Film: No Child is Born a Terrorist (Palestinian Territory)

Related Content

Places
Causes

00:00:00: SOUND UP
00:00:02: Explore – The mission of Explore is to champion the selfless acts of others. Explore went on a philanthropic fact-finding mission to the Jenin Refugee Camp to witness art healing violence.
00:00:21: No Child Is Born A Terrorist
00:00:35: “Because I do it with one small ship, I am called a terrorist. You do it with a whole fleet and you are called an emperor.” - St. Augustine’s City of God
00:00:50: CHARLIE: Hero or criminal? Humanitarian or traitor? Freedom fighter or terrorist? Words are loaded. The ammunition for perception. Images are even more powerful. Archetypes in the human drama. Terrorism’s a brick crashing through the window of the Western world. Television feeds us a steady stream of screaming militants, explosive confrontation, the breakdown of human relations. Do we really understand the characters in this play? What motivates them? What have they experienced? Today, we will come face-to-face with one of Israel’s most wanted terrorists.
00:02:02: MAN: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] Do you know Zakaria Zubeidi?
00:02:04: MAN: I don’t know him.
00:02:05: MAN: Liar!
00:02:08: CHARLIE: We will try to understand the man behind the mask.
00:02:16: [GRAPHIC – Jenin, April 2003]
00:02:17: CHARLIE: Our mission takes us to the Jenin Refugee Camp, a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank and a daily target for Israeli operations. It is also the location of a unique children’s theatre, an outpost of creativity that is trying to steer Palestinian teenagers away from the path of martyrdom.
00:02:45: CHARLIE: [GRAPHIC – 1st Military Checkpoint] Getting into Jenin is next to impossible.
00:02:50: ROGER: You need to put the camera away. It’s pissing them off.
00:02:53: CHARLIE: [GRAPHIC – 2nd Military Checkpoint] After being held up for hours at various military checkpoints, we finally arranged to be guided in by our connections in Jenin. (MAN TALKING ON PHONE – “I have very important visitors.”)
00:03:08: CHARLIE: We’re on our way to Jenin.
00:03:10: MAN (JIHAD??): And, uh, he guaranteed us protection on the edge of Jenin.
00:03:14: CHARLIE: Oh, that’s comforting.
00:03:16: CHARLIE: Into the labyrinth.
00:03:21: CHARLIE: Our hosting guide is Juliano Mer Khamis, the Director of the Jenin Freedom Theater. Juliano’s the son of Arna Mer Khamis, a legendary human rights activist.
00:03:40: ARNA: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] There is no freedom without knowledge. There is no peace without freedom. Peace and freedom are bound together! Bound together! Bound together!
00:03:55: CHARLIE: In the late eighties, Arna opened a theatre, Arna’s House, in the heart of the Jenin refugee camp. Arna and Juliano operated the theatre on the top floor of a building donated by a local widow, Samira Zubedi. The theatre gave the kids in the camp a stage to express their joy, their frustration, anger and hope. Many of the first generation of actors grew up to become “freedom fighters” or, from the Israeli point-of-view, “terrorists.” In 2002, the camp was identified as a breeding ground for resistance. The response was to send in an armed battery of tanks and bulldozers to lay waste to the center of the booby-trapped town. The theatre was virtually destroyed and the first generation of actors were all killed, with the exception of one, Zakaria Zubedi.
00:05:07: CHARLIE: (CONTINUED) Juliano lead us through the streets of the camp, through the flashpoints of recent history.
00:05:12: JULIANO: They asked you if you can come see the graveyard –
00:05:15: CHARLIE: Yeah.
00:05:16: JULIANO: Uh, which a lot of the brothers and fathers are there. There’s one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The acting group of the Stone Theatre, my mother’s theatre. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. There’s only one left alive.
00:05:42: CHARLIE: It’s such a bizarre situation. I have to say I’ve travelled all over the world. This one takes the cake.
00:05:52: CHARLIE: This reminds me of being in, like, the gang neighborhoods of South Central, but much worse. You know, the street writing. This is much, much worse.
00:06:00: CHARLIE: Do soldiers come in here often? The Israelis?
00:06:01: JULIANO: Every night.
00:06:02: CHARLIE: Every night?
00:06:03: JULIANO: Every night. There is a daytime and a nighttime in Jenin. Yesterday a nice guy, he was in the theatre, but not an actor. His brother was in the theatre. He wanted to be the, uh, the stage manager. He was shot by six bullets yesterday.
00:06:22: CHARLIE: As we moved deeper into the heart of the camp, idolatry of the martyr tattooed and papered every wall.
00:06:29: JULIANO: This is, uh, this is the guy. He was killed, uh, yesterday. This was killed two weeks ago. This is, uh, three weeks ago. The problem of the propaganda. This guy had never had weapons in his hand.
00:06:49: CHARLIE: Right.
00:06:49: JULIANO: But, uh, to make out of him a hero, they, uh, when he dies, they put weapon in his hands. Maybe they look very tough, but they were killed, like, when they were sitting in cafes and riding in cars. Special Forces come in with this guy’s cars, jump, (GESTURES LIKE SHOOTING A GUN) and they go.
00:07:12: CHARLIE: At ground zero of Jenin’s Culture of the Martyr, one individual rose, like a Phoenix from the ashes.
00:07:20: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] We put an explosive device in the center of Tel Aviv, killed two and injured twenty, according to the Zionist enemy.
00:07:32: CHARLIE: Terrorist or freedom fighter? This was the man it was my destiny to meet.
00:07:42: JULIANO: He is very good because he is the one who says, “Jews are allowed here, as long as they come for peace and freedom.” And he is considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Palestine. And now you’re going to meet the most dangerous terrorist in Palestine. (HE LAUGHS)
00:08:02: CHARLIE: It’s – It’s so simple, though, you realize – at least for me on this trip – if you just take the time to get to know someone, everyone’s the same.
00:08:12: CHARLIE: As we penetrated deeper into the camp, cell-phoned sentries went on alert.
00:08:21: JULIANO: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] Is it possible to come with some of your armed guards? You know what I’m talking about...Okay, one minute. They’re gonna secure the place.
00:08:39: CHARLIE: Security? The only person keeping me safe now is Moses, Jesus, and the Prophet Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him.
00:08:51: JULIANO: It’s interesting from the point of view said you know only the images that the, uh, the American TV – the, uh (COVERS HIS FACE AND WAVES FIST, LIKE TERRORIST FILM FOOTAGE SEEN IN MEDIA).
00:09:02: CHARLIE: No, like I said, I’ve been praying with Jihad four or five times a day, so – In fact, we just heard the call to prayer, but –
00:09:09: JULIANO: Okay, let’s go.
00:09:10: CHARLIE: (UNDER HIS BREATH, TO HIMSELF) Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together.
00:09:14: CHARLIE: The images of Western TV began to haunt me. My earliest memories of vulnerability came to mind. The Iranian hostage crisis of ’79. And now, walking under the banners of Sadam Hussein, I thought of Daniel Pearl. I had Juliano by my side, but I had to keep my cool.
00:09:43: JULIANO: (GREETING PALESTINIAN MAN) [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] You’re dear to my heart. I’ve missed you. (THEY EXCHANGE GREETINGS AND KISSES) Charlie! This is Zacharias Zubedi. Roger.
00:09:55: ROGER: Salaam Alekum.
00:10:04: JULIANO: So, Charlie?
00:10:05: CHARLIE: Yeah?
00:10:06: JULIANO: This is the rehearsing room which three floors were here – that place was a big theatre – up two floors was bombed and this, uh, was the house of his mother.
00:10:21: CHARLIE: We sat down on the stoop at Zakaria’s mother’s house and talked about his memories of the theatre.
00:10:29: JULIANO: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] I told him about the theater group and how you’re the only one still alive.
00:10:32: ZACHARIAS: (SPEAKS IN ARABIC)
00:10:37: JULIANO: Yeah, he says, not only that, there’s also gone the people that were watching the theater are not really here anymore. (BACKGROUND VOICE) Oh, it’s his boy. Come, Tal, say hello. Say ‘hello’ and go home. (JULIANO AND ZAKARIA KISS TWO CHILDREN) That’s his daughter and his son. (THEY TALK BACK AND FORTH)
00:11:13: CHARLIE: What is the theater – What does the Freedom Theater mean to the community today? Is it important?
00:11:22: ZAKARIA: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] There are many different aspects to the theater. Through the theater, you can talk to the world…and give a different message than the way they see us as terrorists. Finally, and most importantly, we consider it to be a factory that produces Palestinian culture.
00:11:44: ROGER: Do you want to ask him if he sees a time when the average Israeli would be his friend?
00:11:50: JULIANO: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] Is there any possibility that one day, I, as an Israeli, can sit with you as a friend?
00:11:56: ZAKARIA: (SPEAKS IN ARABIC)
00:11:57: JULIANO: (TRANSLATING) He says, uh, you don’t have to wait for the future. I have Israeli friends sitting with me already now.
00:12:06: JULIANO: It’s so twisted. You know, Israelis come here and they are very surprised how they are not being slaughtered because he’s a very dangerous terrorist. (FACETIOUSLY) Please, don’t kill us. (BEING SERVED TEA/COFFEE ON A TRAY)
00:12:20: CHARLIE: (TAKING TEA/COFFEE OFF OF TRAY) My mother already will kill me already when she sees this footage. (THEY LAUGH) One way or another, I’m gone, so toast to new friends because I’m a goner. (THEY CLICK CUPS IN A TOAST) No matter how you slice it now.
00:12:32: JULIANO: (TRANSLATING FOR ZACHARIAS) We don’t have problems when any Israeli comes here in peace.
00:12:39: CHARLIE: Peace. So near and yet so fleeting. I was eye-to-eye with a human being no longer hidden by the media mask, sharing respect, witnessing dignity and then the cell phones came alive.
00:13:02: JULIANO: Yeah, let’s go. We have to move, guys.
00:13:05: CHARLIE: (NARRATING) Israeli jeeps were in the vicinity.
00:13:07: CHARLIE: We’re going this way, yes?
00:13:08: CHARLIE: (NARRATING) It was time to move. I thought about being in Hebron a few days earlier. The soldiers on patrol with their M16s and here in Jenin with our dangerous game of cat and mouse.
00:13:25: JULIANO: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] No problem. These guys are with me.
00:13:28: CHARLIE: (NARRATING) What if I got caught in the cross-fire? There’d be no questioning.
00:13:31: MEN TALKING: There’s a problem…
00:13:36: CHARLIE: I’d be shot on the spot. Jenin perplexed me. As we moved through the camp, my fear of the terrorist was tempered by kindness and friendship and yet I was still questioning the iconography of the freedom fighter. Why the attachment to the gun?
00:14:02: JULIANO: Very interesting. He says, “Don’t think that I believe that, in my weapon, I can free Palestine. I more believe that the, uh, stage is much more effective. The, uh, - Me holding a weapon is just to get you to see and understand that we are occupied. We are resisting something wrong, but I don’t believe this weapon gonna free us.
00:14:26: CHARLIE: So strange our fascination with the gun. A symbol of freedom, but really a symbol of death. As we made our way to the Freedom Theater, we had to say our goodbyes. With the troops nearby, it was no longer safe. I felt partially relieved, but I liked Zakaria and wondered about his fate. When I’d seen him with his kids, I realized we all want the same things in life. For our children to have a better chance. To be there and to help them find their happiness. Would Zakaria be alive next week? Next month? Tomorrow? By what miracle could Zakaria Zubedi survive?
00:15:28: CHARLIE: When we got to the theater, a new generation of Palestinian teenagers were in full swing. Before long, Juliano was back at the helm.
00:15:40: JULIANO: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] This is a theater here.
00:15:44: CHARLIE: Taking them in new directions.
00:15:50: JULIANO: We are acting as though we are going to act in an acting thing. Okay.
00:15:54: WOMAN SITTING IN CHAIR: I see.
00:15:56: KIDS SPEAK BACK AND FORTH IN ARABIC, DOING A SCENE: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] Look, here’s a picture I took with an Israeli Intelligence agent!
00:16:14: ACTOR: It’s not me.
00:16:16: CHARLIE: Watching these scenes unfold, I began to get a sense of the importance of Juliano’s work. Children, and especially young men, need a channel to vent their pent-up emotions.
00:16:27: ACTOR: She was spying on us!
00:16:30: CHARLIE: Here, in the theatre, the potential expression of violence is instantly transformed into an expression of art.
00:16:50: CHARLIE: During one of the breaks, I noticed some activity over by the stage door. Juliano ducked outside to discover an unexpected visitor.
00:16:59: JULIANO: Salaam Alekum.
00:17:00: CHARLIE: After a sixteen year absence from the theater, Zakaria had decided to come back home. Inside, Zakaria sat alone and watched a scene similar to what he might have acted out sixteen years ago. It wasn’t long before he was called back upon the stage.
00:17:24: JULIANO: [TRANSLATION GRAPHIC] You are the Israeli…and he is the Palestinian. Okay.
00:17:34: ZAKARIA: (PLAYING ISRAELI) Where are you from?
00:17:36: TEENAGE ACTOR: I’m from Jenin.
00:17:38: ZAKARIA: From Jenin? Do you know Zakaria Zubeidi?
00:17:42: TEENAGE ACTOR: No.
00:17:43: ZAKARIA: You don’t know Zakaria Zubeidi?
00:17:44: TEENAGE ACTOR: I don’t know anyone.
00:17:45: ZAKARIAS: Liar!
00:17:47: CHARLIE: I watched in awe as this “terrorist” channeled the magic lost in his childhood. He seemed transformed, simply by having a means to express himself. A release from years of suppressed anger and rage, hurt, and humiliation.
00:18:08: TEENAGE ACTOR: I am a Palestinian…
00:18:09: ZAKARIA: You have a life sentence.
00:18:13: ACTOR: Yes, a life sentence.
00:18:15: ZAKARIAS: OK. Call me and I can get you out.
00:18:17: ZAKARIAS: Work with us and and get out.
00:18:21: CHARLIE: The Prodigal Son had returned and then, in a halo of applause.
00:18:25: AUDIENCE: Bravo! (APPLAUSE)
00:18:29: CHARLIE: He was gone. Before leaving Jenin, I had the opportunity to put this amazing experience into perspective with Juliano.
00:18:36: CHARLIE: What we just witnessed was, in a weird way, almost like a miracle. How long has it been since he’s been in here?
00:18:44: JULIANO: Sixteen years.
00:18:46: CHARLIE: And then he just came up to stage and it was, like, that’s all he really wants and you realize that’s all anyone really wants, is to express themselves.
00:18:55: JULIANO: Yeah.
00:18:56: CHARLIE: To be able to share with other people their real feelings and to be understood and respected and –
00:19:03: JULIANO: Yeah, to be a child, you know. He never was a child. There’s no childhood. I mean, look at those kids. There’s no childhood. I mean, this childhood was torn apart.
00:19:11: JULIANO: That guy was a car thief, ex-prisoner, car thief, brother of a suicide bomber. As human beings, if you give them meaning, give them something to live for, they’re not going to become terrorists, they’re not gonna be – they’re not violent. They’re not genetically violent. They don’t look for (UNCLEAR). They’re not born killers. As Zacharias said, “I don’t believe in guns. I don’t think the gun can free Palestine, but I believe that culture, poems, songs, books, can free Palestine and it’s already freeing a lot of people.
00:19:52: [GRAPHIC] One month after our visit to Jenin, Zakaria Zubeidi formally renounced armed resistance…He is currently devoting his life to support the Jenin Freedom Theater.
00:20:09: Explore – Never stop learning. With the support of the Annenberg Foundation, Explore has made funding possible to: The Freedom Theater.
To learn more:
The Freedom Theatre
www.thefreedomtheatre.org
00:20:32: Director and Host Charles Annenberg Weingarten Explore Producers Tom Pollak Roger Jackson Liz Marks Jenin Producer Roger Jackson Story Written and Produced by Douglas Thompson Director of Photography Girjashankar Vohra Editor Douglas Thompson Composer Richard Horowitz Additional Music Checkpoint 303 Photography Mahfouz Abu Turk Graphics Lachlan Westfall Research Editor Brian Dodge Stock Research Stella Dunn Translation Jihad Turk explore.org Made possible by the Annenberg Foundation @2008 Explore Annenberg LLC
00:21:23: END OF FILM

Now Viewing: No Child is Born a Terrorist

Zacharia Zubeidi, head of the al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade in Jenin, has survived four assassination attempts by Israeli forces. While interviewing him, I expected to be gunned down at any moment.

: Palestinian Territory
Location:: Jenin, West Bank
Date:: June 2007
Grants Awarded:: The Freedom Theatre (through Grassroots International) ($200,000)