The ongoing massacre in Gaza, unfolding before our eyes, leaves us feeling helpless in the face of the disturbing erosion of– and the existential threat to every value we hold principled and dear. Palestinians are being exterminated while the world watches, while some cheer on the heinous acts of the aggressors, while others stay brutally silent, and we keep screaming into the void. How can we preserve our humanity in the face of such brutality?

It seems we are all we have left, but there are so many of us out there.

What can cinema do in the face of such atrocities? Bear witness. Gather. Contest the fabricated narratives.

Our friends at Palestine Film Lab had to postpone their Palestine Cinema Days festival. Instead of celebrating cinema in Palestine, they have decided to bring Palestine to the world. Palestine Cinema Days illuminated screens around the globe, thanks to partners who refuse to compromise in the face of the colonial chokehold on the media, the repression of freedom of expression across the “free world”, and the dehumanization of Palestinians.

171 screenings across 41 countries.
To all those who have organized, assisted, translated texts, and shared on social networks, we thank you. We are not alone, and we know that. But what we underestimated was just how many of you refuse to believe the neo-colonial political and media establishments that have desperately tried to erase the Palestinian narrative in vain.

To all the other friends and allies who have remained silent in the face of genocide or have even echoed their empires’ unfounded stances, all we can say is that we are worried about you.

History did not begin on the 7th of October 2023, regardless of what the Euro-American political leaders and media say. Palestinians have been suffering for 75 years. Yes, for 75 years, they have been suffering from the colonization of their land, the dispossession of their homes, the systematic killing of their children, and the other innumerable, well-documented, internationally recognized crimes perpetrated against them by the Israeli occupation since 1948.

No, History did not begin on October 7! Listen carefully to what the Secretary-General of the United Nations said on October 25, 2023, regarding the latest war in Gaza! Look back at the countless United Nations resolutions never enforced by Israel and at the massacres committed by Israel with no accountability since 1948.

We are genuinely worried about you.

How will you continue to uphold the narratives of social justice and decolonization that have united us for so long despite the mounting pressure to dismantle them?

Whoever narrates history shapes the future, and the colonization of narratives is one of its most dangerous forms. It is at the heart of the current conflict, and all colonial institutions are deeply involved.

To understand the current “flood”, one must go back to the Nakba and see how the legend of Israel became History and how the History of Palestine became a legend.

To understand the “flood”, one must go back to the Nakba to understand what has led three or four generations of Palestinians to find no solution to save them, as they have been left to face injustice and death alone.

To understand the “flood”, one must step out of their comfort zone and confront their colonial past. It’s crucial to understand that in this land, Palestine, Jews, Muslims, and Christians coexisted for centuries before the “free world” dictated otherwise. And to recognize that the conflict in Palestine is not a conflict of religion but rather a struggle between an indigenous colonized people and their settler colonizer.

To understand the “flood,” one would need to grant Palestinian citizens the right to use the keys to their homes kept by their grandparents since 1948 and see which doors they can still open.

Doors that could lead them to a world that is more just, more fair, more kind. We must decolonize now!