Tears of Gaza

This simply has to be the most devastating documentary on the effects of modern warfare I have yet seen, concentrating, as it does, on people who are undoubtedly innocent of any crime or provocation: the children caught up in a war zone.

The majority of the footage was taken by residents on the ground during the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, which lasted for three weeks from Dec. 27th 2008, which was subsequently assembled by the Norwegian director Vibeke Løkkeberg.

It also includes interviews with three children who were witness to the attack: Amira, Rasmia and Yahya, and the film is named for the tears they shed. It could just as well have been called Children of Gaza, as we see the conflict mainly through their eyes, and hear about it through their reflections.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on earth, with a population of one and a half million on a strip of land measuring 360 sq. km. Given that density there can be no surgical strike which targets only fighters and doesn’t include civilians.

The film materials clearly show the use of phosperous bombs, which cannot be anything but indiscrimate given the way they fall. There are also photographs of children who have been shot at close range and face full on and footage from the attack on the UN school where many women and children had sought refuge.

The film makes no attempt to analyse the politics for or against in the conflict, but rather concentrates on showing the terror and fear which is caused by the attacks and the inability of those caught up in the conflict to escape from the war zone, and the grief of those who lost their loved ones.

You should be warned that the carnage and destruction are graphically documented, and some of the footage is shocking indeed.