Prisoner of Ramallah 23:00, 2002 (Ref: ME02238)

Description

This 2002 documentary was made a few months after 9/11 – at a time of great turmoil in the Middle East. Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, was confined by the Israeli military to the West Bank town of Ramallah. The film examines how Arafat had once been a partner in peace, holding out the promise of a new negotiated future for Palestinians. But the kind of future he promised in 2002 was one of victory won by violence. We find out how things changed so much and how someone who was once welcomed by world leaders became a virtual prisoner, treated like a pariah? At the time, Aerial Sharon was the Prime Minister of Israel and was known as the bulldozer for amongst other reasons flattening Palestinian homes with Israeli bulldozers. This film offers access and interviews with such people as Abu Allah – who at the time was the number two man in the PLO and Marwan Barguti, who was on Israel’s hit list as the leader of the Tanzim – the military wing of Fatah – Arafat’s party.