Synopsis
What is a military occupation? Through the testimonies of soldiers who carried it out, Avi Mograbi reveals the mechanisms of a colonialist occupation and sheds light on the logic behind such practices. In this exposé, the filmmaker refers to the 54 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to outline a “brief manual of military occupation.”
A word from Tënk
The process is relentless. Avi Mograbi, armed with his Brief Manual of Military Occupation, guides us in an especially didactic manner through the colonization of Palestinian territories. Supported in his work by the direct testimonies of those involved—IDF reservists, administrators—we are meticulously introduced to the methods of physical and psychological violence used to break down the social fabric.
The appropriation of land, the domination of individual and collective bodies, is not a simplistic process. It requires a command structure that defines a strategic doctrine, as well as the availability of on-the-ground operatives who have a degree of autonomy.
Before us unfolds a fresco of brutalities—both ordinary and premeditated—where two peoples face each other, generations of men, women, and children shaped by the experience of war, a fertile ground for massacres yet to come.
Florian Cordier
Communications Assistant at Tënk France
