The Law in These Parts

The Law in These Parts focuses sharply on the forty-five-year-old Israeli military justice system: a parallel military legal system that rules people who live under occupation, in the same territory as Israeli citizens. Director Ra'anan Alexandrowicz calls the system's architects and defenders, judges and prosecutors to the witness stand, and Justice Meir Shamgar emerges as a key figure. A retired Brigadier General, he devised legal cover to confiscate Palestinian land for Israeli settlements, and then presided on the Israeli Supreme Court, the final point of appeal for Palestinians. So what does rule-of-law really mean? Or justice? “History will tell,” some of them reply. Archival footage from decades of occupation, including the incessant demolition of Palestinian homes, is inventively juxtaposed with insider interviews, as cinematographer Shark DeMayo brings visual weight to the director's insistent probing of topics many would prefer to avoid. By clarifying a system that goes to the heart of Israeli democracy, their efforts allow viewers to feel the moral price. Ten years into the “global war on terror,” this story sounds a necessary alarm.

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