"Israel is always looking to drive Palestinians into smaller and smaller spaces. To make them invisible, to deny them resources, deny them chances and ultimately to try and force them out."
-Jonathan Cook, Author and International Journalist
AbOUT THE FILM
In Israel, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank, the law is whatever Israel deems to be in the best interest of Jewish Israelis and to the detriment of Palestinians. Israel violates the civil and human rights of Palestinians as a matter of standard, accepted policy. However, there are brave, determined individuals who are trying to expose the destructive, unjust, and sometimes invisible ways in which Israel exploits and oppresses Palestinians. The Law and the Prophets explains the mechanisms of control that Israel deploys to subjugate Palestinians. These mechanisms, some violent and some nonviolent, have been perfected through decades of civil and military rule of Palestinians both within Israel, and in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Appearing In The Film
SAM BAHOUR
Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American, born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio and is managing partner of Applied Information Management, a consulting firm specializing in business development with a niche focus on start-ups and providing executive counsel. Sam returned to Palestine when the Oslo process began and he was instrumental in the establishment of two publicly traded firms: the Palestine Telecommunications Company and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Center. As a Palestinian businessperson, Sam has learned firsthand the totalizing nature of the Israeli occupation. He is currently an independent director at the Arab Islamic Bank and an advisory board member of the Open Society Foundations’ MENA Office. Bahour serves in various capacities in several community organizations, including co-founder and board chair of Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (AVPE), board member of Just Vision in New York, board member and policy adviser at Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, and a secretariat member of the Palestine Strategy Group (PSG), among others. He writes frequently on Palestinian affairs and has been widely published in leading outlets. He is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians (1993), tweets at @SamBahour and blogs at www.epalestine.ps.
JONATHAN COOK
Jonathan Cook is British journalist who has been based in Nazareth, Israel, since 2001. Jonathan has written three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish State (2006), Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (2008), Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (2008). He has also contributed chapters and essays to several edited volumes on Israel-Palestine. Jonathan’s reports and commentaries have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, the Times and the New Statesman (London); The International Herald Tribune and Le Monde diplomatique (Paris); Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo); The National (Abu Dhabi); The Daily Star (Beirut); The Middle East Report and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (Washington); and The Irish Times (Dublin). He has contributed to many online sites, such as CounterPunch, Israeli Occupation Archive, Al-Jazeera.com and Electronic Intifada.
SALWA DUAIBIS
Salwa Duaibis is a Palestinian citizen of Israel based in Jerusalem. In 2013, she co-founded Military Court Watch, an organization that monitors the treatment of children in Israeli military detention. Prior to that, she worked with a number of human rights organizations focusing on Palestinian economic rights and women’s rights.
Military Court Watch scrutinizes the treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military courts. It monitors and documents the treatment of Palestinian children from the moment of their arrest until their final release. This process involves the collection of testimonies from affected children and their families, as well as assessing developments within the military legal system.
GERARD HORTON
Gerard Horton is a lawyer and co-founder of Military Court Watch. Gerard has focused on the issue of children detained by the Israeli military and prosecuted in military courts for the past thirteen years. Prior to work with Military Court Watch, he practiced as a barrister at the Sydney bar specializing in commercial and criminal cases.
Military Court Watch scrutinizes the treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military courts. It monitors and documents the treatment of Palestinian children from the moment of their arrest until their final release. This process involves the collection of testimonies from affected children and their families, as well as assessing developments within the military legal system.
DAOUD NASSAR
Daoud is a Palestinian Christian who founded Tent of Nations farm on his family's land in the West Bank. The farm, which is about 100 acres and is surrounded by some of the settlements of the Gush Etzion bloc (including Beitar Illit [pop. 51,636], Neve Daniel [pop. 2300], and Rosh Tzurim [pop. 950]), was purchased in 1916 during the Ottoman Empire. The Nassars have the official papers of that purchase. They have been struggling to stay on their land as Israeli officials try to force them off the farm by every “legal” means possible, beginning in 1991 when it was declared state land. The slogan of the Tent of Nations is a testament to their commitment to peace and justice: “We refuse to be enemies.”
ITAMAR SHAPIRA
Former Israeli Soldier and Co-founder of Combatants for Peace
Itamar served in the Israeli military during the second Intifada, spending much of his service time in the West Bank. He is a co-founder of Combatants for Peace, which was founded in 2006. Israeli and Palestinian former combatants, people who had taken an active role in the conflict, laid down their weapons and established Combatants for Peace. “The egalitarian, bi-national, grassroots organization was founded on the belief that the cycle of violence can only be broken when Israelis and Palestinians join forces.” Itamar is now a pro-equality Israeli activist currently working on a Master of Arts in Anthropology at Haifa University. He is a flamenco musician and has been a tour guide in Jerusalem and Israel/Palestine since 2006. Itamar has intimate knowledge of the political realities and historical narratives in Israel/Palestine and addresses collective traumas like the Holocaust and the Nakba (the forced expulsion of Palestinians from historic Palestine by Israeli soldiers in 1948-1949).
SAHAR VARDI
Israeli Activist, American Friends Service Committee
Sahar Vardi is a Jerusalem-based activist. She publicly refused her military service and was imprisoned in 2008. Since then she has been active with Israeli anti-militarist groups such as New Profile, and today she works as the Israel Program Manager for the American Friends Service Committee based in Jerusalem. Sahar is part of Boycott from Within (a group of Israelis supporting the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israeli products) and has been active with direct action groups such as Taayush and Free Jerusalem. Today much of her work focuses on the economic aspects of the Israeli occupation and the military industry, as well as Israel’s weapons exports.
JOSHUA VIS
Speaker, Writer, Activist, Filmmaker
Joshua Vis is a speaker, writer, activist, and filmmaker. He holds a PhD in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible from Duke University, as well as a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Josh works as a thought leader on Israel/Palestine for the Reformed Church in America. He leads immersion tours of Israel and Palestine with the aim of teaching participants about the history, archaeology, and interpretative history of the Bible, along with the realities of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Josh recently started Still Processing, a community exploring the richness, complexity, and difficulty of life in an ideologically curious, loving, and open way. The Law and the Prophets is Josh’s first film.
YAHAV ZOHAR
Green Olive Tours
Yahav works as a partner and senior guide for Green Olive Tours, which offer alternative tours throughout Israel and Palestine. He is an expert in the history of Israel and Palestine and in the intricacies of the modern conflict. Yahav was born in Jerusalem and has lived in the city all his life. He has been a journalist, translator, political activist and a spokesperson for human rights and a sustainable political solution in Israel and Palestine. He has been involved with Combatants for Peace, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and other peace and human rights initiatives. Currently, Yahav is working on a short film series entitled “Homeland Insecurity.”