Abstract
In this article, I examine the only entirely fictional film made so far about Israel's July 2006 war on Lebanon: the Lebanese-Iranian film 33 Days (2012). I demonstrate how this cinematic intervention, centered on the real-life Battle of Aita al-Shaab, provides a counter-hegemonic narrative to the mostly Western and largely orientalist views not only of this war but of the history of conflict between two opposed political imaginaries: the Israeli on the one hand and the discourse of resistance on the other. I argue that the film's featuring a web of different types of intersecting memories—personal and collective, traumatic and inherited (post-memories)—of both Lebanese and Israeli characters is instrumental for (re)defining resistance as an ongoing project with both a historical trajectory and an eye to the future of Arab-Israeli armed conflict. While memories are used to recount parts of the (hi)story of combat against Israeli offensives, they also force Israeli commanders to recount, i.e., to recalculate, their own tactics and strategies as they encounter an unwavering and surprising opponent.
Highlights
Wars on the Ground and on the ScreenNew Arab Cinema has been successful in portraying Arab anti-colonial struggles for national self-determination, with numerous films making lasting contributions to visual historical discourse about the Arab region (Khoury, 2005; Shafik, 2007)
Most Lebanese films deal with the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) and its aftereffects (Khatib, 2008), all “condemning it in different ways” (Khatib, 2011: 134), their rendering of resistance
Given the fact that Lebanese cinema has largely ignored the role of women as “active agents” in the civil war, presenting them “as passive and silent beings” (Khatib, 2006: 65), choosing Umm Abbas as the collector, carrier, and distributor of memories involving face-to-face encounters with the Israeli military is both a cinematic accomplishment and a way to define resistance as gender- and age-neutral
Summary
Wars on the Ground and on the ScreenNew Arab Cinema has been successful in portraying Arab anti-colonial struggles for national self-determination, with numerous films making lasting contributions to visual historical discourse about the Arab region (Khoury, 2005; Shafik, 2007). 33 Days does not cover the entire war, as its title would suggest, but focuses instead on its crucial first three days,14 with action centered on two locations: Aita al-Shaab, a small village about 1 km northeast of the Israeli border and near where the soldiers were captured, and a command post in northern Israel.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
