One of the key aspects of this project is the documentary film that will be made during the delegation. We are proud to have teamed up with Upheaval Productions to produce this important document.
The idea of the film is to use the DAM delegation as a lens for examining the anti-militarist movement within Israel/Palestine, illuminating what is most often missed in coverage seen in the US. The documentary will be shot during the delegation to cover the experiences and interactions of the US war resisters with Israelis and Palestinians. It will feature conversations with those most effected by militarism and those most engaged in working against it, including students facing prison for refusing to serve in the IDF, soldiers refusing orders based on conscience, Palestinians living under and resisting occupation through direct action and community organizing, ex-combatants from both sides, and many others. By capturing the engagements throughout the trip, it hopes to create a survey of resistance against Israeli militarism and its consequences from both within Israeli society and from the Palestinian people. The film also hopes to go further and examine existence in Israel to see how such heightened militarism spreads itself throughout the social order and everyday life, effecting institutions such as schools and social services, as well as its people psychologically through fear, anger, exclusion, and racism.
The purpose of the film is for it to be used as an organizing tool—to aid the growing GI Resistance movement in the US, the Refusenik movement in Israel, and bring together disconnected elements within the fight against militarism such as Iraq/Afghanistan war resisters and Israel/Palestine solidarity activists. Education and community contact are huge parts in the struggle against the dominating and oppressive effects of militarism and this film hopes to be an instrument in bringing people together to organize at home around these global issues.
