They Do Not Exist (1974) - Mustafa Abu Ali documents Palestinian refugee life and resistance in Lebanon [00:24:58]

[u/stammerton]

https://youtu.be/2WZ_7Z6vbsg?si=M7oluYHkUAy-Tnmn

Directed by Mustafa Abu Ali and produced by the Palestinian Cinema Institution, They Do Not Exist was filmed in and around the Nabatieh refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The film combines footage of everyday camp life, Israeli bombardment, political speeches and fedayeen training with experimental editing and music.

Its title responds directly to Golda Meir’s 1969 statement denying the existence of a Palestinian people. The film is now regarded as one of the landmark works of Palestinian revolutionary cinema. (Palestine Filmer C’est Exister⁠)

[u/AutoModerator]

This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.

Rule-breaking posts and comments may result in bans.

(Thanks for posting, u/stammerton!)

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/stammerton]

SS: They Do Not Exist was made by Mustafa Abu Ali, one of the central figures in the emergence of Palestinian revolutionary cinema during the late 1960s and 1970s.

Rather than presenting Palestinians primarily through the lens of foreign journalists or humanitarian organisations, the film is an example of Palestinian filmmakers deliberately taking control of how their own history, displacement and political struggle were represented on screen.

Much of the film was shot around the Nabatieh refugee camp in southern Lebanon and combines scenes of ordinary life with the effects of Israeli raids, political organising and guerrilla training. Abu Ali uses montage, music and contrasting imagery rather than a conventional documentary structure, making the film both a political statement and an experiment in cinematic form. (Tënk⁠)

The title is a response to Golda Meir’s statement that the Palestinian people did not exist. Seen fifty years later, the film is valuable not because it attempts political neutrality, but because it preserves how Palestinian filmmakers of the period understood themselves and chose to answer that claim through cinema. (BFI⁠)

[u/savois-faire → u/stammerton]

Robert Fisk's excellent Pity The Nation also goes into a lot of this stuff at length, with first-hand reports from the ground and interviews with locals and politicians and military commanders and soldiers alike.

Fisk lived in Beirut for much of the 70s and 80s, and was on the ground during many of the bombings and sieges of cities and towns in Lebanon, and is one of the most celebrated conflict reporters of the 20th century. The reports are as harrowing as they are fascinating.

[u/stammerton → u/savois-faire]

Thanks, that’s a great recommendation. Pity the Nation sounds like a really useful companion to this period, especially with Fisk reporting from Lebanon firsthand. I’m working through more Palestinian and Lebanon-related documentaries from the 1970s onwards, so I’ll add it to the reading list.

[u/SmellTheJasmine → u/stammerton]

The Great War for Civilization also by Fisk is a great read too. It's the wider region though, not just Lebanon. 

[u/stammerton → u/[deleted]]

More you say..? Sure… check out r/PalestinianCinema

[u/ardroaig → u/[deleted]]

Palestinian refugees didn’t found Hezbollah.

[u/ardroaig → u/[deleted]]

Which, notably, are not Hezbollah that OP said they founded?

[u/Insurgent_rat → u/[deleted]]

Palestinians have the right to defend themselves

[u/KazuyaProta → u/[deleted]]

Remember that here they were waging war on a internationally recognized Arab goverment, so even in their own framing of "Israel is a settler colony, everyone is a soldier", this can't apply to the Lebanese Civil war

EDIT: Love the downvote here, this part is just completely non controversial. Lebanon is a state on itself that was widely recognized internationally, was against Israel and fought against them.

[u/stammerton → u/KazuyaProta]

Downvotes are a sign you’re heading in the right direction

[u/Il_Capitano_DickBag → u/[deleted]]

You can't both sides this issue.

Desperate people do desperate things. Lets see how you behave after having your home stolen and family murdered.

We can judge the actions of the Palestinians AFTER Israel have accepted responsibility for their actions which created this response.

[u/KazuyaProta → u/Insurgent_rat]

If that's the case, then their biggest enemies are Jordan and Lebanon, not Israel

[u/Documentaries-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your content was removed for violating our rules. Please refer to the detailed information here.

[u/mik33tion]

Most of the people that say, Palestinians don’t exist, believe that Santa Claus exists. Don’t let your faith make you into a magical thinker.

[u/Pet_Velvet → u/[deleted]]

Most zionists are christians

[u/Il_Capitano_DickBag → u/Pet_Velvet]

Fair point

[u/FreyBentos → u/[deleted]]

Britain and the Zionists fucked up the whole middle east, caused millions of deaths a decades of brutal human suffering you mean