50 People, 1 Question: Jerusalem

This summer, we visited a busy marketplace in Jerusalem and asked 50 ordinary people 1 extraordinary question.  Watch this short video to see what they said.

Our work in Israel and Palestine (also known as the Occupied Palestinian Territory or OPT) began in 2002 in response to the unprecedented levels of military confrontation and restrictions on the movement of Palestinians imposed by the Israeli army. Since then, we’ve been working with a range of Israeli and Palestinian organisations, to speak out against injustice and work towards a durable and lasting peace in the Middle East.

One such organisation is The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).  Itay Epshtain, the Co-Director of ICAHD, visited Ireland during the summer of 2011 to speak about his work to help Palestinians who are facing eviction and forced demolition. Itay spoke to groups across the island of Ireland, and we screened two specially-commissioned videos which asked ordinary people one extraordinary question. The videos were directed by award-winning film director Dearbhla Glynn, who also spoke about her work in Gaza.

The first video was shot in Temple Bar in Dublin on 8th July, using a couch to attract passersby, and as a visual metaphor linking people in Dublin to the Al-Ghawi family in east Jerusalem. The Al-Ghawi family were forcibly evicted by soldiers from their home on 2nd August 2009 and, since then, have been keeping a peaceful watch on their home from a couch on the opposite side of the street, in the hopes that one day their home will be returned to them.

Take our e-action here to help end illegal house evictions in east Jerusalem.