I've lived through
so many experiences.
they burn in my head
like a hot flame
Pain and joy
fears and hope
are all mixed together.
I'm losing track.
The old wouds don't
have time to heal
New wounds will cover them up
So I film
to hold onto my memories
These are my five cameras
Every camera is an episode in my life
Five Broken Cameras
I was born and lived all my life in Bil'in,
a village surrounded by hills,
just inside the occupied
territories of the West Bank
I'm a "falah" a peasent.
Like my entire family.
Then land draws us inward
As a boy, I used to work
the land with my father.
We would pick olives.
Once, I didn't fell like working
My father hit me in the head.
So I ran away.
I preferred wandering
in the open valley with my friends.
One day,
Israeli surveyors come
to take measurements
to put a separation barrier
in the middle of our land.
The first days the bulldozers
come are very hard.
Yet those are also
very happy days for me
Our fourth son, Gibreel, is born.
I get my first camera to film Gilbreel.
let me film too, Daddy.
Soraya and I
have four sons.
Each boy is a phase of our lives.
Each boy experienced a
different childhood.
Mohamad, our eldest, was born in 1955,
in the time of hope after
The Oslo Peace Accords
In his childhood,things
were more open.
We could go to the sea every summer.
Yasin was born 3 years
later,in a time of uncertainly
The very day the Intifada began in 2000,
Taki -Ydin was born.
The hospital was full of
the dead and wounded.
His childhood was shaped
by the long siege the
West Bank was under,
In february 2005, Gibreel was born,
Between my childhood
and Gilreel's birth,
settlements were built
closer and closer...
taking up more and
more cultivated land,
so Israeli settlers could move in.
Modi'in-hit, the most
recent settlement,
doubled in population within 5 years.
The barrier is supposed to secure
and separate the settlers.
But it's being built far
from the settlement
and very close to Bil'in
So more land
is taken from the surrounding villages
Emad, don't let the kids out.
Soldiers are in the village.
When something happens in the village,
my instinct is to film it.
I never thought of making films.
But now that I have a camera,
people begin to call me
to shoot special events in the village
So I've become the Bil'in cameraman.
But my camera doesn't work well.
What I have to film
demands a strong camera,
not a fragile one.
This man used as a guinea
pig is my friend Phil.
The kids call him "El-Phil."
It's a nickname. It
means "the elephant."
O often find El-Phil hanging
around with the village kids
I think kids like him
because they see a lot of hope in him
which is something not
easy to find in adults.
Repaving the streets will
solve all our problems.
How's our neighborhood?
We'll fix everything today.
Have a drink! There's some juice.
But nothing to eat.
When fall comes, we pick
olives on the part of our land
beyond the planned route of the barrier.
Stay off the construction site!
You'll be forcibly evacuated!
Don't come fordward!
No to the fence!
I am confused.
Seeing my brother Riyad
hit by these people,
it takes me a while to realize that
they are special unit Israeli
soldiers disguised as Palestinians
and planted among us to create chaos.
Shut up! Get going!
Let me go!
Untie me!
We begin to organize demostrations
with Israeli activists joining us.
Is there anything important
you want to say?
Bil'in is here,
Part of the Matetyahu
settlement is on Bil'in land
So is part of the Qiryat Sefer settlement.
and the new plan goes to here.
We want to know
how the Israeli Army
approved taking these lands
How did the construction
companies take them?
And then we decide that
every week, after the Friday prayer,
we'd try to get that land and protest.
Good morning, Bil'in!
Come and join us!
Men and women,
old and young!
We're not afraid
of tears gas or guns!
This is our land!
It's not use.
This is a small village
What do you think?
Have you no heart? No family?
Every one of you knows
that this is village land!
You stole my land!
Don't do that! I'm telling you!
That's Adeeb.
Adeeb is always
looking for an opportunity
to make a scene
We were born on this land
and we'll die here.
We'll live on this land for
the rest of our lives!
The barrier construction continues,
without delay.
We have to be solid.
People from all over the
world join our resistance.
They bring creative ideas to our protest.
They're with us in
everything that happens.
That day, a gas grenade breaks my first camera.
The first camera witnessed
winter 2005 to autumn 2005.
When it was shot, Emad
also injuried his hand.
I have no job or fixed income.
Like most of the villagers,
I live off the land.
In order to keep filming, my friend
Yisrael gives me his camera.
Here's the camera.
The sunshade will fall off
if you walk or run while you're shooting.
Otherwise, it works just fine
My brother is released
after a month of jail.
He was the first man arrested
since demostrations began.
Gibreel's first year flew by.
I observe how every gesture
is an exciting move.
I watch him through my camera,
trying to rediscover the
world through his eyes.
Thanks to our pressure,
we are temporarily allowed
to cross the barrier.
When Gibreel pronounces his first words
it is a magical moment.
Where are we?
"Jidar", the wall.
"Matat," cartridge
There's a "matat."
Watch out!
Don't be afraid.
- What?
-"Jesh," army.
"Jesh." What did they do?
"Jesh," Daddy.
Run, run!
We walk at our own pace,
taking baby steps,
as buildings pop out!
of the land.
Hello, Abu-Mohamad (Emad).
Are you getting married?
A day of demostration in the village
is better than a wedding.
All groups - Spanish,
French, German...
Bil'in becomes a symbol of popular resistence
all over the world.
We respond to every political act,
like Israel's attack on Lebanon
in 2006.
Adeeb and Phil are
always on the front lines.
At least this time, it isn't me!
What happened?
They shot your camera?
Shoot him!
I'm bleeding!
I'm bleeding!
Calm down, Adeeb! It's not serious.
Oh, my leg!
He could have died!
Why do that?
Are you crazy?
You killed him!
Take him Don't argue!
Go on, take me!
Phil is released in the same day.
It takes Adeeb a year to recover.
But he never gives up.
Adeeb, Phil and I are very different.
During the time of demostrations,
a close bond develops between us.
Through the camera I
see Adeeb's endurance,
Phil's great spirit.
They both have such a love of life
They have a coop but they won't go in it.
Everyday - wintertime, summertime...
They climb the tree everyday
- Why?
They have their freedom!
It takes strength to turn anger
into something positive.
Phil and I are worried about Adeeb.
Wait!
My oldest son, Mohamad,
likes to film me.
I look at Soraya. She is a Palestinian
but she grew up in Brazil.
She loves picking olives
working the land.
This place ties us together.
More than feeding us,
the land connects us.
Israel uses lots of techniques
for occupying lands.
Some are illegal, even
according to their own laws.
One way is allowing settlers
to place trailers
on Palestine land.
Once they do, it becomes fact.
So we try to keep them
from placing them.
No way is this going down!
I'll bust your ass!
Get lost!
Go on, hit me!
Don't touch me!
I'll sue you.
I know who you are.
We're non violent.
There's no need for violence!
In the end,
they beat us all up
You're killing me!
Don't film this!
Don't tell us not to film!
We can't keep the settlers
from putting down their trailers.
So we have another idea.
Why not put down our own trailer
on our stolen land
on the other side of the barrier?
Sit down! Let Emad film.
Good morning,
Please vacate this land
What do you want me to do?
It doesn't take long to move it.
So we bring a second one
Only this time,
we lock ourselves inside
There are people inside!
And then the second trailer is removed.
After the trailers,
the settlers build concrete outposts.
They make use of a law
that prevents the army
from destroying concrete
structures.
Once they claim the land,
construction companies can step in.
So we decide to use the same law
to hold onto our land.
Throw another one!
Daba!
How did you sleep
in the new outpost?
How did you sleep
in the new outpost?
Did you sleep well?
Wake up!
The soldiers are here.
Why are you filming me?
You just got here.
I was already here.
Did you ever film in your house?
Who cares?
What are you doing here?
I'm filming here.
If you point that camera at me again,
I'll bust it, okay?
Okay.
The settlers retaliate at night
The settlers did this!
You see, Emad!
The olive trees!
What did the olive trees do?
This olive tree that prays to God,
what did they do?
We have to plant this on our land.
Don't swear!
I'm just saying no to the wall!
Do it nice and quietly.
We'll plant it
and it'll feed us with olives.
We'll destroy you, fence!
No, no to the wall!
A tear gas grenade hits Yisrael.
Did it hit your face?
What did hey do?
Eyad is my second brother
to be arrested.
It's an endless cycle.
They destroyed our outpost.
We're rebuilding it.
it's impressive how Phil and Adeeb
can raise morale
even when things seem hopeless
The outpost becomes our hangout.
I look at Phil and Gibreel.
Something connects them.
Something strong
that I can't explain.
What's up?
What can we do?
They're gobbling up
all our land, Emad.
They'll never take down the wall
if they can
keep building the settlement.
It's all for nothing!
When we get to the settlement!,
we see Phil's brother, Daba,
trying to stop construction alone.
Daba never seems too worried.
He always has that childlike grin.
I'll sue you!
- Film them.
- You were told not to come here.
- Protect the cameraman!
- I have permission to film.
They're attacking me.
What's the problem?
I'll file a complaint.
Stopo filming!
if he films, I'll break his bones!
Tell them to go away.
We're not doing anything wrong.
What's up, man?
The second camera witnessed winter
2006 to spring 2007.
The focus isn't working.
Why won't it turn?
As months pass,
Gibreel becomes more and more
sensitive to the world around him.
Bil'in keeps demostrating,
week after week.
Where's Israeli TV?
Film your soldiers!
Now thay Gibreel is old enough
to understand,
he comes to see the demostrations.
What are you doing?
He sees people he knows
getting arrested
but doesn't understand why
Jaffar is my third brother
to be arrested.
Close the windows!
Close the windows!
Then the soldiers came
and started shooting.
They were everywhere.
But I wasn't afraid.
They were in front of Daddys's car.
And you weren't afraid?
Weren't you afraid they'd take you?
Weren't you afraid, Gibreel?
Yes, I was.
If there's tear gas,
just smell the onion.
You're a hero.
- No!
- A hero.
Gibreel's skin is so sensitive,
even the scratch of a sponge
leaves marks on his back.
I hpe he'll develop
a thick skin fast.
The army comes into the village
more and more often.
They try to keep people
from demostrating.
When I film,
I feel like the camera
protects me.
But it's an illusion.
I film my brother Khaled's arrest.
My mother and father
try to stop the jeep.
I keep thinking,
"What should I do?"
I have to believe that capturing
these images
will have some meaning.
Now the soldiers
start comming at night.
Mostly for kids.
They're trying to force us to quit.
Welcome to the club, Bil'in!
Go in and shut the door.
How can you arrest a child?
Hush, little baby, don't say a word
Mama's gonna trap you a bird
Where are you going?
Where are you going?
To the wall.
Watch out, you're gonna fall!
- Why?
- Because they're taking our land!
To take back the land
the army stole!
We want to sleep!
Stop filming.
Get behind the fence.
You're strong Gibreel.
- Don't be afraid.
Look!
They're afraid of a bunch of kids
If you go back,
nobody will throw stones at you!
This is a small village.
Lots of Israelis come here.
These people want peace
The Israelis are
our cousings, my friend.
If you leave,
we'll go back to our village.
What's this?
You've wounded and Israeli!
Call an ambulance!
He's bleeding!
Open up!
Get out of here!
There are no kids here!
- What?
- They shot your brother, Eyad,
in the shoulder.
Let's see your shoulder.
It's not serious.
Sit down and let me see.
It's nothing, Mom
It's superficial, okay?
Le tme see the brochure
the soldiers distributed.
It says, "Stay away from the Wall
all day during
friday dimostrations"
So we'll demostrate on Saturdays
Let's look at the map
This is Bil'in
They took all this.
What's left?
They can't tell us what to do
We''ll stop when we decide to stop.
Open up!
Now it's my turn.
I take the camera
to protect myself.
- I ask you to stop filming.
- I can film in my own house.
Show me your I.D.
Get my I.D.
- What's the matter?
- This is a Closed Military Zone.
"The military has declared this area
a Closed Military Zone."
"Anyone found
in a Closed Military Zone
must evacuate the area at once.
"No one can enter
or remain on the premises..."
You are now in violation
of the order
- I ask you to stop filming.
- I'm a journalist, I can film.
This is a Closed Military Zone.
Stop filming.
Put down the camera.
I'm a journalist
and I'm in my own home.
Put down the camera.
That's an order
Turn the lens to the wall.
Give it to your son,
He can put it down.
Why is he being taken?
The police interrogate me
and accuse me of throwing rocks.
I do time in jail.
My lawyer gets them to release me
under house arrest.
I'm held in a house outside Bil'in.
The camera is pretty much
all I took.
He'll talk to you.
I'm a psychologist.
I do evaluations for the court.
Is that constantly filming?
I'm used to filming.
I haven't done it for a while.
Because I was in jail
and now I'm under house arrest.
It's been a month now.
I've got nothing to do here,
so I film.
Nature gives me new vitality.
I know I have a purpose in life.
The price may be high
but the path I've chosen
is the one meant for me.
It's my destiny.
After a while, I'm back in Bil'in.
My case is closed.
They claim they lost the evidence
I'm happy to see that people
continue to meet at the outpost.
Through our lawsuit
against the barrier,
we,ve discovered a lot about the land
on the other side of the barrier.
We found out that
all the construction was illegal.
We have a warrant
to stop construction
and prohibit occupation
of the new buildings.
I'm off to the demostration.
But, Emad, It's a holy day.
No, not today!
Haven't you had enough problems?
Don't go!
I want us to be together.
It's a holy day
There's no demostration.
Enough with the filming!
I have to go on filming.
All I can hear is
Phil's voice in my other ear.
Your camera's busted.
My third camera
may have saved my life.
The bullet is lodged in it,
as a remainder of life's fragility.
The third camera sustained
from winter 2007 to winter 2008
During this time, it was shot
and repaired twice.
I wanna see it.
- Where you going?
- To the snow.
I have to find the inner strength
to keep on doing
all the good things we like to do.
Daba, get up!
Time passes.
People keep demostrating
on Fridays.
But the barrier wends it's way
to other villages.
People feel that nothing will stop
the occupation from its course.
So I decide to do something
to boost morale.
Screening my footage
allows the villagers
to gain some distance
from those events.
I think it contributes
to the solidarity among us.
It encourages them
to get more villages
to start protesting.
By 2008, many new villages,
alla across the West Banck
adopt the Bil'in struggle
as a model for a new
kind of resistance.
The Israeli government
fears that the protest
will become a third Intifada.
The army is under pressure.
Someone is shot dead in Nil'in,
a nearby village.
So we all go to show our support.
In the middle of the chaos in
Nil'in,
they take Daba
and shoot him in the leg.
The soldiers use a lots of gas
and live ammunition.
Snipers surround the village.
We have children here!
From Nil'in to Bil'in!
We're one with Bil'in!
From Bil'in to Beiruth!
An 11 -year- old boy
is killed in Nil'in.
Snipers shot him near his home.
Immediatly after the funeral,
a 17 -year- old boy is also killed.
Clinging to nonviolent ideals
isn't easy...
when dead is alla around.
These images
bring back old memories.
Memories I'd rather keep
from my children.
Danger is creeping closer.
I'm thinking about my children.
I want to protect them.
But the occupation
always catches you off guard.
They have to become tough men.
Phil is the only one
who's still optimistic.
He's like his nickname,
"the elephant"
Strong and thick-skinned.
But he's a gentle man.
He seems so sure
that things will work out.
That's when we get good news.
We're reinforced
by the Israeli court decision
to dismantle a section
of the barrier.
A year after that moment of joy,
There is no physical evidence
of the court's decision.
I've been waiting for 4 hours.
I don't know where I am.
So much land has been destroyed.
I feel dizzy.
Two o'clock in Bil'in!
We're all in rebellion.
Then the truck I'm driving
crashes into the barrier.
These are the last images
recorded by my fourth camera.
The fourth camera operated
all of 2008.
I could die but no one realizes it.
I can't help feeling
that I crashed
because of the barrier.
But crashing into it
probably saved my life.
Then the soldiers have to take me
to an Isreali hospital.
Take him to a hospital in Israel
On one hand
I know it's a God's decision.
On the other, if I had been taken to
an average Palestinian hospital,
I probably wouldn't have survived.
Much of my body is severely
injured.
I lose consciousness for 20 days.
When I wake up
in the Tel Aviv hospital,
Israel is beginning
its massive attack on Gaza
of late 2008
My recovery is just a drop
in that sea of violence.
Two months later, I go home
without much of a welcome.
People are in mourning for Gaza.
Daddy!
What's up, Gibreel?
The doctor say I can never
do physical work again.
I'm not an Isreali citizen,
so I have huge hospital bills.
I have to find funding
to continue my treatment.
The Palestinian Authority
doesn't consider my accident
to be resistance-related.
If you don't fit
the resistance image,
you're on your own.
Lots of people use symbols
for political profit
Whether it's a symbol of Bil'in
or a symbol of a Palestinian state.
Bil'in is attracting
more politicians of all stripes.
I film Adeeb onserving them
from behing.
I'm sure he doesn't like it.
I'd rather be with the real people.
Will you get back
some of your land now?
No, none of it.
There's no way?
They've built buildings on it.
- There are no olive trees left?
- They're all gone.
If they move the wall back
just one yard,
we'll have succeeded.
We've been waiting here
for a change for 4 years.
We want to see them retreat!
New settlres are allowed
to move into the buildings,
on the land we lost,
with the permission
of the Isreali court.
Get the furniture here fast.
Hang the mezuzah
to stablish ownership
I meet Phil, watching the
World Cup
with the kids at the outpost.
He still dreams about
fixing the world.
But dreming can be dangerous.
Gibreel is 4 years old now,
so is Bil'in's resistance.
The only protection
I can offer him
is allowing him to see everything
with his own eyes,
just how vulnerable life is.
Soldier!
Don't shoot!
Go back home!
If you kill anyone
you'll be responsible!
Back then, I didn't realize
that death was hovering over us.
Officer, you shot an Israeli girl!
it only became clear to me...
when Phil was killed
Stop shooting!
At night, Daba hangs posters
of his martyred brother.
The entire village is in shock.
Maybe it's just the kids
who were Phil's friends
like my kids
who still can't digest it.
They kiss him goodbye
but it will take weeks
for hate and anger
to rise from within
When someone dies,
the anger is so overwhelming
that people's feelings erupt
and they're ready to die.
Where's your heart?
Your commander has no heart!
Why are you doing this?
I wanna die!
Like that!
Let me have it!
I wanna die!
This is our land!
Daddy...
Why don't you kill the soldiers
with a knife?
Because they'd shoot me.
Will there be any left?
There will be.
Why do you want to hurt them?
Because they shot my Phil
Why did they shoot Phil?
What did he do to them?
We all lose our childhood
at some point.
Like Daba lost his childlike grin.
But while we erase
every piece of our childhood,
it's the angers that remains.
All together!
Gaza and the West Banck!
I think about the children
like my son Gibreel.
Or Adeeb's son
on the day his father
was arrested and sent to jail.
How will they be able
to bear their anger?
Release my father!
Release my father!
Shortly after that
I receive an arrested warrant.
What did they say?
They said they were going
to arrest me again tonight.
What will you do?
What can I do?
See what's happening to us
because of your filming!
Now they're taking you!
You nevver know what they're up to!
If they take you,
what'll we do, the kids and I?
You saw what they did to you before
But you never learn!
I've told you to stop
a thousand times!
Stay home with our kids
and find something else to do!
Why didn't you?
Why, Emad?
If they come, what will we do?
What will I do?
And the kids?
It happened once, twice...
I can't take this a third time!
Stop!
Enough with the filming!
I'm so tired!
Stop with the filming!
Emad, what are you doing?
There's not many soldiers today
Why?
They're tearing down the fence.
- You think so?
- Yeah, I do.
- So no tear gas today?
- No tear gas!
For the first time in 5 years?
The speed of an M16 bullet is...
2,800 feet per second.
it takes the bullet 3 milliseconds
to hit my camera.
In that flash of time.
before the experience
becomes a memory,
everything I know vanishes.
The fifth camera
lasted from winter 2009
to spring 2010.
It was smashed by a soldier
and repaired
before veing shot.
It's been a year
that Adeeb's been in jail.
The court's decision
begins to be implemented.
The barrier is dismantled.
It's a victory,
however small, for the village.
A concrete wall is being built
further from our village.
Some lands will be returned
to the owners
but Bil'in continues
to resist the new wall.
Barriers can be removed
but the land will always
bear the scars.
Gibreel has grown
from a baby into a boy.
That means letting go of innocence.
This rapid coming of age
saddens me a bit.
Healing is a challenge in life.
It's a victim's sole obligation.
By healing, you resist oppression.
But when I'm hurt
over and over again,
I forget the wounds
that rule my life.
Forgotten wounds can't be healed.
So I film to heal.
I know they may knock at my door
at any moment.
But I'll just keep filming.
It helps me confront life
and survive.
Gibreel, do you want
to go to the sea?
Say you want to!
Daddy leave me alone.
Yes, I want to.
For my last treatment in Tel Aviv,
Gibreel and Taki-Ydin
are allowed to come with me.
I've waited for this for so long
What are you so happy about?
The sea!
The sixth camera witnessed spring 2010.
At the last day of filming
the destruction of the wall,
Emad was hit by a stun grenade
...but his camera wasn't harmed
and is still filming to this day.