Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June 1999, pages 71-74

California Calling

Ziad Doueiri Launches Career With Award-Winning Chronicle of Wartime Adolescence in “West Beirut”

By Pat and Samir Twair

When we received the assignment to cover a new film entitled “West Beirut” we rolled our eyes and groaned over the prospect of viewing yet another documentary on the disintegration of Lebanon or its recovery from civil war. However, the opening scene signaled to us at the West Coast premier on the UCLA campus that this was a feature film with cinematic techniques, sound and storyline on a par with any big-budget production.

“West Beirut” is a coming-of-age film that might be described as Huckleberry Finn meets Norman Mailer. It is an autobiographical memoir of writer/director Ziad Doueiri which opens at the onset of Lebanon’s civil war in 1975. The focus is on the friendship between two 15-year-old boys, Tarek (Rami Doueiri) and Omar (Mohamad Chamas), whose raging hormones make them oblivious to the war at first. While Tarek’s parents try to shelter him from the carnage in the streets, he revels in not being able to attend his school across the confrontation line in East Beirut and innocently gets into dangerous predicaments that keep the audience on edge, fearing he will fall victim to a sniper’s bullet or random explosion.

The dialogue is in Arabic, with English subtitles, but the humor is universal and the technical approach is recognizably American.

In reality, Doueiri was only 12 when the civil war began, but he wanted Tarek and Omar to be 15 so that their sexual awakenings would be the primary drive in their lives. The boys fantasize over the voluptuous fiancee of Omar’s chubby uncle and secretly photograph her with a small hand-sized camera.

That is not to say that they would behave improperly with a young girl, which becomes apparent when May (Rola al-Amin) moves into their apartment block. She is Christian, but Tarek befriends her while Omar suspiciously remains aloof and refers to her as Virgin Mary. However, when Muslim fighters bar the three from entering into the no-man’s-land between East and West, it is Omar who gallantly and surreptitiously places her cross inside her collar.

Despite the tragic setting of a nation in civil war, humorous lines and situations pepper the script. The audience roars at the ribald curses of Nahida (Liliane Nemry), an obese neighbor who screams incessantly at her husband, as well as the mischievous teenagers who taunt her. Each day at sunrise, Omar’s rooster wakens Nahida, who curses and throws objects at the crowing cock who always escapes her missiles.

Time passes from the April 13, 1975 attack by the Phalange on a busload of Palestinians to the 1976 assassination of Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt. Again the audience fears for Tarek’s safety when he takes cover in a parked car from fire directed at a demonstration in which he and Omar are participating. He remains hidden in the back seat after a driver starts the engine and proceeds to an unknown destination. Eventually, Tarek finds himself locked in a garage. It is late, his parents may think he has been injured. At last, he sneaks up a staircase in the garage, opens a door and tip-toes down a hall until he catches sight of dozens of rifles leaning against a wall.

Tarek has wound up in the notorious wartime Beirut brothel of Um Walid (Leila Karam). His youth saves his life, but Tarek, disappointed because he is only offered a glass of milk, vows he will return with Omar and May.

It is the dialogue that makes this film so special. It is genuine, not contrived. This has been perceived by critics, who have already conferred seven international awards on the film, which was completed in April 1998.

It received the Biennale award presented by Costa Gavras in June 1998 at the Paris Arab World Institute, garnered the International Critics Award at the Toronto film festival in September, took the press award at the Tunisian film festival in October and the Prix de la Jeunesse award at Valladolid, Spain.

And to top all this off, it was selected from hundreds of submissions as one of 15 films to be shown at the Director’s Fortnight screenings in Cannes. In order to meet the Cannes 1998 festival deadline, it was necessary to voice a simultaneous translation because the subtitles were not yet completed.

Not bad for a first feature film. Especially not bad for a budget that just topped $1 million.

How did a 35-year-old refugee from Beirut achieve entry into the ranks of internationally accredited filmmakers?

Humility and drive.

“You must remember that during the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, the population had been decimated and no more than 200,000 hard-core Lebanese remained,” Doueiri said. “My parents were among those who stayed. However, they knew I wanted to be a filmmaker and they encouraged me to apply to schools in the West.”

In 1983, at the age of 20, Doueiri received word he had been accepted by San Diego State University’s film school.

“The tuition was $2,400 a semester, which was a real financial burden on my parents,” Doueiri recalled. “I completed the four-year course in two-and-a-half years.”

His emphasis was on cinematography and his first job in Hollywood in 1986 was working as an electrician and assistant editor for a low-budget film by Roger Corman entitled “The Munchies.”

From there, the talented young Lebanese was hired as an assistant cameraman for Quentin Tarantino’s first film, “Reservoir Dogs.” This was followed by camera work on Tarantino’s Academy Award-winning “Pulp Fiction” and on through to Tarantino’s third production, “Jackie Brown.”

“It took a good 10 years,” Doueiri mused, “until I could rationally look back on what happened to me growing up in Beirut. I loved the visual aspects of working with a camera, but by 1993 I was far enough removed from the trauma of war to remember the good parts.

“Bits and pieces would come back to me. I began writing dialogue from different incidents. This is backward from the traditional formula for screenplay writing of a sequential story.”

By 1995, he had written the scenario for “West Beirut” in English, Arabic and French.

“I took it to Lebanon hoping to find the backing in Beirut and quickly discovered I could have raised funds quicker if I had been trying to open a supermarket,” Doueiri recalls.

Undaunted by the cold shoulder from wealthy Lebanese, Doueiri used the money he had earned as a cameraman to criss-cross the globe seeking backers in London, the Netherlands and France.

“I knew it was futile to seek financial backing from American studios, which are not interested in foreign films, but will occasionally distribute them,” he explained.

Discouraged and broke, he called at a French production firm in 1997 and submitted his scenario. He was told not to expect a reply for at least six months.

Twenty-four hours later when Doueiri entered his Los Angeles apartment, the phone was ringing. It was the French firm, which wanted to produce the film and would put up $800,000.

After three-and-a-half years of preparation, the production of his film was set to go in the summer of 1997. He resigned from “Jackie Brown” and flew to Beirut where he was joined by his cousin, Nadia Doueiri, who was first assistant director throughout the project.

He knew casting would be a big problem. His leading actors were schoolboys and, Doueiri grimaced, “education is foremost with Arab parents.”

He interviewed more than 1,600 Lebanese teenagers for the parts. Those whom he selected had parents unwilling for their sons to miss school. His younger brother, Rami, had practiced with applicants on auditions and it became apparent Rami might be the ideal Tarek. But he still had to convince his parents the acting stint would not destroy Rami’s academic future and that it would only be for two months.

“I found Omar in a much easier way,” said Doueiri. “He was an orphan, a street hustler, who could memorize lines and had a talent for acting.”

Actual shooting of the film took place from August 1997 to January 1998. “We ran ads in the Beirut newspapers to warn citizens that we would be filming war scenes in certain neighborhoods,” Doueiri recalled.

“My advice to other filmmakers is if you want to replicate a war, do it in Beirut. The army supplied me with troops and even a helicopter to shoot scenes. Sometimes, I would be risking my life hanging out of the copter with a camera and Beirutis would climb onto their roofs and wave. We would frantically radio to the crew below to ask residents not to be so hospitable and stay inside.”

Veteran Lebanese actors Carmen Lebbos (who plays Tarek’s mother) and Joseph Bou Nassar (Tarek’s father) voiced amazement over the American camera techniques Doueiri employed: extra-light booms, cranes and a steadycam. “Youngsters move around constantly and I preferred to follow them with the camera on my shoulder rather than ask them to follow the camera.”

How did he train the two non-actors to memorize their lines?

“I would read the lines aloud first, then have them repeat four or five times. The problem was sometimes they would memorize them to the point they were just reciting words. Whenever that happened, I told them to leave the set for a few days until they could be more natural.”

“West Beirut” has been sold to 20 different countries. What’s more, it is the first Arab film ever to be purchased by an American distributor for distribution in North America. Look for it. You won’t be disappointed.

Funds for Kosovar Refugees

More than $300,000 was raised for Kosovar refugees during an April 18 emergency fund-raiser called by the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California (ISCSC). More than 2,500 concerned Muslims turned out for the event in the Sequoia Conference Center of Buena Park. Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California’s 46th District was the keynote speaker. Messages from President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton and Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer were read to the assembly of Muslims representing 58 Islamic organizations in Southern California.

Street Theater for Taxpayers

Frantic taxpayers driving to the downtown Los Angeles post office to meet the midnight April 15 deadline were astounded to view a shocking form of street theater. Near the postboxes were actors in Israeli Defense Forces uniforms evicting Palestinians from a cardboard house as a cardboard bulldozer stood by to demolish the house. A giant dollar bill was suspended over the eviction scene in which “Israelis” and “Palestinians” wore white masks as symbols of their common humanity. Flyers were distributed to astonished motorists. The messages were “Over $50 of your tax return just went to Israel” and “Your money is used for policies of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories.”

The demonstration was co-sponsored by the Pasadena Mennonite Church, American Friends Service Committee, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Deir Yassin Remembered and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

James Zogby Addresses AAPG

An appearance by newly elected Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and an inspiring speech by Dr. James Zogby highlighted the 14th annual Arab American Press Guild banquet in the Verdugo Hills Country Club. More than 150 members and friends were on hand for the program emceed by AAPG past president Samir Twair.

A precedent was set by the organization at the April 18 event when it recognized the efforts of a rabbi, Haim Dov Beliak of Temple Ner Tamid of Downey. Along with Rabbis Alan Freehling and Steve Jacobs, Rabbi Beliak has founded the Committee for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem. It is investigating and bringing facts to the authorities about Irving Moskowitz’s bingo club in Hawaiian Gardens. Moskowitz provides millions of dollars in donations to right-wing Jewish extremists who are trying to take over Palestinian property in East Jerusalem.

Dr. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, described the Arab immigrant experience.

“For many of you who are immigrants, I am your children,” stated Zogby, the son of an illegal immigrant. “I represent the first generation born in this country, but my parents had a later start than most. My mother was 39 and my father was 49 when they married.”

Zogby said Arab-American youth have it easier today than he did. “I grew up in the context that if they knew you were foreign, you were in trouble. Today, your children can take pride in speaking Arabic and they can function within both cultures. When I was growing up, there were no institutions. Now there are many Arabic newspapers, TV stations and the opportunity to retain one’s cultural heritage and also to be American.”

Referring to the Supreme Court decision in the L.A. 8 case that resident aliens do not have the same free speech rights as U.S. citizens, Zogby said: “A burden has fallen upon us, as it fell on African Americans and Hispanics before us, to be the test if America will be fair.

“We are the weak chain in civil liberties in America,” he continued. “We must pick up the challenge to make America a better place. When it comes to saying the glass is half-empty or half-full, I just say I can remember when we didn’t have a glass at all.”

He urged members of the audience never to make their children choose between their parents’ culture and America.

“We have created institutions in which they can work, such as the National Association of Arab Americans, founded 26 years ago, and the ADC,” Zogby said. “The year 2000 presents huge opportunities. There are only a few places in the U.S. where Arab Americans have the strength that you do here in Southern California. You need to take this seriously and help AAI to register tens of thousands of Arab Americans to vote this September.”

A surprise hit with the audience was Sheriff Baca, who invited young Arab Americans to join law enforcement. Using Arabic phrases, Sheriff Baca acknowledged Arab-American support in his publicized campaign to head the largest sheriff’s department in the world.

His department operates on a $1.4 billion budget in a county that has more voters than do the states of 80 percent of U.S. senators.

Commenting that he has a brother-in-law who is Palestinian, Sheriff Baca said world opinion on the Palestinians shifted when “an intelligent woman appeared on the TV screen speaking for them.” Referring to Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who presently is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Baca said she drew attention to and eloquently expressed “the Palestinian argument.”

William Gazarian will head the AAPG as president for the coming year, assisted by Samer Saba, vice president; Yousef Ayoub Haddad, secretary, and Soloman Saddi, treasurer.

Sara Roy Predicts Bloody Reaction to Closure Policy

“Israel’s closure policy is the single most damaging measure to the Palestinians since Oslo began,” stated Dr. Sara Roy at an April 20 lecture at UCLA. “In the Absence of Peace: Economic Dislocation and Social Disorder on the West Bank and Gaza” was her topic.

“You must understand the current closure began in March 1993 and it has never let up,” Roy said. “This closure affected everyone—men, women and children. Its intensity might have lightened at times, but it has never been removed.”

Referring to the Oslo Declaration of Principles, Roy said it was doomed to failure from the beginning. “Its greatest flaw was that it did nothing to change the status between the occupier and the occupied.”

The research associate at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies stressed that under the terms of the DOP, Israel controls population movement, water, security and the economy of Gaza and the West Bank and has been allowed to consolidate its power over the Palestinians.

Citing post-Oslo statistics, Roy said the number of settlers in the occupied territories has increased from 100,000 to 180,000. More specifically, the number of settlers in East Jerusalem has grown from 22,000 to 70,000. On the West Bank, 100,000 new Jewish housing units have been constructed and 700,000 acres have been confiscated for bypass roads and settlements.

“These consistent land confiscations have taken place with the full approval of [Palestinian Authority President Yasser] Arafat,” she charged.

Two new dynamics of Israel’s closure policy are cantonization of Arab land and impoverishment of the Palestinian population, according to Roy.

Roy spent years in Gaza and the West Bank in preparation for her book, The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development. She theorizes that the goal of the Israeli government has never been to integrate the Palestinians, but to keep them separated from the Israeli economy.

“In the ’70s and ’80s, Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank could move about and work in Israel,” she said. “There were probably 5,000 Palestinian laborers in Israel in 1970, and more than 80,000 by 1987. By keeping Gaza and the West Bank underdeveloped, Israel had a cheap labor pool. The Palestinians spent much of their wages on Israeli TVs and appliances during the early years of occupation, enabling Israel to claim the standard of living had improved for the Palestinians.”

The closure policy actually began in January 1991 with the onset of the Gulf war, she explained. Palestinian workers who crossed into Israel now were obliged to show work permits and Israeli employers were forced to register Arab laborers.

“The cost of hiring Palestinians went up,” Roy continued. “Arab laborers who didn’t have work permits were arrested. In part, Israelis were fearful the intifada might cross into Israel. More importantly, the U.S.S.R. was falling apart and Israel was anticipating an influx of Russian Jewish immigrants.”

When terrorist bombs went off inside Israel in March 1993, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin enforced a total closure.

“With the signing of the Oslo agreement in September 1993, most Palestinians had clear expectations that life would improve economically and politically. The opposite occurred. There has never been a time when the Palestinian economy has been so vulnerable; it is weaker today than it was in 1967.”

Roy attributes this to Israel’s deliberate closure of the territories from each other, Israel and outside markets.

Part of the scheme was to close Jerusalem to Palestinians not holding residence permits for East Jerusalem. This has bifurcated the West Bank into a northern sector and a southern sector.

“The situation is enforced so strongly—with less than 4 percent of Palestinians given entry into Jerusalem—that parents today tell their children they want them to marry only those living in the same sector because the distance between the north and south is so great that they would never see someone from the other sector again.”

Traditionally, Gaza had looked to the West Bank as a market for its produce. Now, because of closure, Gazans have no choice but to sell to Israelis for whatever price they will pay.

Israel has further destroyed Palestinian commerce with lengthy inspection lines at the borders where each box of goods is examined and Palestinians are forced to pay for the inspections. Owing to the costly delays, Israel imports from Jordan and Egypt instead of Palestinian markets.

This, Roy said, will leave Palestinians with no outlet for their agricultural and industrial goods and force them to produce for a local market lacking extra-domestic links, resulting in the de-development of its economy.

“The Palestinian economy cannot sustain its people,” she declared. “From 1993 to 1997, the GNP of the Palestinians fell 10 to 15 percent, or roughly 30 to 35 percent in per capita income. The number of poor doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent with $650 per capita annual income as the poverty level.

“One disturbing result is the rising numbers on child labor. It’s common to see very young children peddling on the streets or working in very unsafe conditions.”

Another phenomenon Roy said she has witnessed is very large groups of women and children moving from door to door begging for food and cash.

“Households deplete their savings to buy food, then they sell their jewelry and finally their appliances. The last resort is to apply for aid,” she explained

As of March 1999, 200,000 Gazans were totally dependent on assistance. The population of Gaza and the West Bank is predicted to double by 2010, but where will the jobs be in a destabilized economy? Rising tribalism and interclan violence is another aspect of post-Oslo Palestine. “As disillusion grows over the Arafat regime, the people turn to their clan for employment and protection. There are a lot of weapons everywhere and battles and homicides occur,” Roy said.

The impact of Arafat’s monopolies, misuse of aid money and corruption also have played a part in damaging the economy. “With a payroll for 90,000 public sector employees, Arafat has become a huge employer. He funnels the young men into his security system and institutionalizes his patronization by keeping the wages low.”

Roy hastened to add that “the Palestinian Authority has played a negative role, but it is secondary to the Israeli closure policy in destroying the economy.”

Stating that an electric fence now encircles Gaza, Roy said vehicles and people must walk a 1.5 kilometer stretch that literally resembles a cattle bin in order to enter or exit.

“Traditionally, the Palestinians were a mobile people. Today, the right of freedom of movement has become a privilege. In the past, Gazans studied at West Bank institutions, but closure has stopped this. Now no more than 350 Gazan students are on the West Bank.”

When asked if she had a solution, Roy said donors could condition assistance to Israel on the Israeli alleviation of the closure policy.

“This has occurred. The European Union refused to ratify certain trade agreements with Israel unless it eased the strictures and it did. However, for the most part, donors seem unwilling to put economic pressure on Israel and instead try to ease the situation by constructing a waste water treatment plant or a hospital.”

When asked if declaring statehood would be beneficial to the Palestinians, she laughed. “If Israel controls all the borders, statehood won’t matter.”

Another questioner asked if a binational state would be the solution.

“Polls indicate the majority of both populations is not in favor of a one-state solution,” Roy answered. “Besides that, the Israeli agenda is to have separate populations and economies.”

An Israeli student pointed out that closure is necessary for Israeli security. “This is a Catch 22 situation,” Roy replied. “Closure may have a psychological function in addressing security anxieties, but when you take away a population’s dignity and the ability to take care of itself and its children, the situation becomes explosive.”

Roy noted that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has used closure to exact concessions from Arafat. One instance was when he offered to lighten closure measures if Arafat would ease his demands for the release of political prisoners.

“I can’t envision a scenario in which the Palestinians will put up with these conditions indefinitely,” Roy said. “Israel has made the mistake of assuming that because the Palestinians are poor, they are dumb.

“If there is a rebellion or mass strike, it won’t be well-planned, but a spontaneous mass uprising that will be very bloody and probably put down by Arafat forces. It doesn’t matter who wins in the Israeli elections, I just see more of the same with both sides prepared to live with violence.”

Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance writers based in Beirut.