Roadmap to Apartheid

Description

by Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson

In this award-winning documentary, the first-time directors take a detailed look at the apartheid analogy commonly used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Narrated by Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple), Roadmap to Apartheid is as much a historical document of the rise and fall of apartheid in South Africa, as it is a film about why many Palestinians feel they are living in an apartheid system today, and why an increasing number of people around the world agree with them.

While not perfect, the apartheid analogy is a useful framework by which to educate people on the complex issues facing Israelis and Palestinians. The film delves into those issues, comparing the many similar laws and tools used by both Israel and apartheid-era South Africa. The audience will see what life is like for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and inside Israel while gaining a deeper understanding of the conflict with the help of respected analysts on the subject. Combined with archival material and anecdotes from South Africans, the film forms a complete picture as to why the analogy is being used with increasing frequency and potency.

Directors / Producers

Ana Nogueira is a journalist and first-time filmmaker. She worked as a producer for the national daily radio and TV news program Democracy Now! in the United States for four years and later as a correspondent for the show. She is a founding member of the New York City Independent Media Center, its newspaper The Indypendent, and the global Indymedia network which was a pioneer in citizen-produced journalism.  Nogueira was born in South Africa and lives in the United States.

Eron Davidson is a long-time media activist and film maker.  He has produced several short videos that have helped to galvanize excitement for various community organizing projects in the United States. Davidson was born in Israel, and lives in the United States.

Narration

Alice Walker – Novelist, poet and activist. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize winning book The Color Purple.

Reviews

“Roadmap To Apartheid is very powerful and compelling, and the visuals of house demolitions are appalling.  Religion is repeatedly misused by politicians. Yet one of the lessons of Jewish history is that God is always on the side of the oppressed.  Another is that those who dehumanize others, dehumanize themselves.  Israelis will pay a heavy price for their callous mistreatment of Palestinians.” –Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“Roadmap to Apartheid is a harrowing exposé of Israel’s unique system of official discrimination.” –Naomi Klein

“Roadmap to Apartheid demonstrates for all to see that the use of the term ‘apartheid’ to describe the system of Israeli oppression of the Palestinians is neither analogy nor loose terminological usage.  It accurately describes a system condemned by the international community but tolerated by too many governments when experienced by the Palestinians.  Not only does this film serve to elevate the viewer’s understanding of the system of Israeli oppression (and the South African apartheid system), but it inspires the viewer to want to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the search for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine.  I found myself gripped by the intensity of the film.” –Bill Fletcher