Voices of the Silenced Majority

Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance... it is the illusion of knowledge. A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict - Occupation 101 presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.
The film covers a wide range of topics - which include - the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.

While society has evolved constantly over the last several centuries, few distinct patterns have remained in tact. People must look to these patterns in search of an understanding as to why the world is the way it is, or was the way it was. The idea of the Ritual of Consensus, primarily discussed by Sacvan Bercovitch in his “Rites of Assent,” is a pattern of societal behavior that has been at the root of history for centuries.
Rituals of consensus can be traced ages back to the Puritan’s, as depicted by Miller and Hawthorne. On the inside, the consensus is a certain manner of living, speaking, even thinking. The consensus provides a protection for its inhabitants, from the harsh, cold reality on the outside. In the case of the Salem Witches, those willing to face Witchcraft and support the consensus remained safe, while the rest met their demise.
While the Salem Witch Trials were a period of antiquated, fanatical belief, the ritual of consensus present within them is composed of the same skeleton as the concrete, ever-threatening issues of today’s world. A great example of this is characterized by the Patriot Act, passed post-9/11 to secure the US from internal terrorism. This act empowers the United States government to build firm walls of consensus, providing arbitrary power of search and seizure of suspected terrorists. This has caused an issue similar to that of 1692 Salem. People are giving up what they believe in, to build the walls of the consensus even higher, fearing that if they do not, they will be left outside it.

Even more recently, Americans see the walls of the consensus growing even more in recent years. The Military Commissions Act, passed to give the government power to freely try and obtain evidence against terrorists in military trials, forces Americans to throw out their common beliefs in order to cooperate with the government. This causes American Citizens and detainees to throw out their rights to Habeas Corpus and to deny the Bill of Rights in order to comply with the government’s desires. The leaders of the consensus, namely, the government have instilled a fear in the people, that if they do not join the consensus, they will be left outside of it. Americans are lulled into a sense of security by supporting acts such as these when in reality they are only hurting themselves by denying their own principles.

The Ritual of Consensus is ever revolving, spitting out old ideals and accepting new ones. The people who truly understand this ritual essentially form a tyranny, as the United States government is doing today. Because of this Tyranny, “American Voices” become shunned and the ideas of a select few become the actions of a nation.