It is a new year in the West Bank

And on Christmas, a rainy and great wind swept over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Trees bent and roofs rattled but the wind couldn’t carry away the suffering, vulnerability and the long 365 days of humiliation.

IN the so called Middle East’s only democracy, they do not do guillotines. But there are other innovative rituals of humiliation, designed to reassure the Palestinians that every New Year could well be their last in the land of their ancestors, .. the land of olive trees. As the wind calms down everything returns to normal, but not for the Palestinians, they don’t.

As years go by, the land shrinks, the hope smothers and the despair and humiliation prevail in what is left of Palestine or what is known as the west bank.

Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem may be best known for is its camera project, which started in 2007 when the organization began distributing video cameras to Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

These cameras are often the only object Palestinians can “arm” themselves with in the face of discrimination, oppression and violence waged against them.

In 2011, volunteers in B’Tselem’s camera project filmed over 500 hours of footage in the West Bank. These are two minutes they collected and edited from it, depicting life under occupation and military rule, as a way to sum up the year that passed.

[youtube sEukvh_Ajv4&list=PL521F2626A55E3324&index=38&feature=plpp_video B’Tselem 2011 Video Project Summary]

Sources: +972 website & B’Tselem’s Facebook page.

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

Ashraf Ezzat is an Egyptian born in Cairo and based in Alexandria. He graduated from the faculty of Medicine at Alexandria University.

Keen not to be entirely consumed by the medical profession, Dr. Ezzat invests a lot of his time in research and writing. History of the ancient Near East and of Ancient Egypt has long been an area of special interest to him.

In his writings, he approaches ancient history not as some tales from the remote times but as a causative factor in our existing life; and to him, it’s as relevant and vibrant as the current moment.

In his research and writings, Dr. Ezzat is always on a quest trying to find out why the ancient wisdom had been obstructed and ancient spirituality diminished whereas the Judeo-Christian teachings and faith took hold and prospered.

Dr. Ezzat has written extensively in Arabic tackling many issues and topics in the field of Egyptology and comparative religion. He is the author of Egypt knew no Pharaohs nor Israelites.

He writes regularly at many well-known online websites such as Dissident Voice and What Really Happened.

Dr. Ezzat is also an independent filmmaker. His debut film was back in 2011 The Annals of Egypt Revolution and in 2012 he made Tale of Osiris a short animation for children.

In 2013 his short The Pyramids: story of creation was screened at many international film festivals in Europe. And he is working now on his first documentary “Egypt knew no Pharaohs nor Israelites”.