I’ve watched Kevin Harris’s recent documentary about the Palestinians and Israelis twice. The first time I felt that its strong anti-Israeli rhetoric amounted to plain bias, but I was wrong.
Judgement Day is about the parallels that Harris suggests may exist between the South African occupation of Namibia and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories behind the historical Green Line. As the filmmaker puts it in his characteristic “my work — my voice” narration: “South Africa then, Israel/Palestine now — carbon copies that resonate.”
I am in no position to dissect the intricacies of the statement, save to say that Harris’s work puts forward a strong argument with a poignant edge. At the end of the documentary it becomes clear — our historical experience is indeed something from which both Palestinians and Israelis can learn.
It’s with relief that the viewer will note that Judgement Day is not a clinical look at the issues that form a backdrop to the news. It would have been terribly dreary had Harris gone out to solicit opinion from politicians. In fact in the work it is they who are blamed, from both sides, for the mess the Middle East finds itself in. The dramatis personae are ordinary people — mostly Israelis — who come across as quite reasonable in their fears and desires (apart from the odd settler from the religious lunatic fringe).
From the South African point of view we have two men from opposing sides. Doctor Sean Callaghan, formerly of Koevoet, who appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in July last year. And Scotch Mdhlope, who belonged to a Katlehong Self Defence Unit as a 14-year-old, from 1990 to 1994. Their stories are shocking and bloody. Yet it’s incredible, in this post-TRC era, how desensitised we’ve become. I found myself thinking, “yeah, yeah, we’ve heard this all before.”
But Judgement Day follows a process and it’s worthwhile staying with its narrative to experience the conclusions that Harris arrives at. One may not believe it, from the bias of so much of the news, but simultaneous to the conscription of Israeli youths, there are plenty of worthy Jewish organisations that are rallying for peace.
Israeli theatre is going the same route as ours once went — with some directors finding voice to bring people together from both sides of the religious divide. Here Harris has drawn parallels between James Whyle’s 1980s anti-conscription play National Madness, and the Arab-Jewish Theatre of Jaffa that performed the play In the Shadow of a Violent Past last year. Playwright Jehudit Keshet notes that she took as her major inspiration South Africa’s process in the TRC.
Where South Africa has had the Black Sash, Israel/Palestine has Women in Black, a cross-cultural movement of passive protesters who were nominated for a Nobel peace prize this year.
In addition, there is an anti-conscription movement called Yesh Gvul [translated as, “There is a Border”] and a Jewish group that monitors the actions of Israeli soldiers at check points called Machson-Watch.
Finally, and most importantly, there is a movement of combined Palestinian and Israeli parents, all of whom have suffered the loss of their children in the war. Speaking frankly, one of the most active participants, Yitzhak Frankenthal, who lost his 19-year-old son, says: “There is no forgiveness — I am not ready to forgive … But I am ready to make reconciliation, to open a new page … What I am doing is to establish peace between us and the Palestinians, for my other kids who are still alive.”
The final word is left to the now-adult Mdhlophe who, as a child, participated in a brutal Self Defence Unit in Katlehong. “I am healed, and I am still in the process of healing,” says the man who these day runs a therapy and recovery course for others, like him, who were brutalised by the past.
Actual judgement day, the work suggests, comes when people have to decide whether to opt for war or peace.
Judgement Day will be broadcast on M-Net in the Life slot on October 22 at 10.20pm. There will be an interview with producer/director Kevin Harris, with excerpts from the documentary on M-Net’s Carte Blanche on October 21.