DISPATCHES: THE KILLING ZONE

Running Time: 52 minutes
Languages: English | Arabic with English Subtitles
Date: Thursday, August 12
Time: 7:00-9:00 PM
Location: New World Resource Center, 1300 N. Western Ave.
Cost: Donation. None turned away for lack of funds.

SYNOPSIS:
While the world's attention has been fixed on the war in Iraq, Dispatches reporter Sandra Jordan and producer Rodrigo Vasquez risk their lives to reveal the shocking level of daily violence and murderous hate in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians live under the constant threat of Israeli Defense Force attacks that do not discriminate between resistance fighters and children. Within hours of arriving Sandra and Rodrigo are shot at and tear-gassed by Israeli troops breaking up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist who was crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer two days before.

That sets the tone for a five-week stay in which they document the shooting by Israeli troops of the British peace campaigner Tom Hurndall, the death of James Miller, the award-winning cameraman who worked extensively for Channel 4, killed as he filmed Israeli troops bulldozing Palestinian homes, and the deaths and mutilation of many innocent Palestinians. The Dispatches team reveals what life is like in what has become a full blown war zone.

Their film captures the aftermath of an Israeli missile attack that assassinates a Hamas leader and leaves several children dead or with their limbs blown off. They film the aftermath of an attack in which Israeli troops fire modified tank shells that explode in mid air above densely populated civilian areas and spray thousands of razor sharp darts, or flechettes, in an arc some 300 meters long and 90 meters wide. The team encounters sniper fire from Israeli watchtowers, and endures tank shelling alongside a class of terrified school children. And in one of the most shocking moments in the film, Dispatches captures heartbreaking scenes in a Palestinian hospital minutes after Tom Hurndall was shot through the head while rescuing a seven-year-old child from Israeli gunfire.

SPONSORED BY:
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY GROUP - CHICAGO
WWW.PSGCHICAGO.ORG
AL AWDA RIGHT TO RETURN COALITION - CHICAGO