The War Around Us

Unlike democratic countries, a war journalist working in an Arab environment must confirm with the un-written "play rules". Everything she/he report/say/film must be according to the regime political view. It must support that view . Otherwise : it will be your last report from that country (if not more)

Since a war journalist doesn't like to be cut from the field people , from it sources , they usually comply with the "play".

If you are a war journalist and try to document something which may be unpleasant for the leadership , you maybe either naive , or you need to hide your identity. Arab leadership are not really open to criticism. Especially true in the Gaza strip.A place were field court + death execution are performed within 10 minutes in open crowd. This movie feels like it tries to please the Hamas leadership. Never ask tough questions. avoid the politics and the reasons for the misery in that area.

so when Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros make a movie about that place, I take their input very suspiciously . They can't say what they really see or feel. They can't show , like in most documentaries, opposite opinions. At least not if Sherine want to keep her job in the news desk.

So in spite this movie comes with good intentions , it misses its goal as a documentary.

It could be a good romantic movie if something was developed between Sherine and Ayman + a story line. But even that is not acceptable in

Arab Muslim culture.

The use of violin/strings background music in this overt propaganda piece gets tiresome. And the pretense that the Palestinians didn't actually vote in a terrorist group to govern them, they they don't actually support HAMAS, that they don't actually want to kill very last Jewish man, woman and child was pretty disingenuous.

This documentary never once confronted the real reasons why Palestinians suffer so much, it just reaffirmed the Palestinians belief that they are innocent perpetual victims because of the EVIL Jews.

I am sure the documentary film makers will sell this propaganda piece as them exposing some awful atrocity when it is obvious they are just exploiting Palestinians to further their careers.

I must begin by saying that I'm no supporter of Israel and that I hate all religions, but this film is pure propaganda and is almost completely devoid of documentation. I wish that AlJazeera would shine a little or their investigative light on the way Palestinians have been shooting themselves in the foot for decades. Instead of helping their own people, Hamas has spent tens of millions building tunnels to attack Israel when they know that they have no chance of a military solution to their problems.

AlJazeera does the same sort of anti-journalism with respect to the lives of Muslims living in Europe, as if all of their problems are the result of racism on the part of Europeans and have nothing to do with their own refusal to integrate into European life.

The entire documentary revolves around the opinions of two AlJazeera reporters who are incredibly biased and not very bright but sufficiently telegenic.

The film has excellent, direct, footage of what is happening on the ground in Gaza when Israel strikes. You see very rare honest footage of the impact on peoples lives, while also appreciating the individual journalists who try to document things that the world would otherwise not see.

For once you can see what is happening without it being just hearsay of either Israel or Hamas.

Of course being a film about being inside Gaza when Israel attacks it, it has a certain perspective.

It is not a documentary going into the endless history of who is right and wrong, but a film which just bears witness to the tragedy of violence.

While it does not talk about Hamas firing rockets into Israel for example, it also does not try to support Hamas and nor does it attack Israeli or Jewish people.

In this way, people who try to claim the film is mere propaganda have to explain how it can be possible that honest and direct images of what happens when bombs are dropped on civilians doesn't have a truth worth seeing in it.

Ignore the commentary of the journalists narrating if you like, although I found it fine (what else would anyone feel if they were in the same situation), the images and sounds tell an undeniable truth that only those with an agenda of trying to hide this truth will try to persuade you from recognizing.

If you are interested in understanding the conflict between Palestine and Israel, then of course there are many information sources and perspectives, but this one is undeniably an important one and I believe anyone who tries to convince you it is not has an agenda of their own.

I was crying the whole time when watching this movie. I cannot describe how sad I felt to see the real scenes of what's really happening out there. It's really sad and heart-breaking to see the faces of those people.

The movie has inspired me a lot and it has enlightened me about what's really going on in Gaza.

Not only did the movie try to show the audience the explosion, the cry, the blood, the tears, and the suffering, it also tried to show emotional state that people in Gaza deal with on a daily basis, which at the end will help the audience have the feel of personal connection with the victims.

I think it's really selfish and erroneous for people to relate things that have been going on with religion issues. Based on what I have seen from the movie, it's trying to put that aside. Forget about Moslem, forget about Jews. It's not about it anymore. It's all about humanity.