By Fouzia van der Fort
More than half a century after Palestinians were deported en masse from their cities and villages, Palestinian film director Mohammed Alatar is hoping his documentary on conditions in present-day Palestine will deliver a strong message to audiences.
Speaking in Rylands this week at the premiere of his first documentary, The Iron Wall, Alatar said that while directors usually hoped audiences would enjoy their work, he was hoping for the opposite.
He wants South Africa to become a "voice" for the Palestinian people, whose families and properties are being divided by a 680km barrier made of concrete walls and razor-wire fencing.
It is being built by the Israeli government and construction started in 2001.
"Life is hard and it is so difficult for Palestinians to do daily routine activities but we are still resisting and we will be there until the end of life.
"Visitors to the Holy Land have even said that what the Palestinian people are going through is worse than the apartheid suffered in South Africa.
"We are proud of South Africa, that you have brought that evil down. I wish that after you watch the documentary you do something about it," he told the audience.
The film documents the establishment of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, and the growth of this phenomenon during each Israeli prime minister's tenure. It also looks at the impact of the settlements on the peace process from a Palestinian point of view.
"It is factual. Palestinians and Israelis began the peace process based on a very simple principle: land for peace. Settlements destroy that principle and create land with no peace," he said.
Alatar explained that Palestine needed peace, justice and freedom, which he said South Africa had achieved.
"South Africa is like a minaret for us, having overcome racism, oppression and inequality," said the film's Palestinian producer, Terry Boullata.
She said they had worked closely with the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees to have people speak out about their circumstances in the documentary, which also features Israeli journalists, former Israeli soldiers and peace activists, who explain how the wall has affected their lives and those of Palestinians.
"Israelis call it their security wall and Palestinians call it the apartheid wall.
"I dream of a day when my daughters can say they don't remember the current violence and situation in Palestine," she said.
Alatar said that just as South Africa had been liberated, "justice needs to be done first before reconciliation and healing between the two peoples can bring about closure".
The film was released in Palestine just more than a month ago and while Alatar and Boullata hope their lives and the lives of those in the documentary are not in danger, they say it is important for the international community to see the injustices happening in their homeland.
Monday's screening marked the 58th anniversary of the "nakba" (cataclysm), the Palestinians' term for the mass deportation by Israelis of a million Palestinians from their cities and villages in 1948.
After seeing the film, Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool said it was disturbing to see the reality of the Palestinian people so exposed.
"Cape Town and the Western Cape have been the heartbeat of Palestinian solidarity. It is now important for us to unite and not fragment along organisations or ideologies, but focus on working along the lines of freedom, justice and human rights in Palestine," he said.