Between Reality and Documentary: A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian...

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Shahd Abusalama

Between Reality and Documentary

A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian and Palestinian Documentary...

Shahd Abusalama

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English

I.B. Tauris
20 February 2025

Documentary movies & films; Colonialism & imperialism

Series: SOAS Palestine Studies

This book investigates representations of Palestinian refugees in Gaza in colonial, humanitarian and Palestinian documentary films, spanning until the 1993 Oslo Agreement. Chapters examine various film sources throughout this period including British Pathé, newsreels, Quaker and UNRWA documentaries, and Palestinian opposition cinema.

British Pathé is considered as a window into the wider colonial depiction of indigenous Palestinians in the British Mandate period; newsreels are examined as representations of the plight of Palestinian refugees in Gaza after Israel’s proclamation and Gaza-focused humanitarian documentaries shot by the Quakers and UNRWA are compared. The final chapters trace the evolution of oppositional documentary filmmaking, from the cinema of revolution (1968-1982) to the peace deal of 1993. Through a close audio-visual and textual analysis, rooted in a historical-contextual approach, Shahd Abusalama explores the techniques used to project emancipatory representations while highlighting shifts and variations in the imagery around Gaza refugees. In exploring the historical, ideologically fuelled, representations of Gaza and its refugees in colonial and humanitarian films, and the opposition to it, this book reaffirms the continuity of Palestinian resistance, refugees’ call for return, and the importance of Gaza itself to the Palestinian struggle.

By: Shahd Abusalama
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780755653102
ISBN 10: 0755653106
Series: SOAS Palestine Studies
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 20 February 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements Figures Chronology of key events Introduction The Author’s Positionality: And Still They Dance (2012) Why Gaza? Historicising the Plight of Palestinian Refugees in Gaza Theoretical Approaches The Representation of Palestine in Film: A Historical Review Methods and Selection Overall structure of the Book 1. The Presence and Absence of Palestinians in Films During the British Mandate: The Case of British Pathé Introduction British Pathé and the British Empire British Pathé’s First Documentaries on Palestine The Palestinian Great Revolt (1936-1939) The End of the Mandate, 1946-1948: A Change or More of the Same? Conclusion 2. Gaza’s Palestinian Refugees Through the Pathé Lens Introduction Pathé and the Nakba The Absent Presence of Gaza in 1940s Newsreels 1955–1957: Gaza and the Suez Crisis The First Occupation of Gaza, 1956–1957 The Israeli Military Occupation of 1967 Conclusion 3. Humanitarian Representations of Gaza refugees: The Quakers’ Case Introduction Historicising The Early Plight of Palestinian Refugees in Gaza (1948-1950) The Quakers in Gaza: Western Humanitarianism Versus the Desire for Return The AFSC Documentary Film Palestine (1949) Conclusion 4. Western Humanitarianism and the UNRWA Visual Image Introduction Western Humanitarianism and Images of Suffering UNRWA in Gaza and the Politics of the Archive Inviting Sympathy in Sands of Sorrow (1950) Conclusion 5. Gaza Refugees in the Cinema of Revolution (1968-1982) Introduction The Palestinian Cinema of Revolution Scenes from the Occupation in Gaza (1973) Conclusion 6. Gaza Refugees in Palestinian Filmmaking, 1982-1993 Introduction Fourth Period Cinema: Post-Revolution Cinema? Gaza from the 1980s to 1993 Gaza Ghetto (1985) Filmmakers of the First Intifada in Gaza 225 Palestinian Diaries (1991) 227 Conclusion 236 Conclusion 238 Bibliography Cited Filmography

Shahd Abusalama is an activist scholar, artist and writer, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza. She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University, UK, with a Ph.D. examining the historical representations of Gaza in documentary films between 1917 and 1993. She is the author of the Palestine from My Eyes blog and book, and a co-founder of London-based Hawiyya Dance Company.

Reviews for Between Reality and Documentary: A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian and Palestinian Documentary Film

This book offers a critical, original and urgent study of the historical ideological cinematic representations of Palestinian refugees, with a focus on Gazan refugees, from Mandatory Palestine until the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Through a detailed analysis of filmic representations, including the colonial newsreels of British Pathe, the book systematically addresses the competing discourses of imperial legacy that have contributed both to the “naturalisation”, denigration and isolation of Palestinians as a subject people, while highlighting their consistent and continuing resistance. The book is a timely critical account that offers a counter narrative to the de-historicised language of colonial and settler colonial exceptionalism around Gaza and Palestine. * Professor Dina Matar, SOAS Centre for Palestine Studies, University of London * With incisive alertness to historical and aesthetic resonance, Between Reality and Documentary conscientiously exposes how different filmmaking practices – from the colonial to the humanitarian to the liberatory – each stake their claim on the territory of Gaza. Shahd Abusalama’s scholarship powerfully exemplifies academic writing as anti-colonial activism. * Kay Dickinson, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow * A crucial text for anyone interested in Palestine and its painful history under Zionist occupation, mapping the history of Gaza in the twentieth century through the illustrated perspective of documentary cinema representation. The rich, complex and vibrant story of Gaza is vividly told – a narrative of strength and perseverance against the odds - a struggle for modernity, liberation and justice. Reading this at the time of the Gaza genocide offers a special take on its crucial importance for a future, post-Zionist Palestinian democracy – highly readable and warmly recommended. * Professor Haim Bresheeth-Žabner, SOAS, University of London *