Documentary Film: The Law In These Parts

Chapter three of Eyal Press’ Beautiful Souls follows Avner Wishnitzer, an Israeli combat soldier serving in the occupied territories during the Second Intifada. In the 6-Day War of 1967, Israel captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and has since kept the land under an Israeli military occupation. In 1987 to 1991, a Palestinian uprising involving resistance and civil disobedience, known as the First Intifada, occurred in the occupied territories. Consequently, Israel deployed many soldiers into the occupied territories, and an estimated 1,674 people were killed in total. The Second Intifada, a much more violent Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories, transpired from 2000 until 2005. In response, Israel enacted Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale military operation, in 2002 to stop the terrorist attacks and suicide bombings of the Second Intifada. An approximate 4,426 people were killed in the Second Intifada. Avner Wishnitzer’s public refusal to serve in the occupied territories was worth getting kicked out of Sayeret Matkal and being disgraced by Israeli society because it made people question the occupation and the treatment towards Palestinians. Even if Avner had been my father, I would have condoned his choices because I could create my own reputation in the military. Additionally, the current controversy over the Israeli occupation legitimizes his stance and actions for many Israeli citizens.

“Life, liberty and the pursuit of property (happiness)” is a familiar phrase known from the United States’ Declaration of Independence. It says that we believe these are the three inalienable rights of all human beings and that it is the government’s job to protect these absolute privileges. Extensive advocation of these inalienable rights of man date back to the time of John Locke, over 300 years ago. In Emile Habiby’s novel, The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist, we meet Saeed, a Palestinian who becomes a citizen of Israel. Through his stories we are shown the inequality Arabs in Israel face and how the ‘inalienable’ rights we take for granted are being withheld from Israeli Arabs.

In today’s society, many road accidents and deaths are often caused by the same reason. The reason being that mostly teens, as well as adults, have created a habit of texting while they’re driving. A film by Werner Herzog, “From One-Second To The Next,” is a documentary against texting while driving. This film documents the testimonies of four individuals who's lives have been affected by texting and driving.

The documentary Who Get’s In? examines the immigration policies and priorities of the Canadian government, said to represent the economic needs and values of the Canadian people. The film documents the experiences of migrants from asian and african countries and the barriers particular groups of migrants face.

The documentary, The Good Fight, captures the many struggles and sacrifices James Farmer faced during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Through first hand accounts, pictures, and documents, this film brings James Farmer to life portraying him as a selfless, committed, and collaborative leader dedicated to the movement. James Farmer experienced segregation from a young age and knew at that point that he must actively do something to put an end to it. He strongly believed in changing something that is wrong rather than just passively accommodating to the world.

This paper explores the political, legal, and ethical issues at stake in the debate over the custody of the Iraqi Baath Party records. Caswell presents the Iraqi Baath Party records as a lens through which one can view the complexities of cultural property repatriation on a broader scale – and how the current frameworks of repatriation only perpetuate dangerously oversimplified binary thinking.

In addition, I will examine the current state of political and human rights in Israeli occupied West Bank and analyze how they are approaching a level of apartheid. Finally, I will summarize the effects of these social tensions between Israel and Palestinians in the terms of how potential open conflict could reignite.

The essential question I will focus on in this CREQ is “What do societies want from their schools?” The use of societies in this essential question is somewhat broad, so I am primarily going to discuss what the dominant society in the United States wants from their schools. The United States wants higher standardized test scores and lower drop-out rates; our ranking in comparison to other countries is embarrassing. However, the dominant society does not want schools to actually educate their students if it doesn’t fit the dominant perspective. This is exemplified by the documentary, Precious Knowledge, in which ethnic studies programs were deemed un-American and banned. Additionally, abstinence-only education and evolution vs. creation theory

“Religulous” Being told as a Christian that I’m going to be watching an atheist movie for the next three days really frustrated me, but within the first five minutes of watching this documentary I became extremely focused and interested in what Bill Maher was trying to prove by making this movie. Throughout this documentary, Bill Maher travels around the world interviewing a wide range of religious leaders and followers. During these interviews, Bill questions the different religions on a jokingly matter. “Maher, who grew up Catholic (with a Jewish mother), loathes religion. This film doesn't make it clear why he hates it so, aside from some comments about how Catholicism ‘wasn't relevant’ to his life as a child.

During his first week of presidency Donald Trump signed off to the expansion of keystone XL, a pipeline that transports crude oil from Alberta all the way to Texas. The pipeline is said to run for 876 miles and is thirty six inches in width. There would be two power stations which would require around 378 miles of original powerlines. In general this pipeline would entail a lot of construction, thus creating more job prospects. (Burd and Armand 274)

The documentary Not For Sale had a slightly hopeful tone as it dealt with various organizations that seek to help victims of human trafficking. It laid the foundation of the problem by discussing how human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar and rapidly growing industry, and how half of its victims are children. Despite the sheer scale of this problem, many organizations worldwide work hard to fight trafficking and help victims in various ways. For example, Night Light helps victims of sex trafficking in Thailand and other regions by teaching them to make jewelry and helping them sell it. The Polaris Project in the US influences laws to motivate legal and governmental efforts to counter trafficking. Regina Pacis in Italy provides shelter and

Thousands of girls and boys are forced into human trafficking and the slavery market daily. However, it is not always forced labor, but voluntary. These underground activities affect families and puts them at potential danger of someone being trapped in human trafficking (Clause & Lawler, 2013). Many families are unaware of the dangers that exists today, even in America, and the different ways victims are trapped by and/or unable to escape human traffickers (McClain & Garrity, 2011). It is important to make families aware of these dangers since individuals who are caught in human trafficking have not provided consent nor agreed to this oppressive lifestyle. In 2012, there were 44 survivors of human trafficking cases reported in Kansas (Halley, 2012) while in 2013, Rapp (2014) reported that over 200 individuals were identified as victims of human trafficking throughout Kansas. There continues to be inadequate understanding of what human trafficking is and how to intervene. There are many families that are unaware to the extent of how youth and communities are impacted by this social issue (Macy & Graham, 2012).

to, and our ordinary citizens, though occupied . . . are still fair judges of public matters . . . instead of

Dating back to ancient times, the role of women has never reached true equality with men. We can trace this inequality back to as early as the great Athenian society, where life as we know it today started taking form. On the other side of the inequality, throughout the ancient history of the world, the roles and positions that women have had have improved over time. We can see this tracing time from Athens, to Sparta, the Roman Republic, it's Empire and the rise of Christianity. Although some of theses societies lived parallel in time, each one shows a difference in the way they treat women. Each one did not treat women the same, but the end result compared to the beginning is positive for women.

Any reference to conflict turns history into a reservoir of blame. In the presence of conflict, narratives differ and multiply to delegitimize the opponent and to justify one’s own action. Narratives shape social knowledge. The Israeli Palestinian conflict, both Jews and Muslims, view the importance of holding the territories through religious, ideological, and security lenses, based on belief that Palestine was given by divine providence and that the land belongs to either the Israelis or Palestinian’s ancestral home. Understanding these perspectives is required for understanding Palestinians’ and especially Israel’s strategy and role in entering the Oslo peace process. Despite