Valerie Zenatti's A Bottle In The Gaza Sea

One particularly interesting perspective is his opinion on how the conflict has somewhat freed the identity of Palestinians from a shared land, and that for some Palestinians that can escape the occupation, there is a the creation of a transnational, transgressive life. (Suleiman, 2003, 73) Thus exists multiple outcomes from one identity. He further supports this by commenting that Palestine does not have borders, does not actually exist in the sense of geography, but it still has a sense of space. The Palestinian people are this space, and the people are how we define what is, and what is not Palestine. People are separated geographically, but defined by identity and community, and this creates a unique sense of freedom outside of a defined nation-state. (Suleiman, 2000, 96) This lets the definition of this identity be more fluid. He says that in his work he purposefully moves away from a centralized view of Palestinian identity and uses cinema to present the differences in viewpoint, perception, and narration that exist within this conflict. Not only between Israelis and Palestinian's but between all Palestinian's. (Suleiman, 2000, 97) He purposefully moves away from a singular form of Palestinian identity and states “My films are Palestinian because I am Palestinian.” (Suleiman, 2000, 99) This movement from a

The article Desperation at Sea by Rebecca Zissou tells us about people trying to escape war, poverty and natural disaster. First, on April 17, 2015 Ali 70 other migrants were migrating to Europe and start anew life but thousands of of people died trying to cross to Europe. Secondly, people were snuggled into plastic boats and abandon them to protect them selfs. Then, some passengers get to stay in Europe permanently. After that they need to find a job and often fight for it. Finally, this book was about escaping from their homeland.

Do we really know how it feels when you’re loved ones are killed in a war or when you will stop breathing? No matter how sad we become after listening to their painful stories, we can’t really feel the pain or problems that the victim’s relatives had gone through. The Road to Chlifa, novel illustrated by Michele Marineau describes the story about a boy who lives in Beirut Lebanon, a country that has been in the civil war for fifteen years. Karim expresses the theme of isolation, through his feelings for Nada. The protagonist in the novel is Karim, 17-year-old boy who lost the girl whom he loved, during the war, and the antagonist is the war occurring in Lebanon and also the school that Karim attends in Montreal. Karim left lonely after his parents went to Montreal, then Bachir moved to Paris and the one whom he loved died.

Israel and Palestine have been battling over territory, dominance, and political freedom for many years. After the Second World War, Israeli forces occupied Palestinian territory, ridding the land of Arabs. In response, the Palestinian people demanded control over their historic land, but the Israelis refused to relinquish power over the territory. In a matter of six days, the Jewish Israeli people conquered the West Bank all the way through to the Sinai Peninsula. After the war, the Israeli forces continued to take over Palestinian land by putting pressure on them to abandon their nation. Due to this ongoing conflict, Sahar Khalifeh utilizes violence and social constraints to explore the lives of Israeli and Palestinian men through vivid diction and descriptive imagery in the 1985 novel Wild Thorns.

Ever since, Palestinians have had to adapt to new places and cultures in order to survive, which makes it more difficult for them to preserve their own. Said presents several examples of transculturation throughout the essay. For instance, the use of the Mercedes, even though Said describes it in negative terms, the use of the Mercedes has come in handy for Palestinians. Enduring one disaster after another, Palestinian identity is arduous to preserve in exile. It is a struggle of having no country. Our country is a big part of who we are. As we are born, we are destined to become a part of it. It becomes part of our identity. Things that we grew up with meant something to us. We usually treasure things that became part of our lives. Even unconsciously, we take hold of it. Home brings us memories, memories that we want to hold on up to our last breath.

The concept of “making the hidden visible” allows the reader to understand the Israeli revolution in a way that is has not been viewed before (Chute 106). Through the strategic use of graphic novels it demonstrates the way that she experienced it first hand without the interruption of western style media. Graphic novels take away any assumptions that you may make about the revolution while reading it because you have the image right in front of you and there is no way for it to be misinterpreted. Due to the large impact that media has on the viewpoints and ideas of western citizens the westerns perspective of what is true and what doesn’t exist has

His article argues that the Israelis won the Arab- Israeli War of 1948 and therefore were able to shape its history through their lens, but their version of the conflict is flawed and the information now available undermines what they claimed to be true. He stated that the Zionist version of the truth is just propaganda, spread in a way to make them look like innocent bystanders and the victims and the Arabs as the

About Elly, originally called Darbareye Elly is a winner of the Silver Bear at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival, is a 2009 Iranian film by Asghar Farhadi, a globally, critically venerated Iranian film director and screenwriter. Just one year after its release About Elly was voted the 4th greatest Iranian movie of all time by the national society of Iranian critics. What makes this film distinct from many is that the viewer is exposed to the alluringly multifaceted societal subtleties of people during trauma and how situations are handled. To be precise, this film has things to propose about some of the gradations of Iranian culture under these traumatic circumstances.

Furthermore, the Israeli occupation of Palestine that the film depicts is a part of the 2000-2005 second intifada between the two nations (Manekin, 2013). Nablus, in Palestine is where Said and Khaled are based, and the mission is to take place in Tel Aviv across the border. A noticeable feature of the movie is the concept of deadness, the two main characters are not suicidal but the life they are trapped in has created a sense of them being dead already (Nashef, 2016) this is represented by the oppression and the lack of opportunity that is present. This theme can be further seen in their town – Nablus. Due to the conflict, the landscape and infrastructure is bleak, destroyed and very much discarded. The depiction of the lifestyle experienced during that period of conflict, highlighted to me potential motivations.

Imagine living in a conflict that has divided two nations, literally, by a concrete barrier. This turbulent and heated confrontation has left many dead and even more injured. Welcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The documentary “5 Broken Cameras” is a portrayal of this modern day dispute through the personal lens of self-taught Palestinian cameraman, Emad Burnat. This compelling documentary provides a realistic presentation of the hatred that surrounds these two divided nations. Movie viewers will be drawn to this film is because it demonstrates the harsh realities of what it is like to live in the midst of a conflict and how the lives of those affected are altered as a result of this prolonged struggle.

The story “Araby” as told by James Joyce is about a young boy that is fascinated with the girl across the street. But deeper down the story is about a very lonely boy lusting for her love and affection. Throughout the story, we see how the frustration of first love, isolation and high expectations breaks the main character emotionally and physically. James Joyce uses the first-person viewpoint to tell this story which helps influence the plot, characterization, themes, and understanding of the main character.

Joe Sacco’s graphic novel, Palestine, deals with the repercussions of the first intifada in Israel/Palestine/the Holy Land. The story follows the author through the many refugee camps and towns around Palestine as he tries to gather information, stories, and pictures to construct his graphic novel. While the book is enjoyable at a face level, there are many underlying themes conveyed throughout its illustrated pages and written text.

Taking place in the late 1970’s, Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” exemplifies a profound illustration of the county of Iran, including aspects of its people and political structure. Unlike a conventional composed novel, the story of Persepolis is expressed through both textual and visual representation; otherwise known as a graphic novel. Through the experiences of the ten-year old character Marjane, the reader is exposed to historical events, movements, crises, and motives that occurred within Iran. Furthermore, the novel has gained much praise in its portrayal of emotions that occurred through the people of Iran. Although there has been tremendous support of the account of Marjane, there have been a few critics of the novel, attacking its overall literary value. For instance, New York’s Ithaca College student paper called The Ithacan, slammed the role Persepolis had on the literary society. In fact, they went as far to say that the novel “...is worth broaching but its literary value, in terms of building vocabulary and furthering comprehension, falls short.” An absurd statement, to say the least. Not only is Persepolis of literary value, it is a glimpse into the past. It allows the reader to understand the various conflicts that the people of Iran were facing. Through the account of Marjane, the audience is exposed to elements of Iranian history, gender roles, religion, and political fluctuation.

Abdelrahman Munif, a Jordanian born Saudi novelist, wrote a novel called ‘Cities of Salt’. It is a monumental novel that tells the story of the discovery of oil. Encountering the vicious arrival of the global, political and economic modernity to an unnamed Persian Gulf kingdom is the main point of Munif in this novel. Munif described the migration of the villagers as their traditional lands are destroyed, and their way of living is thrown into disarray by the foreigners – Americans, through invasion of modern technology, cultural gaps, and a whole new bunch of the local economy. He has exercised an unconventional format in novel by declining a clear protagonist or even its mixture. Leading characters of the novel in its first dozen chapters are gone by the final third of the book, despite the formation of main characters. The valley that is destroyed in the beginning and later the town of Harran that goes from a backwater to booming oil valley or town. Where the novel’s all fiction

The graphic novel Palestine, published by Maltan journalist Joe Sacco in the early ‘90s, is a journalistic piece that represents his recollections of two months spent talking to and living with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The casual narrative style, which some might say is too shallow for such heavy subject matter, in fact allows Sacco to avoid many of the pit falls that have made Western reporting on non-Western conflicts unhelpful at the very least and more often incredibly damaging.