February, 2010 - five members of the U.S. Congress, make application to enter the Gaza Strip via the Erez border crossing. The delegation on a fact-finding mission to better understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is denied access to Gaza by the Israeli government.  They are the last such U.S.delegation to attempt entry.

 

May, 2010 - six international ships carrying 700 passengers along with medical and construction supplies bound for the Strip are forcibly stopped at sea.  Nine die in the confrontations with the Israeli Navy, many more are injured.  All are detained by the Israeli government and deported.  No one aboard the ships arrive in Gaza.  All other ships attempting access to Gaza have been siezed

 

No Israeli citizen is allowed to enter Gaza under any circumstances.

 

For all these individuals, and others around the world who are concerned and interested with the fate of the Gaza Strip, an alternative has been created.  A video tour of the territory from the Erez crossing in the North to Rafah on the Egyptian border to the South.  

 

The tour includes visits with Gaza shop-owners, farmers, artists, musicians, human rights activists, government workers, political leaders, and members of the NGO community.  

 

The project  is being independently created to bring you the viewer to the Gaza Strip to better understand conditions on the ground. It is a picture that, like any community, is varied and complex.   That being said, Gaza is the only territory on earth completely under a military and political siege by a hostile occupier.

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Every aspect of daily life in Gaza is controlled by external forces; where and how residents of Gaza can travel, what they are allowed to purchase in their stores, where and when they can build, how much international aid is allowed to enter, what goods and services can be exported. Virtually every aspect of the human condition.

 

In October of this year, at a donors conference held in Cario, over 5 billion dollars was pledged for Gaza reconstruction in the wake of the July and August bombing.  Will these funds directly assist individuals and their families?  How soon will money arrive? Who will economically benefit?  These are all major questions for investigation in the context of the documentary.

 

It is under this harsh reality that the people of the Gaza Strip struggle with their political, social, and economic future.

 

The phrase "Inshallah" is heard daily. It's literal translation being "If Allah so wills it." In practice it is used by a population that feels its fate is not in their own hands.  This documentary series will help the people of Gaza share their stories, their fears, their ambitions, their hopes for the future.  Inshallah.

 

The on-going videos told in the first person  will be posted in real time directly from both outside and inside Gaza to a dedicated web channel.  These will be complemented by personal blogs, analysis and opportunity for direct interpersonal exchange.

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