Between Reality and Documentary

This book offers a critical, original and urgent study of the historical ideological cinematic representations of Palestinian refugees, with a focus on Gazan refugees, from Mandatory Palestine until the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Through a detailed analysis of filmic representations, including the colonial newsreels of British Pathe, the book systematically addresses the competing discourses of imperial legacy that have contributed both to the “naturalisation”, denigration and isolation of Palestinians as a subject people, while highlighting their consistent and continuing resistance. The book is a timely critical account that offers a counter narrative to the de-historicised language of colonial and settler colonial exceptionalism around Gaza and Palestine. * Professor Dina Matar, SOAS Centre for Palestine Studies, University of London * With incisive alertness to historical and aesthetic resonance, Between Reality and Documentary conscientiously exposes how different filmmaking practices – from the colonial to the humanitarian to the liberatory – each stake their claim on the territory of Gaza. Shahd Abusalama’s scholarship powerfully exemplifies academic writing as anti-colonial activism. * Kay Dickinson, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow * A crucial text for anyone interested in Palestine and its painful history under Zionist occupation, mapping the history of Gaza in the twentieth century through the illustrated perspective of documentary cinema representation. The rich, complex and vibrant story of Gaza is vividly told – a narrative of strength and perseverance against the odds - a struggle for modernity, liberation and justice. Reading this at the time of the Gaza genocide offers a special take on its crucial importance for a future, post-Zionist Palestinian democracy – highly readable and warmly recommended. * Professor Haim Bresheeth-Žabner, SOAS, University of London *