''The Sons of Eilaboun'' ( ar, أبناء عيلبون) is a 2007 documentary film by

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

artist and film maker

Hisham Zreiq Hisham Zreiq ( ar, هشام زريق, he, הישאם זרייק; born 9 February 1968 in Nazareth), also spelled Zrake, is an award-winning Palestinian Christian- Israeli Independent filmmaker, poet, animator and visual artist. He began working ...

(Zrake), that tells the story of the Eilabun massacre, which was committed by the Israeli army during

Operation Hiram Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the Upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) forces ...

in October 1948. Eilaboun is a village in the Northern Galilee between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. In the incident, fourteen men were killed and twelve of them were executed. The villagers were expelled to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and became refugees for few months, before being allowed to return in 1949 as part of an agreement between the state of Israel and Archbishop Maximos V Hakim. The film is the story of the film maker's family, and specially his father's story. Hisham Zreiq explained why he made the film when he said "He choked and his eyes were full of tears, and with a trembling voice he said 'I remember it as if it has just happened' -- this is the way he ended the story, the story of a nine-year-old boy from a small village called Eilaboun, in Palestine 1948, the story of my father, when he was a refugee". Hisham Zreiq was acknowledged by

Ramiz Jaraisy Ramiz Jaraisy ( ar, رامز جرايسي, he, ראמז ג'ראיסי; born October 24, 1951) is an Arab-Israeli politician and the former mayor of Nazareth. Jaraisy was born in Israel. He holds a BSc in mechanical engineering (1973) and an MS ...

, the mayor of Nazareth and by Hana Sweid, an Israeli Arab politician and member of the Knesset from Eilaboun, where Jaraisy described the film as an important work that tells the Palestinian story in a contrast with the dominant Israeli version.

Gilad Atzmon Gilad Atzmon ( he, גלעד עצמון, ; born 9 June 1963) is a British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist, and writer. As a musician, he is best known as a saxophonist and bandleader. His instruments include the saxophone, acco ...

, an Israeli-born British, political activist and writer, wrote in an article: "Zreiq manages to deliver a very deep and authentic reading of Palestinian history. He also manages to portray the intense emotional impact of the Nakba on those who survived the horror."

Synopsis

The film starts with Melia Zreiq, an old woman from Eilaboun, saying: "I hope God will bring peace to this land, and let the peoples live together - a good life. I hope there will be peace". Historian

Ilan Pappe Ilan may refer to: Organization * ILAN, Israeli umbrella organization for the treatment of disabled children Given name * Ilan (name), a Hebrew/Israeli name * Ilan Bakhar, a retired Israeli footballer * Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna, a Brazilian footbal ...

talks about

Plan Dalet A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. ...

, a plan that

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

and the Haganah leaders in Palestine worked out during autumn 1947 to spring 1948. Pappe discusses the details of the plan, and how was it carried out. On October 30, 1948, the Israeli army entered Eilaboun at approximately 5 AM. They then forced the villagers together in the main square of the village. They chose seventeen young men. Five of them were taken as human shield, and the rest of the twelve were killed, each in a different location. This all happened after the expulsion of the rest of the village to Lebanon, where they became refugees after a five days forced march to Lebanon. After a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

peace keeper observed and reported Israel was forced to allow the people back.

Awards and festivals

The film won the Al-Awda award in Palestine 2008, and was screened in several festivals and events, such as: * Sixth Annual International Al-Awda Convention 2008,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States * Boston Palestine Film Festival 2008, United States * International İzmir Short Film Festival 2008, Izmir,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

* Amal The International Euro-Arab film Festival 2008, Spain * Carthage Film Festival 2008 (Palestine: To remember section),

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

* Regards Palestiniens, Montreal, Canada * Chicago Palestine Film Festival, Chicago, USA *

13th Annual Arab Film Festival In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave ...

, Los Angeles, USA * Sixth Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, Minnesota, USA * Palestine Film Festival in Madrid, 2010, Spain * Al Ard Doc Film Festival, 2011, Cagliari, Italy * Toronto Palestine Film Festival, 2012, Toronto, Canada

References

External links

* *
The Sons of Eilaboun in Vimeo

Hisham Zreiq's film Sons of Eilaboun: introduction by Gilad Atzmon

The sons of Eilaboun in Amazon

When it all began (The long version of The sons of Eilaboun)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sons of Eilaboun Films about the 1948 Palestinian exodus 2007 films 2000s Arabic-language films 2000s English-language films Palestinian documentary films Documentary films about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict German short documentary films 2007 short documentary films 1948 Arab–Israeli War Films set in 1948 Films about forced migration 2007 multilingual films German multilingual films 2000s German films

Synopsis

Awards and festivals

See also

References

External links