ALIF.com Film Productions

NEW FILM: JERUSALEM'S HIGH COST OF LIVING

(Washington, DC - 3/21/2001) - An eyewitness account by a Palestinian-American filmmaker to the tragic events of the first week of the September 2000 Intifada in Jerusalem and the aftermath.

SYNOPSIS:
A FEW weeks after the beginning of the final stage in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, a Palestinian-American filmmaker embarks on a journey back to his city of ancestry, Jerusalem. Instead of finding his Israeli neighbors mobilizing for peace, he encounters unexpected hostility. It was an ominous sign. Days later, the Jerusalem Uprising breaks out after Sharon's fateful incursion into the Noble Sanctuary. The filmmaker finds himself in the eye of the storm as a witness to tragedies of fellow Palestinian Jerusalemites who are gunned down mercilessly by Israeli soldiers before his very eyes. At the Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, the filmmaker lives the drama of a number of Jerusalemite families as they cope with death, injury, and injustice. Yet for beleaguered Jerusalemites, the sudden crises brought them together -- Christians alongside Muslims -- to defend their moral and legal rights in the holiest of cities. As the toll mounted, one person symbolized the tragic losses of the first day of the Intifada. On September 29, 2000, the 23-year- old Osama Mohammad Jaddah, an African-Palestinian from the Old City of Jerusalem, was on his way to give blood but was gunned down by an Israeli sniper at the Makassed Hospital. According to the Israeli media, his mother Wafa sent him to die for a cash reward and a photo opportunity. This couldn't be further from the truth.

DIRECTED BY: Hazim Bitar
MUSIC BY: Marcel Khalife
FORMAT: VHS - NTSC/SECAM/PAL
LANGUAGE: English Narration & Subtitles
LENGTH: 52 min

THOSE WHO VIEWED THE FILM SAID:
"A powerful and very captivating testimonial about the tragedies of the Jerusalem Intifada. A must see for every person who cares about the truth and the plight of Palestinians."
Sami A. Al-Arian
President, Tampa Bay Coalition for
Justice and Peace

"If there is a film I would recommend for activists regarding the Jerusalem uprising, this film is it."
Khalid Turaani
President, Tampa Bay Coalition for
Justice and Peace

"Hazim Bitar puts a human face on the Palestinian uprising. Born out of desperation, it takes its toll daily on Muslims and Christians living precariously in Israeli occupied Palestine."
Enver Masud
Founder and CEO, The Wisdom Fund

TAKE ACTION:
Fight disinformation and indifference. Show this film at your local Mosque, Church, Synagogue, library, student club, or other civic organizations. Remind your community of the tragic consequences of the inhumane Israeli occupation of Palestine. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a moving picture is priceless.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Web: www.alif.com/jerusalem
Phone: 703.920.2968
Email: jerusalem@alif.com