Arna's Children Film Screening at UC Irvine

Wednesday, May 18, 2011, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm, at UC Irvine

Students for Justice in Palestine presented the film screening of Arna’s Children, a film by Juliano Mer KhamisJuliano Mer Khamis. Afterwards, there was a Question and Answer session with Mac Lojowsky.

The Jenin Freedom Theatre was created by Arna, for the main purpose of giving the Palestinian kids hope. Her son, Juliano Mer Khamis, an actor and an activist, also works with the kids. Arna and Juliano are Palestinian Jewish, and they want to help the Palestinians resist and get their freedom as well as end the occupation.

The documentary goes inside The Jenin Freedom Theatre, displaying Arna and Juliano helping the kids express themselves through different creative means, whether drama, art, journalism, painting, etc, as well as teaching them that there is a normal life out there, beyond the occupation, much different from the terror and destruction that they experience daily. This venue gave the kids hope and an outlet, as many kids explain that they dream of being famous actors or artists some day. These kids had big smiles on their face as they learned to have fun and act like carefree kids. But the reality eventually sank in, whenever the Israeli soldiers would enter and terrorize them. They realized that their hopes and dreams seemed too distant as well as impossible to accomplish. When the boys grew up, many joined various groups in order to resist and fight back. Many young men felt committing suicide attacks were their only way out of the Hell they were living, as one of the young men said, it is either “…death or freedom,” and death seemed to be easier to accomplish than attaining their freedom. They have lost their hope and will to live, feeling they are better off being dead and going to paradise than continually living the Hell of the Israeli Zionists and the occupation. They are tired of the resistance, tanks, Israeli soldiers, and occupation. The occupation has a psychological effect on them, taking away everything from them, which includes their hope as well as the ability to dream and foresee the future.

They need the arts to express their emotions. But the trauma and damage that they experience is so deep that they cannot tolerate their situation any longer. They feel a desperate need to fight back in order to escape their situation.

Arna got cancer and eventually died. Then, Juliano was shot in the head while driving his babysitter and his son. He died, afterwards. Juliano wanted to go beyond defense to fight back and construct a creative outlet that was conducive.

Mac Lojowsky knew Rachel Corrie, who had died trying to protect a Palestinian family’s home from Israeli soldiers who were about to demolish the house with a bulldozer. The Israeli soldier intentionally ran over her with a bulldozer and killed her as she tried to block his way from destroying the house. Mac describes Rachel as dedicated and tough as well as she believed 100% in what she was doing to help the Palestinians. Her family still goes to GazaGaza, for Rachel, to continue her dream. Mac ends the discussion with, “There is beauty in the resistance.”

For more information about The Jenin Freedom Theatre, The Jenin Refugee Camp, and Juliano Mer Khamis as well as to watch a movie trailer for Arna’s Children and other videos, visit the website: www.thefreedomtheatre.org.

You can watch this whole film online, on this site: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/4981/Arna-s-Children or on this youtube video I uploaded with this article.