Malamah Al-Aflam Al-Tasguilia Al-Felestinia – Derassa Tahlilia (Features of Palestinian Documentaries – Analysis), Alaa Ayyash, Dar Elain Publishing, 2011, Pp367.

In his 367-page volume, packed with many references, Ayyash approaches the issue of Palestinian documentaries from two perspectives: the first is political; the second is in terms of production.

As for production, Ayyash said that given the parallel development of both cinema production and the Zionist occupation of the Palestinian territories, it was always possible to document many relevant developments on the reel.

He added that the interest of Christians worldwide in watching documentaries on historic Christian sites was another factor in the attention documentary makers paid to Palestine as a land.

On the political side, Ayyash argued that documentaries have always been part of the "Palestinian struggle" — given that the recording of Palestinian pre-Nakba life and during the Nakba remains a reminder of the suffering of the Palestinian people. This was enhanced by the increased number of specialized documentary channels, which allowed for a wider viewership.

Ayyash wrote that the documentation of Palestinian life was first put on the reel in 1920, especially with the works of Palestinian cinema makers Badr Lama and Ibrahim Lama.

This, he added, continued throughout the 1930s and increased in the 1940s, before 1948, with the start of the Nakba and the eventual looting of many reels during the Zionist attacks on Palestinian properties.

However, Ayyash noted that in the wake of the 1967 defeat of Arab armies before the Israeli attack that allowed for the full occupation of historic Palestine, Palestinian cinema makers who had found refuge in several Arab and other countries got a lot more invested in documenting the unending Palestinian plight.

The author clarified that this was a moment when the production and the political struggle really crossed paths, given that the production was becoming much more politically purposeful.

As of 1974, Palestinian filmmakers were so focused on recording the Palestinians' struggle under Israeli occupation of their land and violation of their rights.

He indicated that Palestinian political and resistance movements were fully aware of the need for a cultural division focused on documenting the struggle for Palestinian rights.

A new archive of Palestinian documentaries was being put together, mostly in Lebanon, when the Israeli invasion of Beirut started in 1982, allowing for yet another attack to loot and destroy the reels of “Palestinian memory.”

The First Intifada of late 1987 relaunched the documentation process, yet another high point of mixing production and political activism.

By then, Ayyash noted, the documentation was not just about the documentaries but also the TV reels that were being aired with the increasing number of news hours and later news channels.

Ayyash affirmed that the evolution of the Palestinian cause and filmmaking was already well-advanced, which allowed for a more in-depth examination of the details of political resistance and Palestinians' daily lives.

The outcome, he argued, was a more revealing story about the deep association between Palestinians and their land and the inevitability of their ongoing legitimate resistance to Israeli occupation and war against their identity, land, and history.

Much more work is needed to reassemble whatever is there of the Palestinian reels and to put together holistic accounts of the long story of the Palestinian plight and rights.

Ayyash concluded that Palestinian documentaries are an arm of resistance that should be supported and sustained.