Israelis and Palestinians both claim the city as their capital. A hotbed of the Arab-Israeli conflict is Silwan, is a small district in East Jerusalem.
Jerusalem may seem peaceful from a distance, but on the ground tensions are high. The city is the nexus of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Numerous Palestinians’ houses have been demolished by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem. This documentary was filmed in Silwan, a small district in East Jerusalem, where a fierce battle between Israelis and Arabs rages on. Tourists explore the old town happily, but Palestinians who have their home here live in complete insecurity. Approximately 20,000 house demolitions have been decided. Affected Palestinians find little support and are powerless to fight for their rights. Their last hope is the lawyer Ziad Al-Hamouri from the Institute of Socioeconomics. One of his most striking cases is the Palestinian farmer Khaled Al-Zrir, a father of eight children. His house has already been demolished, now the authorities want to take away his land and trees. The Israeli settlement of Ma’ ale Hazeitim is located one kilometer east of Khaled’s property. Here lives Arieh King, an avid settler and politician. In turn, he sees it as his task to apply for new building permits from the city. The documentary film reports on the fierce struggle in Jerusalem, where every centimeter of land counts.
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