MovieChat Forums > The Time That Remains (2009) Discussion > Eloquent dissent

Eloquent dissent

posted 13 years ago by OakWriter
8 replies | jump to latest

I really enjoyed this film. Living in the U.S. it can be difficult to gain a grasp of the nuances of Arab-Israeli relations. Most people you meet are extreme in their views, and they want you to walk away from the conversation either thinking that Israel needs all of the support it can get to protect itself from hostile neighbors who hate them for no good reason, or conversely that Palestinians are strangled by a brutal invading population of neo-Spartans whose well-funded army and brainwashed population want no compromises - only complete submission.

Having recently watched the thought provoking Israeli short film "On Leave" I see a link between the two. Both avoid the black or the white - instead containing enough shades of gray to form your own opinion.

'Time That Remains' left me a little exhausted and sad rather than shocked. The middle-class Arab-Israeli community seems to have been forced into a dronish, obedient lull. Outright rebellion will be met with expulsion or brutal penalties, so those who survive and last seem to the be the ones who resist in very small ways. E.g. Fishing at night in Nazareth as a matter of principle, because this is still their land. Questioning what's taught in school by arguing that America is imperialist. Anything but violence. One strong-willed neighbor is unable to go through even with violence against himself - it seems that he is in despair but too impotent to end it.

The film has made me want to seek out more insight into the country's complex history. More shades of gray to paint a fuller picture.

[–] TemporaryOne-1 13 years ago

It's not just about the Palestinian viewpoint, or the Palestinian demise, either.

It's a journey about how people, whatever their background and wherever in the world they live, live their lives feeling displaced, alienated, severed, uhomed, exiled, etc, from their heritage, culture, religion, geographical region, origins, genesis, etc, and sometimes or often times look back to those origins to find direction, find meaning in life, wondering whether or not a day will come when they are able to accept this severed state of existence, and whether or not they should not accept such a day. People culturally and psychologically paralysed, especially people born after a displacement or a a cultural severing, people who lack a cultural memory altogether, yet are expected by their predecessors to piece memories together and rehistoricize their diaspora despite being severed from their origins, and despite being colonialized interiourly and externally. It's an existential terror shared by people all across the globe, environments you live in and are familiar with are disrupted because they are not intrinsically your own environment, space is disorientated, time is disoriented, it's a existential terror of realizing that one is permanently in a thirdspace where origins, history, heritage, culture, geographical region, identity, etc, can never be recovered.

The geographical location and setting of The Time That Remains didn't look or feel Palestinian. The activities of the Palestinians had nothing to do with Palestinian culture, the activities were normal activities people everywhere across the globe engage in, a repetitious flow action. It felt like a non-specific faceless anonymous non-place with no geopolitical backdrop, representing people everywhere cut off from their origins and histories and cultures, people droning through their clockwork orange lives, a little resistance here and a little resistance there but by-and-large a steady constant decaying into the ebb and flow of time without a thought about their histories or without the desire to delve back into their histories or without the power to return to their histories. A universal condition in which entire globe is in exile.

[–] TexasRepublican 13 years ago

WFT IS THIS???

[–] Volvi 12 years ago

One point need be said that hasnt been said, is that for the greater part of the film it concerned itself with a Christian - Arab family in Nazareth and not Muslim. That in itself portrays a different picture and general attitude...imho.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 12 years ago

Re: Eloquent dissent
by Volvi (Wed Sep 5 2012 06:35:43) Ignore this User | Report Abuse

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One point need be said that hasnt been said, is that for the greater part of the film it concerned itself with a Christian - Arab family in Nazareth and not Muslim. That in itself portrays a different picture and general attitude...imho.

Perhaps you're right, perhaps you're not. The fact that you needed to make explicit the distinction leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Why problem make? When you no problem have, you don't want to make ...

[–] virtualcavalier 11 years ago

I don't find Volvi's comment offensive, in fact I agree that it is important to point out - and would add that Elia Suleiman is too clever to have included the fact that his parents were Christian, if he didn't want anyone to notice.

America has long been Israel's staunchest supporter, and America's population is predominantly Christian. As Elia Suleiman lived in America for several years, one can only imagine he was asked a lot of questions about his homeland. It wouldn't have taken him ten minutes to figure out that most Americans think that 'Palestinian' and 'Muslim' are inter-connected - that they are shocked to learn about the mere existance of Christian Palestinians.

Occupation 101 delves into the shared suffering of Muslims and Palestinians as well, and my assumption is that film/documentary makers are trying to educate the ignorant about a group of people who are largely misunderstood AND BLAMED for what is happening to them. The rise of Islamphobia after 911 was overwhelmingly disturbing, to the point that it was acceptable for people to post rants on news blogs about it.

How often do you hear people say that Palestinians are their own worst enemies -or that "those people" are terrorists/suicide bombers.....that it's "an inherant part of their culture." ???

I know quite a few American Christians who know little about the conflict, yet remain unconditional supporters of Israel because of what is written in the Bible. Imagine their surprise when they learn that Israel is not only oppressing Muslim Palestinians, but Christian Palestinians too?

I understand why it's frustrating that anyone should have to make a distinction - but due to religious/political persecution and power-struggles, all of these details matter. I have caught the attention of many Christian friends who once condemned Palestinians as being the authors of their own demise - who are now reading and learning about their fellow Christian Palestinians, - which has made many of them pause to think. (Yes, I find it disturbing that so many people turn a blind eye when they think the victims are Muslim yet pay attention when they learn that some of them are Christian - but that flows in both directions with extremists.)

As more documentaries/films inform the world about the shared suffering of Muslim and Christian Palestinians, the more the world questions Zionism. As pointed out in "Palestine is still the issue," anyone who criticizes Israel for any reason, is called an anti-Semitic - and that card has been well over-played.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed a sick phenomenon amongst people I know, who only started to care about Palestine when they found out that part of the population living there is Christian. Sad but true - humanity has a lot of healing to do.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

I agree with much of what you write however, Mr Suleiman is making a point about Palestinians in general and not just the Christian ones, e.g. the scene where the guy is on his mobile 'phone and the Israeli tank follows him movement for movement. There is no way to guess whether that character is Muslim or Christian and why would that matter when the Palestinians are treated indiscriminately just because they are Palestinian. It helped his parents none to be Christian in Nazareth when it came to Israeli rule.

So dividing people into categories does leave a bad taste in my mouth and one has to wonder, in light of the Islamaphobia you write of, wehther or not people would have perceived such categories before 9/11, or as we write in my country 11/9, as they do post-that event.

Fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scoot

[–] yusef-ghanima 11 years ago

no it isn't, you are ignorant. the most extreme palestinian leaders were christians, george habash and nayef hawatmeh.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 12 years ago

Accompanying the eloquent dissent is a gentle, tender but very precise sense of humour that engages sympathy with the plight of the people represented.

Why problem make? When you no problem have, you don't want to make ...