21-23

Infinite thanks to Iltezam Morrar, a direct protester
which shared with me her story of struggle
I have met Iltzam one Sunday morning
And I figured out the meaning of her name (obligation)

The female spectator

The responsibility assumed by a counter-film (feminist film), exclusively when it concerns the director's point of view, particularly acute in finding an appropriate form and style (Smelik 1998, 494) is a fundamental starting point in understanding the genre a documentary is . Undoubtedly, the female perspective of a Brazilian-American director Julie Bache in Budrus made this film engagé not in the representation of the oppression of women, but in its representation and inclusion of other feminist politics, such as non-violence, anti-militarism, the struggle for human rights, existence and unity of various parties, and peace policy in general.

Her voice of the author with a clear theoretical and critical background, felt already in its plural perspectives of actors and events taking place at the turn of 2000's Palestine, then marked by clashes with the Israeli army, is inherent to a desire for a realistic perspective. Perceiving events from an objective spatio-temporal distance¹, Bacha introduces, with a masterful intervention and a transcultural act in the centre / West, an always current issue of violence against otherness - which is not further stigmatized and doesn't bear the terrible stamp of oppression (ethnic, religious, gender, Eastern).

{niftybox background=#8FBC8F, width=360px} Undoubtedly, the female perspective of a Brazilian-American director Julie Bache in Budrus made this film engagé not in the representation of the oppression of women, but in its representation and inclusion of other feminist politics, such as non-violence, anti-militarism, the struggle for human rights, existence and unity of various parties, and peace policy in general.{/niftybox}

Budrus² is a Palestinian village located on the border with Israel, and according to Iltezam's words during a friendly and informal coffee, her village was named after a Roman priest who had his own church and led a religious community in that area. Synthesis of symbolism here lies not only in the historic name of the location , but also in what Budrus represents today - a place of unity of the Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas, women, children and men, Israeli activists, peace activists from around the world, who united and won the right of Palestinians for the walls and fences of separation not to be built inside the village. Wall and fence in the 21st century, paradoxically at the time of globalisation, are synonyms of violent separation lines and a forced exclusion .

The politics of peace for the tradition

The most common question that arises is: where is the origin of the practice of non-violent protests in countries mapped as the East in relation to the West and to traditions of democratic ways of solving the problem? The problem of western views, according to which they are the only ones to nurture democratic practices, is connected with the images that are vastly popularised thanks to the powerful media propaganda, whilst they represent questions of politics and the illusion of orientalization. According to theorist Edward Said, Orientalism is based on epistemological differences and expresses the intentions of control and manipulation and incorporation of what is obviously a different (or alternative and new) world; it is, above all, the speech which is undoubtedly in a direct and harmonious relationship with the political power at its rawest (Said 1999, 18-26).

Bach has through her counter-discourse, emphasized in the documentary, empowered her heroes / heroines to have and express their own reasoning. And in line with this attitude, she produces self / reflection, present in moments of involvement of Palestinian women and their role in the demonstrations. Iltezam Morrar, the central female character of the film, along with her father Ayed, and the initiator of the female part of demonstrations testifies to the tradition of protesting in her family: parents, grandparents, cousins and extended family. A place which she, as a fifteen-year old girl , mapped is the collaboration with her father on the direct involvement of women in the demonstration, which is her merit. This has also given her turn in the direct struggle for the realization of violated human rights. She, at the level of the film's documentarity, signifies the importance of women in the Palestinian liberation movement.

The story of the village of Budrus is constituted in relation to the initial question of Julia Bacha , which examines the ethics of building a wall in the occupied / foreign territory at the expense of the rights of others to survive³. Does the price of the security of the citizens of one state must be paid by destroying 3,000 olive trees that represent not only the survival but also agricultural traditions ? Ayed Morrar himself, the community organizer in protests, at the very beginning of the film says : Our connection to the land is the part of our culture. Olives are a precious source of life in Budrus . Morrar organizes community meetings in the village and as an experienced campaigner for human rights she presents to the members of the community two solutions : to give up , because the construction of the wall appears to be the fate and God's will , and the second option, which is much more acceptable and reasonable, is to face the challenge and fight against injustice . Constant struggle between the two ethics, the Israeli one, which under the assumption of security blocks potential terrorists, and the Palestinian one which represents the commitment to non-violent struggle for survival, and the salvation of the village from destruction becomes convoluted and a conflicting place of perception . This "topos" is necessarily joined by an echo-like voice of the demonstrators, that for every cut down olive tree, they will plant ten new trees. Basically, pacifist ways of opposing militaristic violence consist in the imposition of new values that raise awareness through ecology also, which is an extremely important component of the alternative movement.

{niftybox background=#8FBC8F, width=360px} The most common question that arises is: where is the origin of the practice of non-violent protests in countries mapped as the East in relation to the West and to traditions of democratic ways of solving the problem? The problem of western views, according to which they are the only ones to nurture democratic practices, is connected with the images that are vastly popularised thanks to the powerful media propaganda, whilst they represent questions of politics and the illusion of orientalization.{/niftybox}

The director uses an interview form, which includes all the key participants in the demonstration, then media footage of collected media reporting, news of Israeli media, but also heartbreaking scenes of uprooted olive trees, which the children, symbolically, place again to the in-turned ground. By this procedure, the scene in the film occurs as a catalyst and cathartic flashback from which hope can resurface, in the direction of political responsibilities. It is about the above mentioned eco-alternative to the militaristic violence. Budrus is a moving documentary that, in addition to the unique stories of resistance, follows the development of the peace movement in Palestine, which even today serves as a great example of non-violent problem solving.