentary director Connie Field went to Palestine with Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute, to film Carson’s play about King performed by the Palestinian National Theater and an African-American gospel choir.  Along the way, Field documented the accompanying cultural exchange between the two peoples – and the growing consciousness of the African-American choir members as they bore witness to the harsh realities of Palestinian life in the occupied West Bank.

I’ve long believed that the growing nonviolent movement in Palestine is reminiscent of the American civil rights movement in so many ways – and I’ll wager this film certainly has the potential to drive this point home in a powerful way. (Click above to see the trailer and you’ll see what I mean.)

Field and her production company, Clarity Films, are seeking donations via Kickstarter in order to complete the film. Click here if you’d like to contribute. You can also learn more about this worthy project through their Facebook page.

Just saw “The Interrupters” – a new documentary that highlights the work of “CeaseFire,” an organization that works indefatigably to reduce urban violence in Chicago. I’m still sorting through the experience: it’s quite simply one of the most spiritually, politically and ethically powerful films I’ve ever seen.

I won’t say much more except that you need to find out when “The Interrupters” is coming to your town right now. (Chicago residents: it’s currently playing at the Wilmette Theater through Sept. 1.)

In the meantime, click above to see one of the many memorable scenes from the film. This is the force-of-nature-amazing Ameena Matthews – the daughter of a notorious Chicago gang leader and former drug ring enforcer who has found courage and strength in her Muslim faith and now works as a CeaseFire “Interrupter.” Here she leads a neighborhood prayer vigil for a young boy who was killed in the crossfire of gang violence – then confronts friends who are seeking revenge for his death.

Now this is prayer in action…

Those who care deeply for the welfare of the earth have been watching with alarm at the growth of hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”) throughout the US.

Fracking (yes, fracking) is a means of extracting natural gas that involves drilling deep into the earth, through the aquifer into hard shale deposits. During the process, a pressurized mixture of water and chemicals is injected into the rock, causing a kind of mini-earthquake. Natural gas is then released through the cracks, eventually making its way to the surface, where it is piped to compressor stations.

During the compression process, toxic chemicals are burned off into the air while the used chemical fluid is either sent away or stored in on-site pits where it evaporates. The rest of the chemical fluid, however, remains deep underground.

As you might guess, communities where fracking takes place have reported increasing incidents of water contamination, environmental degradation and serious health problems. State and federal agencies have received thousands of complaints from people all over the country whose lives, homes and communities have been literally poisoned by fracking operations.

From a June 2010 investigative report by Vanity Fair:

Drilling operations near their property commenced in August 2008. Trees were cleared and the ground leveled to make room for a four-acre drilling site less than 1,000 feet away from their land. The Sautners could feel the earth beneath their home shake whenever the well was fracked.

Within a month, their water had turned brown. It was so corrosive that it scarred dishes in their dishwasher and stained their laundry. They complained to Cabot, which eventually installed a water-filtration system in the basement of their home. It seemed to solve the problem, but when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection came to do further tests, it found that the Sautners’ water still contained high levels of methane. More ad hoc pumps and filtration systems were installed. While the Sautners did not drink the water at this point, they continued to use it for other purposes for a full year.

“It was so bad sometimes that my daughter would be in the shower in the morning, and she’d have to get out of the shower and lay on the floor” because of the dizzying effect the chemicals in the water had on her, recalls Craig Sautner, who has worked as a cable splicer for Frontier Communications his whole life. She didn’t speak up about it for a while, because she wondered whether she was imagining the problem. But she wasn’t the only one in the family suffering. “My son had sores up and down his legs from the water,” Craig says. Craig and Julie also experienced frequent headaches and dizziness.

By October 2009, the D.E.P. had taken all the water wells in the Sautners’ neighborhood offline. It acknowledged that a major contamination of the aquifer had occurred. In addition to methane, dangerously high levels of iron and aluminum were found in the Sautners’ water.

If you’re dismayed to learn about this dubious process (which was developed by Halliburton) you’ll be even more alarmed to learn that fracking is fast proliferating across the country, thanks to the federal deregulation of energy laws. In filming his documentary “Gasland,” (which was just nominated for an Academy Award this week), filmmaker Josh Fox traveled to 32 states to meet rural residents whose communities where decimated by fracking. His film documents toxic streams, destroyed aquifers, dying livestock, devastating illnesses, and kitchen faucets that shoot flame.

And if you live in the state of Illinois, you’ll be even more alarmed to learn the following:

A Louisiana energy company has sent a team of workers to Edwards County, Ill., to lease hundreds of acres of farmland for a natural gas exploration project. The company is targeting a gas-bearing shale formation known as the New Albany Shale Group that lies about 5,000 feet beneath the surface.

What else is there to say except it’s time to fight fracking – or at the very least unregulated fracking – in IL?  To this end, I’m extremely happy to see that my friend and colleague Reverend Clare Butterfield, Executive Director of Faith in Place is currently seeking co-sponsors to introduce the necessary legislation in Springfield. We’re hoping our state will join New York, who recently became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing as well as Wyoming who last June passed a law requiring the disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking fluid. (As the Vanity Fair article points out, drilling companies refuse to fully reveal what fracking fluid is made of, claiming such information is “proprietary.”)

Faith in Place will be devoting its annual Environmental Lobbying Day in Springfield to this issue on March 30. If you belong to a congregation in Illinois, please join us.

I’ll posting updates on this issue regularly. Stay tuned.

Just saw “Budrus” last night. (Why it takes independent films forever and a day to get to Chicago is beyond me. Aren’t we even considered a movie market any more? Sheesh…)

My two cents:

I think it’s a brilliant film in so many ways. I simultaneously experienced it as a compelling “how-to textbook” on grassroots organizing, an honest portrait of real nonviolent resistance in action, an up-close document of the human impact of the Occupation and a compassionate profile of life in one West Bank village.

It is also a masterfully constructed film that often transcends the documentary genre itself. Filmmakers Julia Bacha, Ronit Avni and Rula Salameh present us with a true story that has a genuine dramatic arc.

The story in short: in 2003, Ayed Morrar a remarkable Palestinian community leader, organized a nonviolent resistance movement to save his village Budrus from being destroyed by Israel’s Separation Barrier. He brought together an impressive coalition of local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli and international solidarity activists to resist the wall’s construction.

After some initial success, Budrus was put under military curfew and their resistance effort threatened to come apart. In the end, however, after ten months of steadfast resistance, the Israeli government relented and redrew the route of the fence, saving the village.

There is no question that “Budrus” is a profound and authentic document of what well-organized nonviolent resistance can truly achieve. It’s the kind of story that would move you even if it wasn’t actually true. And I won’t deny the story of these villagers’ courage left me deeply inspired.

And yet…

…and yet I must also confess to having a nagging feeling that there was one critical puzzle piece left out of the story. The film is essentially the document of one village and it more or less takes place within the bubble of this village’s exclusive universe. But I was somewhat disappointed that “Budrus” failed to explore the overall context of institutional oppression in which this one village’s story took place.

The film does indeed explain how the barrier cut significantly into Palestinian lands rather than simply follow the route of the Green Line. The filmmakers, however, never address the reasons why Israel chose to do this. There are many references to Israel’s security needs, but notably, no one ever asks the critical question: why, if security was the only reason for the barrier, didn’t Israel build it along the internationally recognized border between the West Bank and Israel proper?

The answer, of course, is that this wall is not just about security. It is also very much about about the settlements and about Israel’s desire to create its own unilateral border in advance of a final negotiated settlement. To wit: it is ultimately about taking land away from Palestinians.

If the film had included but one talking head to address this reality, viewers would understand the true stakes of Budrus’ struggle. But by leaving this context unexamined, the filmmakers essentially document one village’s travail without really explaining how it fits into a much larger injustice.

In truth, it must also be admitted that Budrus’ victory was and continues to be notably exceptional. While the film mentions briefly at the end that this kind of nonviolent resistance is ongoing in other West Bank villages, none of these villages have experienced anything near the level of Budrus’ success.

In fact, the exact opposite is happening. The Israeli military is brutally clamping down on the leaders of the popular committees that organize nonviolent campaigns. And although this repression is not regularly reported in the mainstream media, it is in fact unfolding on an almost daily basis.

Last Monday, for instance, it was reported that Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a leader in the Bil’in campaign was denied release from prison even though he has completed his twelve month sentence in full. Just yesterday we learned that the sixteen year old son of another jailed Bil’in activist leader, Adeeb Abu Rahmah, was arrested by a “a group of masked soldiers (who) forcefully entered the house without showing a warrant.”

Adeeb, by the way, was sentenced to one year but also remains in jail beyond his release date as the military prosecutors appeal his sentence. He will stay imprisoned “indefinitely” – which likely means for a long, long time. (That is Adeeb Abu Rahmah in the clip above. I encourage you to watch this incredible video document in its entirety if you can).

These kinds of actions, tragically, are taking a huge toll on local nonviolent resistance campaigns. With many of their leaders in jail or targeted for imprisonment, local committees (with the notable exception of Sheikh Jarrah) are reporting fewer numbers at their demonstrations. Those of us who are justifiably inspired by Budrus’ story should find these developments deeply, deeply troubling.

Bottom line? Please see “Budrus” and encourage your friends to do the same. Buy copies when it comes out on DVD and give them to anyone you know that needs to know that despite media portrayals to the contrary, there is a significant and important nonviolent resistance movement in the Palestinian community.

But after you see it, please don’t leave the film with the impression that this movement is experiencing the kind of success you’ve just witnessed. Israel is quite rightly threatened by Palestinian nonviolent resistance, and is currently doing its level best to crush this movement under its military heel. Alas, it is too often succeeding.

To learn more about these campaigns, you should regularly visit the blog of activist Joseph Dana, who has been indefatigably reporting from the ground in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (He’s probably uploaded enough video onto his site to make hundreds of documentary films on the subject.)

And if the film inspires you to make a difference yourself, please visit the website of Taayush: Arab-Jewish Partnership and send them a much-needed donation.

Director Julian Schnabel’s new movie “Miral” has made waves at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and is scheduled for release stateside in 2011. It’s based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Rula Jebreal (who also wrote the screenplay), and portrays the lives of Palestinians during the events of 1947-48 through the First Intifada in 1987.

From what I’m hearing, it’s getting fairly so-so reviews, but it’s still pretty unprecedented for a major film feature to focus on this subject matter.  Click here for an interview with Schnabel (whose previous films include one of my all-time favorites, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”)

Two upcoming movies I’m guessing the Jewish community will be discussing this summer: “Holy Rollers” (above), based on an apparently true story about Hasidic drug runners; and “The Infidel” (below), a wacky comedy about a British Muslim man who discovers his birth parents were Jewish.

My early reviews: the latter movie looks like a hash of the stupidest stereotypes of Muslims and Jews (tho I’ll admit that the final line in the trailer made me laugh out loud).

Re “Holy Rollers:” the peyos in “The Chosen” were more realistic…

“Ajami” is a crime drama with a “Babel”- like structure – it unfolds in five chapters, each telling a separate narrative from the point of view of different characters. It portrays a powerfully claustrophobic world, in which ordinary people struggle to better their lives against exceedingly tall odds.

Almost everyone in this film is trapped in some sense. At least two of the film’s protagonists are literally house-bound: one is being targeted for murder by a Bedouin gang and the other is a resident of the occupied West Bank working on the other side of the Green Line. Another character, an Israeli policeman, is searching in vain for his brother who has gone ominously missing. There are also two fatally star-crossed love affairs: one between a Palestinian and a Jewish Israeli and another between an Arab Muslim and an Arab Christian.

More than anything else, I experienced this film as a portrait of ethnic and religious communities in constant, tragic collision with one another. At times, it’s sometimes difficult to keep all of the complicated rivalries straight. There is tension between Bedouins and Palestinian Arabs, Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories, citizens of Arab Jaffa and citizens of Jewish Tel Aviv, Arab Muslims and Arab Christians. The Israel portrayed here is not simply a Jewish state – it is nothing less than a simmering multi-ethnic powder keg.

As a portrait of Israeli society, it’s a decidedly non-redemptive vision. You watch the drama play out, knowing deep down that nothing good will possibly come of any of this. And yet what I loved about this film its genuine heart. You can’t help feel a deep compassion for the humanity of these characters, no matter how flawed or broken they are. Even though it’s technically a crime drama, there are really no heroes and villains in “Ajami” per se – just ordinary, imperfect individuals doing their best to survive under increasingly dire circumstances.

I’m sure there will be those who understand this film as a reflection of the hopeless political situation in Israel/Palestine. But I think the true genius of the film is how it works on so many levels: as a crime thriller, a family drama, or a slice of socio-political commentary. Whichever way you choose to take it, it’s not a pretty picture. As befits a film directed jointly by a Jewish Israeli and a Christian Palestinian, however, it’s an exceedingly courageous statement.

Israel’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film, “Ajami,” is coming to Chicago this Friday and I’m looking forward to seeing it. It’s been getting great reviews and attracting particular attention for its being directed by two best friends, Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew and Scandar Copti, a Palestinian Christian.

The film’s website describes it as “a powerful crime drama set on the streets of Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood – a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians.” From the sound of it, “Ajami” certainly seems to highlight aspects of Israeli life that don’t tend to get much attention in the general media.

For those who are interested in the seeing the film (or even those who aren’t), here’s a bit of background on the complex history of the Ajami neighborhood:

Toward the end of the 19th century al-Ajami Neighborhood, stretching south of Old Jaffa and projecting into the Mediterranean, started to be built outside the walls of Old Jaffa. The neighborhood is named after one of prophet Muhammad’s companions, Ibrahim al-Ajami, who is believed to have been buried in the neighborhood, next to al-Ajami mosque…

In the beginning of the 20th century hundreds of families, mainly Christian-Arabs, from different financial background and different places in the country had settled in al-Ajami, the neighborhood expanded to the south as a narrow strip between the seashore to the west and orchards to the east, until in merged with al-Jabaliyya neighborhood…

During the war of 1948 the majority of Jaffa’s population (that was mainly Arab) fled the country and were not able to return. The deserted neighborhood was soon settled with Jewish immigrants from East Europe, the Balkans and North Africa. A large Arab population from different parts of the country moved to the neighborhood as well. Al-Ajami changed into a crowded and lively immigrant city. To accommodate the influx, its palaces-houses were subdivided among many families. Gradually, however, it became inflicted with poverty and crime.

The municipalities of Jaffa and Tel-Aviv merged in 1950. As time passed, new plans developed to transform Ajami into a modern neighborhood, in the spirit of Tel Aviv. This decision was immediately followed by the demolition of houses and evacuation of al-Ajami’s inhabitants. The neighborhood’s conditions drastically and quickly deteriorated, while modern infrastructure was not built. In addition to this, the neighborhood was badly harmed by the casting of construction waste into its once beautiful shores. The pile of waste accumulated to the height of 20m, blocking the beautiful neighborhood from the sea.

During the 1980′s the architectural and historical values of al-Ajami neighborhood were finally recognized by the municipality of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa. It stopped the demolition and developed a conservation plan, trying to save what remained. Today, the opulent past of al-Ajami is still visible in its alluring ‘palaces-houses’, colorful plastered walls, ample spaces and decorated elements. At the same time the wounds of its history are still present in the abundance of empty lots and in the mound of waste obstructing the access to the sea. (from Archnet Digital Library)

Some troubling recent news: Ha’aretz has just reported that the Tel Aviv District Court has upheld the legality of a Jews-only housing complex in the Ajami neighborhood:

Attorney Gil Gan-Mor of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said afterward that the petitioners will appeal to the Supreme Court. Kemal Agbariya, who heads the Ajami neighborhood council, said that activists and elected officials in the city also intend to organize protests.