Between Reality and Documentary: A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian and Palestinian Documentary Film

This book investigates representations of Palestinian refugees in Gaza in colonial, humanitarian and Palestinian documentary films, spanning until the 1993 Oslo Agreement. Chapters examine various film sources throughout this period including British Pathé, newsreels, Quaker and UNRWA documentaries, and Palestinian opposition cinema.

British Pathé is considered as a window into the wider colonial depiction of indigenous Palestinians in the British Mandate period; newsreels are examined as representations of the plight of Palestinian refugees in Gaza after Israel’s proclamation and Gaza-focused humanitarian documentaries shot by the Quakers and UNRWA are compared. The final chapters trace the evolution of oppositional documentary filmmaking, from the cinema of revolution (1968-1982) to the peace deal of 1993. Through a close audio-visual and textual analysis, rooted in a historical-contextual approach, Shahd Abusalama explores the techniques used to project emancipatory representations while highlighting shifts and variations in the imagery around Gaza refugees. In exploring the historical, ideologically fuelled, representations of Gaza and its refugees in colonial and humanitarian films, and the opposition to it, this book reaffirms the continuity of Palestinian resistance, refugees’ call for return, and the importance of Gaza itself to the Palestinian struggle.

Shahd Abusalama is an activist scholar, artist and writer, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza. She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University, UK, with a Ph.D. examining the historical representations of Gaza in documentary films between 1917 and 1993. She is the author of the Palestine from My Eyes blog and book, and a co-founder of London-based Hawiyya Dance Company.