I’ve been meaning to write about
this for a while now, but busy busy life in Palestine kept me from it.
But here it is.
But here it is.
A couple of weeks ago, for the
second time; I watched Hany Abu-Assad’s film “Omar” at Yabous Cultural Center
in Jerusalem. And for the second time I was in awe.
“Omar”, is the first -almost 100%-
Palestinian film; from the cast to the director to the funding ... you name it; all Palestinian. Yet this is only
one aspect of its uniqueness, the other is how real it was. If you’ve watched
it, then you’ll see how some parts of it were pure fiction and a bit more
dramatic, but you won’t be able to deny the intensity of its elements, the story-line,
and how realistic it was.
- Spoiler alert, for whoever
haven’t watched it-
The film opens with Omar climbing
the famous cement Wall cutting the West Bank into tiny islands and prisons,
with the help of a rope; and right there and then you’re hooked. After climbing
down the wall, as if it was a very casual thing to do, Omar goes to visit his
childhood friend’s house –and his girlfriend’s. Everything is nice and “normal”,
we have Omar sitting with his two best friends, Amjad and Tariq. Then the love
of his life, Nadia (Tariq's sister), comes in with some delicious Arabic Coffee. They
joke around, have fun, all is good, Omar and Nadia secretly exchange love
letters then … the fun is over.
The scene shifts to somewhere in
the woods, where the three best friends are seen to be training on how to
shoot; using a rifle. They’re training to shoot a soldier. From that second you
know these three are doomed to hell if they go on with their plan. They’re all
set to go, they’re ready to do it, they just don’t know when exactly. Then
again, when you’re living under occupation; you don’t have to wait too long for
a catalyst to bring out your “inner terrorist”.
One day after Omar climbed down the
Wall again, after his secret date with Nadia, he was stopped by a bunch of soldiers,
bored and in desperate need to demonstrate their fake superiority and new guns.
So they stop Omar, after they make sure he has no weapons or bombs on him, they
tell him to go stand on a rock with his hands on his head. Hours pass by; they play
around with their guns, sing, and talk; while Omar is still on his feet with
his hands on his head. After he’s fed up with this, he goes to confront them
only to get hit in the face with the rifle and end up standing on the rock, but this time standing on one leg instead of two with a
bleeding nose and tremendous pain and indignity.
Then it’s decided. The next day
Omar informs Tariq and Amjad; it’s time. Tariq asks Omar, “Why the sudden rush
to do it now?” Omar replies, “One more day without going through with it, is
another day under occupation”. With his brief answer, he summarized our entire existence
as Palestinians, and the core of our struggle. You either do something to change your gloomy reality, or you don't get to complain about it.
So they steal a car, go to an
Israeli checkpoint and after some hesitation, Amjad pulls the trigger and we
have a dead Israeli soldier on our hands; and from that moment the life they
once knew will never be the same again.
After a few days, undercover
Israeli agents catch Omar. So once again the scene shifts and this time we’re
in one of the dark gloomy Israeli interrogation rooms. This is the room where
they torture you till you wish you’ve never existed, and it doesn’t matter if
you break down or hold still, you’ll never leave this room as the same person
you used to be.
We used to hear stories about
this room, how they torture Palestinians, whether these Palestinians, usually
minors, actually did something, or they were suspected or they simply knew the
people who were suspected … etc. I had an uncle who went into these rooms twice,
and he was sitting amongst the audience with me while watching this scene. I
couldn’t look at him, because I knew if I did I’d have to see the agony –I’m
only using this for lack of words- he must've gone through when he was 14 years
old. He never talks about it, but once I heard him say, “It’s a ghost that haunts
you every single day for the rest of your life”.
And this is what happened to
Omar.
He’s been tortured, humiliated,
and dehumanized to the fullest, but to a Palestinian that’s okay- to some
extent. If you truly want a Palestinian to fall apart, ask him\her to
collaborate with the Israeli Intelligence Forces. That was a breaking point for
Omar and the film itself. The Israeli Intelligence Agent, Rami, who’s fluent in Arabic; addresses Omar in this friendly manner. Saying bullshit like, “If you
collaborate with us, we’ll help you get what you want”. For Omar, it was clear
what he wanted; Nadia.
So Rami, comes off as this nice
Israeli dude who only wants Omar and Nadia to be together, if Omar could bring
them who shot the Israeli soldier; because they know it was not him. They
wanted Tariq. At first, of course Omar refuses, then after a session with his
lawyer he realizes there’s no way out but collaborating. He’s been sentenced for
90 lifetimes in prison, when he asks his lawyer, “Is there a way out?” she responds,”
as long as there’s occupation, no”.
Then his mind was set. He’s going
to outsmart them, yes he is. He’s going to leave prison, he won’t turn in his
friends, and he’ll get Nadia and run away somewhere. It was clear in his head;
little did he know it was ONLY in his head.
They set him free with the promise
to keep him safe and secure if he brings in Tariq. This is as far as I’m going
in spoiling the film. The rest is much more complicated to put in few words.
The brilliancy behind this film
is how, with some fictional elements, it was able to capture the day-to-day
Palestinian reality. It was scary, intense, and real. The pain embedded and
shown in the film was real.
It had a lot of powerful scenes,
but there was this particular one that made me hate the minute I was
born as a Palestinian. It was some 2 or 3 years after the friends drifted
apart, and then Rami showed up again; asking Omar for another “favor” or they
will never leave him alone which shows that THEY NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE. So once
again Omar is standing in front of the cement Wall in order to climb it, but he
can’t anymore.
He broke down.
It wasn’t the torture in Israeli
prisons that broke him down, it wasn’t having to become a collaborator, it wasn’t
losing the love of his life and his best friends; it was all combined. This is
the intensity of the Palestinian life we’ve talked about, and how it came tumbling
down when he fell while trying to climb the wall.
At that moment, I started
thinking; in what world would this happen? And what kind of world is this? Most
people fall in love, work hard to gather some money to support a decent life,
get married, have children, travel the world, get their Masters degree….etc.
They don’t climb over walls to get to their loved ones, they don’t plan to
kill, and they don’t get tortured at prisons …, and normal girls won’t have
guys like Omar to be their prince-charming.
Yes, guys like Omar are our “type”.
Not because he’s handsome and tough. No.
It’s because he represents everything
Palestinian we desire. He’s not silent about occupation. They built a wall, he
climbed it. They created a checkpoint with soldiers, he killed them. They
wanted him to become a collaborator and turn in his friends, he went against them and lost everything to not turn them in.
I’m not saying I want a guy who climbs
walls and shoots soldiers, that’s superficial to assume. But what I’m saying
is, if we ever decided to be with someone he has to be someone who completely
went through the Palestinian “experience” without being passive; someone who is
still not used to checkpoints, Apartheid Wall, house demolitions ... etc. In short,
someone who’s not used to life under occupation and will never be.
So if he’s a guy who lived
through all of this, and didn’t give up; what more can we ask for? And yet how
pathetic is this?
Omar as a character, which is so
real, could be looked at as a terrorist, as backward, as a threat, as someone who doesn’t
deserve to live. But whoever says so, doesn’t even know half of
it.
Maybe it’s awful that young guys
like these had to kill a soldier, but what’s even worse is the circumstances that
lead them to do so; which most people seem to forget and neglect, focusing on
the result instead of what has lead to it.
In the end, “Omar” takes us on a
journey of love, resistance, friendship, treason, defeat, and freedom. And it is
probably the only Palestinian film, so far, to reflect the situation as it is. If
you haven’t watched it yet, MAKE SURE YOU DO!!!!
Much respect to the cast, the
director, and everyone who took part in it.
"A critique of the film will be up soon, after all it's not perfect"
"A critique of the film will be up soon, after all it's not perfect"
