I cried, looked around to see others crying, and cried some more. Where did all these tears emerge from, you ask? Palestine 36.
I had the pleasure, along with some family members, of watching the Palestine 36 film at Hyland Cinema on Saturday, April 25th. Showing up 20 minutes before show-time with only a few other early bird activists present I feared this was going to be another low turn-out activist event we have grown too familiar with in our city. Surprisingly, seats filled up quickly until the last minute with so many familiar faces from the community. Arab standard time is still very much a thing.
Palestine 36 is a 2025 historical drama written and directed by Annemarie Jacir. The film recounts the 1936–1939 Arab revolt against British colonial rule in Palestine during the Mandate period. (Wikipedia). The film is emotionally charging, riling up the spirit of resistance from an Arab perspective with the backdrop of settler colonialism as it happened at the time. Not for the faint of heart, this movie will evoke deep emotions.
The film starts with something a little unfamiliar to the primarily academic and professionally minded Western Arab and Muslim audience: the woes of labour equity. One race being favored over another for pay and position is bound to cause problems. The film presents the Arab revolt’s foundation primarily based in labour strikes, which evolved as a main feature of the revolt. This is something we have overlooked and not appreciated in our era today. Unions still hold a lot of power in popular resistance movements and perhaps need to be more explored for the Palestinian cause today.
There was a heavy emphasis with a main character that built a strong narrative for the Christian element to the uprising. While the majority Muslim audience may not directly relate, this feature helped to promote the concept of spiritual resilience as a primary motivator in the resistance. This made it more relatable to a broader audience of all faiths and if the target audience is mostly American Christians, this strategy was very well played. As mentioned in the film, the British removed the cross from the Palestinian flag to make the nationhood less significant to the West. Focusing on the Christian element counteracts this drawback.
The film also touched on the manipulation of the Islamic movement in creating division in the resistance. This is a controversial topic, but probably has more historical evidence than most observant Muslims in the West want to admit. Regardless, it’s a shame that the modern Islamic principals — namely Al-Quds as our third holiest site, the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom, and fighting for freedom as a concept were not developed. This kept the resistance idea as reactive and did not provide a clear solution for the problem at hand. For example, Islamic values of freedom, equality and justice were not brought up. This was a big oversight and could have been explored to resonate with the world’s 2 billion Muslims, even if it was only a minor feature of the resistance.
The original plan of the British Mandate that stood out for me was briefly mentioned by a Palestinian Falaahi (village folk/farming communities) character. He discussed the Mandate being for two peoples on two paths. Arab and Jew. They were not always in conflict. This is more developed in the Wampum conception familiar to our numerous Indigenous communities across Turtle Island (North America). The Two-Row Wampum symbolizes a covenant of co-existence and mutual respect. It was not until this co-existence and respect broke down, did the resistance emerge as inevitable. This also made me reflect on my own role in the settler-colonial project here in the West. Many of us don’t realize we may actually be part of the problem here, instead of the solution.
Overall, this was an impactful film, definitely worth watching. Uniting the Falaheen with the cosmopolitan socialite, the Christian with the Muslim, and the religious with the liberal, Palestine is a uniting factor that lives on today. Our history is full of sacrifice, which the film highlights, and comes at a timely period of reflection during this blessed month of Dhul Hijjah. To quote the Freedom Flotilla Coalition: “Our destination is the conscience of humanity.” Palestine is our cause. Alhamdulillah, the resistance lives on!