Occupation 101: Voice of the Silenced Majority is a 2006 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...

 directed by Sufyan Omeish and Abdallah Omeish, and narrated by Alison Weir

Alison Weir

Alison Weir is a British writer of history books, and latterly historical novels, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty.-Personal life:...

, founder of If Americans Knew

If Americans Knew

If Americans Knew is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Foreign policy of the United States regarding the Middle East, offering analysis of American media coverage of these issues. Its mission, according to the group's website, is to provide "what every...

. The film focuses on the effects of the Israeli occupation

Israeli-occupied territories

The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...

 of the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

 and Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

, and discusses events from the rise of Zionism

Zionism

Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

 to the Second Intifada and Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...

, presenting its perspective through dozens of interviews, questioning the nature of Israeli-American relations

Israel-United States relations

Israel–United States relations are an important factor in the United States government's overall policy in the Middle East, and Congress has placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship. The main expression of Congressional support for Israel has been...

 — in particular, the Israeli military occupation

Israeli-occupied territories

The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...

 of the West Bank and Gaza, and the ethics of US monetary involvement. Occupation 101 includes interviews with mostly American and Israeli scholars, religious leaders, humanitarian workers, and NGO representatives — more than half of whom are Jewish — who are critical of the injustices and human rights abuses stemming from Israeli policy in the West Bank, East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...

, and Gaza.

Cast

The entire list of featured interviews:

• Dr. Albert Aghazarian. Director of Public Relations at Birzeit University
  Birzeit University
  Birzeit University is a university located in Birzeit near Ramallah, Palestinian territories. BZU is among the foremost tertiary educational institutes in the Palestinian territories and has played a significant role in the Palestinian political dialogue.- History :The institution was originally...
  
  . Palestinian Armenian.
• Ambassador James E. Akins
  James E. Akins
  James Elmer Akins was the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from September, 1973 to February, 1976, just in time to serve during the 1973 Oil Crisis of October, 1973 - March, 1974. Akins was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the advisory council of the Iran Policy Committee...
  
  . Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
• Rabbi Arik Ascherman
  Arik Ascherman
  Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman is the Director of Special Projects for Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, an organization where he previously served as Executive Director...
  
  . Rabbis for Human Rights
  Rabbis for Human Rights
  Rabbis for Human Rights-Israel is an Israeli human rights organisation describing itself as "the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights"....
  
   (Israeli group).
• Dr. William Baker (theologian). Christians and Muslims for Peace
  Christians and Muslims for Peace
  Christians and Muslims for Peace is a California-based organization whose stated goal is to "promote peace and understanding between Christians and Muslims". It is headed by William Baker....
  
  .
• Bishop Allen Bartlett, Jr. Diocese of Washington.
• Phyllis Bennis. Institute for Policy Studies
  Institute for Policy Studies
  Institute for Policy Studies is a left-wing think tank based in Washington, D.C..It has been directed by John Cavanagh since 1998- History :...
  
  , and co-chair of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
• Peter Boukaert. Director of Emergencies at Human Rights Watch
  Human Rights Watch
  Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
  
  .
• Sharon Burke. Former Advocacy Director of Amnesty International
  Amnesty International
  Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
  
  .
• Professor Noam Chomsky
  Noam Chomsky
  Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
  
  . Linguist - MIT Professor.
• Father Drew Christiansen. United States Catholic Conference.
• Cindy and Craig Corrie. Parents of the late solidarity activist Rachel Corrie
  Rachel Corrie
  Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement . She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent the IDF from...
  
  .
• Douglas Dicks. Catholic Relief Services
  Catholic Relief Services
  Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the U.S. bishops, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 90 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and...
  
   in Jerusalem. Outreach program director.
• Richard Falk
  Richard A. Falk
  Richard Anderson Falk is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, the author or co-author of 20 books and the editor or co-editor of another 20 books, speaker, activist on world affairs, and an appointee to two United Nations positions on the Palestinian...
  
  . 2001 United Nations Fact-finding Commission in the West Bank and Gaza.
• Paul Findley
  Paul Findley
  Paul Findley is a former United States Representative from Illinois, representing its 20th District. A Republican, he was first elected in 1961. Findley lost his seat in 1982 to current United States Senator Dick Durbin. Findley attended Illinois College and is a member of Phi Alpha Literary Society...
  
  . U.S. Congressman 1961-1983.
• Thomas Getman. World Vision International
  World Vision International
  World Vision International, founded in the USA in 1977, is an evangelical relief and development umbrella organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good...
  
  .
• Neta Golan. Israeli co-founder of International Solidarity Movement
  International Solidarity Movement
  The International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
  
  .
• Jeff Halper
  Jeff Halper
  Jeff Halper is an anthropologist, author, lecturer, political activist, and co-founder and Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions...
  
  . Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
  Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
  The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions is an Israeli peace and human rights organization dedicated to ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and achieving a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians...
  
  .
• Amira Hass
  Amira Hass
  Amira Hass is a prominent left-wing Israeli journalist and author, mostly known for her columns in the daily newspaper Ha'aretz. She is particularly recognized for her reporting on Palestinian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza, where she has also lived for a number of years.-Life:The daughter of...
  
  . Israeli journalist - Ha'aretz.
• Doug Hostetter. Fellowship of Reconciliation
  Fellowship of Reconciliation
  The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries...
  
  .
• Kathy Kamphoefner. Christian Peacemaker Team.
• Adam Keller
  Adam Keller
  Adam Keller is an Israeli peace activist who was among the founders of Gush Shalom, of which he is a spokesperson.-Political views:...
  
  . Gush Shalom
  Gush Shalom
  Gush Shalom is an Israeli peace activism group founded and led by former Irgun and Knesset Member and journalist, Uri Avnery, in 1993...
  
   - Israeli Peace Group.
• Hava Keller. Woman's Organization for Political Prisoners (Israeli group).
• Professor Rashid Khalidi
  Rashid Khalidi
  Rashid Ismail Khalidi , born 1948, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East, is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.-Family, education and...
  
  . School of International and Public Affairs
  School of International and Public Affairs
  The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University is one of the most prestigious graduate schools of public policy in the world. Located on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus in the Borough of Manhattan, in New York City, the School has 15,000 graduates in more than 150...
  
  , Columbia Univ.
• Peretz Kidron
  Peretz Kidron
  Peretz Kidron was an Israeli pacifist, writer, journalist, and translator.-Biography:Born in Vienna, his family moved to Great Britain following the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. After completing his secondary education he emigrated to Israel, where he lived for 20 years in Kibbutz...
  
  . Israeli journalist; Yesh Gvul
  Yesh Gvul
  Yesh Gvul is a movement founded in 1982, by combat veterans, at the outbreak of the Lebanon War, who refused to serve in Lebanon and has expanded its opposition to the war in Lebanon to the negation of service in the occupied territories, reflected in the current Yesh Gvul...
  
   (Israeli peace group).
• Rabbi Michael Lerner
  Michael Lerner (rabbi)
  Michael Lerner is a political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.-Family and Education:...
  
  . Founder & editor-in-chief of Tikkun
  Tikkun (magazine)
  Tikkun is a quarterly English-language magazine, published in the United States, that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion and history from a leftist-progressive viewpoint, and provides commentary about Israeli politics and Jewish life in North America...
  
  magazine.
• Rabbi Rebecca Lillian. Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace.
• Roger Normand. Center for Economic and Social Rights.
• Allegra Pacheco. Israeli human rights lawyer.
• Professor Ilan Pappe
  Ilan Pappé
  Ilan Pappé is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, director of the university's European Centre for Palestine Studies, co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies, and political activist...
  
  . Israeli historian - University of Haifa
  University of Haifa
  The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
  
   (now University of Exeter
  University of Exeter
  The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
  
  ).
• Dr. Iyad Sarraj. Prominent Palestinian
  Palestinian people
  The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
  
   psychiatrist.
• Yael Stein. B'Tselem
  B'Tselem
  B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
  
   - Israeli human rights group.
• Gila Svirsky. Coalition of Women for a Just Peace
  Coalition of Women for a Just Peace
  The Coalition of Women for Peace is an umbrella organization of women's groups in Israel, established in November 2000. It describes itself as "a feminist organization against the occupation of Palestine and for a just peace."...
  
  . Israeli.
• Ambassador Edward Walker
  Edward S. Walker, Jr.
  Edward S. Walker was born in Abington, Pennsylvania. He is a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the UAE and is a Middle East specialist....
  
  . Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
• Alison Weir. Founder of If Americans Knew
  If Americans Knew
  If Americans Knew is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Foreign policy of the United States regarding the Middle East, offering analysis of American media coverage of these issues. Its mission, according to the group's website, is to provide "what every...
  
  .

Awards

The film has won several awards from various film festivals.

• Winner of the "Golden Palm" Award (highest honor given by jury) and for "Best Editing" at the 2007 International Beverly Hills Film Festival
  Beverly Hills Film Festival
  The Beverly Hills Film Festival is a film festival in the United States founded by award-winning independent filmmaker Nino Simone in 2001. The festival debuted in 2001, and has shown regular growth each year...
  
  .
• Winner of the 'Artivist Award' for Best Feature Film under the category of Human Rights at the 2006 Artivist Film Festival & Awards
  Artivist Film Festival & Awards
  The Artivist Film Festival & Awards is an international film festival and awards ceremony dedicated to recognizing activist efforts of filmmakers, specifically in the areas of human rights, child advocacy, environmental preservation, and animal rights....
  
   in Hollywood.
• Winner of the Best Documentary Award (Special Recognition) at the 2007 New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival.
• Winner of the Best Feature Film Award at the 2006 River's Edge Film Festival.
• Winner of the Best Documentary Feature Award at 2006 The Dead Center Film Festival.
• Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at 2006 East Lansing Film Festival
  East Lansing Film Festival
  The East Lansing Film Festival is one of the large film festival in the state of Michigan. It screens over 100 films in five days, including several shorts programs. It is held yearly, usually in late March...
  
  .
• Winner of the John Michaels Memorial Award at the 2006 Big Muddy Film Festival.

External links

• Official Site
• "Occupation 101 Official MySpace Page"
• Film review: "Occupation 101". Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada
  Electronic Intifada
  The Electronic Intifada is a not-for-profit, independent online publication which covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective, "aimed at combating the pro-Israeli, pro-American spin" its editors believe exists in mainstream media accounts.-History:EI was founded by Ali...
  
  , Jun 27, 2007.
• Film Review: "Occupation 101". Nadia Naas Elkhatib, Institute for Middle East Understanding
  Institute for Middle East Understanding
  Institute for Middle East Understanding is a 501 non-profit organisation, not aligned to any political or government organisation. It was founded by Americans and describes its mission as entailing working "with journalists to increase the public's understanding about the socio-economic, political...
  
  , Oct 19, 2006.
• scenes from Occupation 101 on Youtube
• "Film explores Israeli-Palestine conflict". By Gloria Er-Chua. October 19, 2007. The Queen's Journal
  The Queen's Journal
  The Queen's Journal, or simply The Journal, is the main student-run newspaper at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. It was established in 1873, making it one of the oldest student newspapers in Canada. It is as old as the Harvard Crimson, the oldest continuously published student newspaper in...
  
  .