LONDON: Two documentaries covering different aspects of the occupation of the West Bank by the Israel Defense Forces could have their funding from the Israeli government retrospectively revoked.
The films, “H2: The Occupation Lab” and “Two Kids a Day,” tackle the themes of Israel’s control of the city of Hebron and the arrests of Palestinian children by IDF soldiers and their subsequent treatment in Israeli custody.
Miki Zohar, Israel’s culture minister and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, wants state grants awarded to help make the films to be returned, and said he will “revoke funding” for films and cultural activities “that promote our enemy’s narrative” and “present Israeli soldiers as murderers,” requiring creators in future to pledge not to harm “the state of Israel or IDF soldiers.”
The move comes after the documentaries were targeted by Betsalmo, an Israeli pressure group run by right-wing cultural activist Shai Glick, in order to have public screenings of them canceled.
It is not the first time the film industry in Israel, which is heavily reliant on state grants, has faced pressure from the government over depictions and documentation of the treatment of Palestinians.
In 2015 Miri Regev, the then culture minister, introduced a bill that was later defeated in the Knesset to make film funding dependent on “loyalty” to the state, and created the Samaria Film Fund to counter negative portrayals of Jewish settlers.
The current government, roundly considered the most right wing in Israel’s history, has also seen proposals to radically reform the country’s judiciary and dismantle the state broadcaster, a vital source of funding and support for documentary filmmaking.
“H2: The Occupation Lab” covers the history of Hebron and the interactions between local Palestinians, the IDF and Israeli settlers, and the impact that has had on the once prosperous city.
Its co-director, Noam Sheizaf, said that “Israel has decided to turn culture into propaganda,” having denounced Israel’s activities in Hebron as “Jewish supremacy in its most blatant and unapologetic form.”
He added: “Our film argues that not only the [Palestinian] territories, but also Israel is going through a process of ‘Hebronization.’ What’s crazy is that the process that’s at the heart of the film happened to the film itself.
“The feeling is that this is happening in the context of a watershed moment. If all of these things come to pass, this will be a very different country, overnight.”
“Two Kids a Day” follows the experiences of four children from the Aida refugee camp accused of throwing stones at IDF soldiers — one of whom was detained for four years. Hundreds of children have been arrested for such offenses, often taken from their homes in the middle of the night.
David Wachsmann, the director of “Two Kids a Day,” said: “These two films are in the eye of the storm, but this is an attack on freedom of expression in Israel, on culture and on every Israeli artist.”
