The West Bank is a territory disputed for decades by Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians, where fighting has started again. The 1993 Oslo agreements, which led to the formation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, granted autonomous administration to the Palestinians and Israel withdrew its armed forces from some territories, leaving full civilian control, however, only in area A. For For Palestinians, daily life is very difficult and civil rights are often denied.
Here even a simple passion can be a reason for redemption, as for Tawfiq Najada, the protagonist of the film “Resistance Climbing“.
Before the tragic events of October 8th we interviewed director Andrew Bisharat to tell us about this cinematic adventure selected for Reel Rock 17.
Every Palestinian in the West Bank and Gaza live under oppression and a de facto apartheid that does not guarantee them equal civil rights. The Palestinians here are being slowly ethnically cleansed from the lands that they and their families have been living on for hundreds and thousands of years.
Andrew Bisharat Interview
Hi Andrew, I haven’t seen your Movie yet, selected for Reel Rock, I’ve only seen a few frames in the general trailer. How was the project born, how did you arrive in the West Bank and how did you get to know the protagonist of the Film Tawfiq Najada?
I grew in the US, but my father’s side of my family is Palestinian. My grandfather, Victor Adel Bisharat, was born in Jerusalem. He lived with me in the US until he died when I was 10 years old. He was an amazing architect and person, and I heard stories about Palestine from him as a kid. My father also lived in Beirut as a child. My great grandfather, Hanna Bisharat, built a 27-room villa in west Jerusalem in 1926 that he called Villa Harun Ar Rashid, after a famous Muslim Caliph.
My family is Christian Palistinian, but named he named the house after this Caliph who was known for ushering in a golden age of wisdom and knowledge. This house was stolen from my family in 1948 when Israel was created. The house was ultimately lived in by some prominent Israeli politicians, including Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel.
I have heard about this house my whole life and have always wanted to go see it, and also visit Palestine to better understand a part of my heritage that was complicated to me. When Tim Bruns contacted me to let me know he had started a climbing gym and developed routes in the West Bank, it seemed like an opportunity to go visit Palestine and also do some climbing.
Find out where to climb in the west bank
The West Bank has been a land that has been disputed for decades between Jordanians, Israelis and Palestinians. What is life like for Palestinians at the moment, do they see their rights respected in a territory that the international community considers land reserved for Palestinians and does it see the Israeli presence as an occupying force?
Every Palestinian in the West Bank and Gaza live under oppression and a de facto apartheid that does not guarantee them equal civil rights. The Palestinians here are being slowly ethnically cleansed from the lands that they and their families have been living on for hundreds and thousands of years. The development of Israeli settlements in the West Bank are a tool the Israeli government is using to colonize lands and displace and control Palestinians. They make daily life difficult and that includes being able to just access cliffs for climbing.
Tawfiq Najada is a Bedouin (one of the most marginalized groups among the Palestinians), as he manages to indulge his passion for climbing. Does he have the opportunity to travel and deal with other realities, outside the one in which he lives?
Tawfiq is one character in the film, and as a Bedouin, he is among the most marginalized groups in Palestine. He is a goat herder, who, at age 14, walked up a hill to find Tim and Will developing climbing. They offered me a chance to try climbing and he loved it and is now, several years later, one of the best climbers in Palestine. He lives in a tin roof shanty with his large family and owns next to no possessions.
I saw in your post on Facebook, the protagonists of “Resistance” gathered in the USA to climb in the desert. How was this trip born and what emotions did you experience, reversing the roles between guests?
Because of this film, we were able to get letters of recommendation on behalf of film festivals to allow the Palestinians to apply for visas to come to the US. Those visas were denied at first but we continued lobbying politicians in our government and had some inside connections that ultimately, on second apply, were successful.
Even still, because of the complicated ID situation in Palestine some of the climbers can’t fly out of Tel Aviv and must spend a day traveling to Jordan to fly. This illustrates just how apartheid works in practice in Palestine- Israel. It’s safe to say that without this film being made and without climbing Tawfiq might have never left his village and gotten a chance to travel.
