Page - 111 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

not accept their authoritarian solution”.19 Religion is intertwined with conflict- ual identities, and in neither Kadosh nor A Place in Heaven is it a solution. Rath- er, troubled and multiple identities are diffracted in the religious. In Ana Ara- bia, however, Gitai constructs the space of “God’s garden”, in which the mixed community thrives despite poverty and exclusion; the conflictual identities that surround the community (political divisions in society) do not penetrate their shared space. By contrast West of the Jordan River represents a shared space into which political divisions inevitably enter. WEST OF THE JORDAN RIVER The documentary film West of the Jordan River is divided into 19 sections. The film opens with Gitai interviewing Yitzhak Rabin. Before we are introduced into the story, we see a shot of paintings and photographs being replaced on a wall, indicating the change of scenery that is to take place. The children in the gallery, which serves as a space of historical memory for the turbulent history of Israel, observe the images that will be replaced. The title of the film appears and around it rotate the titles of the 19 sections of the film. Their circling around the main title indicates the issues that surround the physical space west of the river Jordan. The director speaks of this film as created in “capsules” that break and connect space and time.20 Images of Yasser Arafat and people killed in attacks are followed by Rabin’s commentary on extremism and right-wing demonstra- tions against the peace negotiations. CAPSULATED STORY – OCCUPIED SPACE The first section focuses on the “1994 Erez Checkpoint Israel/Gaza and closed check-points”, and from here Gitai takes us on a cinematic journey. The follow- ing sections include interviews with Yitzhak Rabin, members of the Knesset, Tzipi Hotovely (the deputy minister of foreign affairs), NGOs and other organ- izations (Breaking the Silence; Parents Circle; B’tselem), journalists, activists and individuals (Ari Shavit, Ben-Dror Yemini, Aluf Benn, Gideon Levy and Tamar Zandberg), members of communities (a Palestinian boy, Ali from Hebron, wants to be a martyr), individuals gathered for the preservation of the Bedouin school 19 Gitai understands personal faith and the complexities associated with it, but he find institutionalized religion or religion as a cultural-national ideology problematic as a solution. In his own words, “one needs to define their point of view on the world and take a specific position, especially in the world today with the rise of nationalism and religious extremism”; see Amos Gitai, Interview by Marie-Jose Sanselme: Kadosh (Amos Gitai, IL/FR, 1999) British DVD Release, Planet, 2002. Both Gitai and Madmo- ny hold the perspective that the land should be shared between Jews and Palestinians. Amos Gitai, Personal Interview, 30.07.2018; Joseph Madmony, Personal Interview, 30.07.2018. 20 Amos Gitai, Interview by Marie-Jose Sanselme: Kadosh (Amos Gitai, IL/FR, 1999) British DVD Release, Planet, 2002. Constructing Space, Changing Reality of Israel through Film | 111www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1