Rev. J. Mark Davidson | November 18, 2020 This morning, Duke's Center for Documentary Studies presented 8 dazzling short films from Palestinian filmmakers. If you ever get a chance to see the films of talented young Palestinian filmmakers, don't miss it. I promise you won't be disappointed. What came through powerfully for me was the pathos of Palestinian life; in the midst of immense tragedy and loss, the irrepressible human spirit, stories of passion and resilience, hopes and dreams. So many of the portraits were of young people:  a young nurse caring for desperate people in the hospital, inundated by trauma and suffering, whose quest is to "change the meaning of red"… a family expelled from their home in the Nakba in 1948, make a new home for themselves in the West Bank, only to see Israelis build the Wall right through their property and encircle them with an Israeli settlement, yet they decide, "this is our home, and we will not leave"… a young man ...

Imagine armed men break into your home and abduct you. You are torn from your spouse and your children. You are roughed up and thrown into a nightmarish legal limbo known as "administrative detention." You are detained without charge. The military authorities claim to have a case against you. But it is secret. They produce no evidence and there are no charges. Essentially, the law does not apply to you. The state holds you and has taken away your freedom and your rights. Sounds like North Korea or Russia or Saudi Arabia or Egypt, some known human rights violator, right? No, it's Israel.  This ordeal befell Maher Akhras, a 49-yr. old Palestinian father of six, from the occupied West Bank village of Silat-al-Dahr. Maher has gone on hunger strike to protest his detention without charges, illegal under international law. Today was Day 96 of his voluntary starvation to dramatize this violation of his rights. In response to outcries and pleas for compassion, Israel's highes...