Origin: Palestine | Documentary | Director: Benny Brunner | 60 minutes

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The Great Book Robbery

Docu 60 min. and available free to watch on YouTube, is the culmination of
a joint project by filmmaker Benny Brunner and Arjan El Fassed, who is a co-
founder of The Electronic Intifada.

On May 15, Palestinians mark the anniversary of the Nakba, the systematic
expulsion of the Palestinian people by Zionist militias that began in late
1947 and lasted through 1948 and beyond. As well as land and properties, a
lesser known aspect of that expulsion is that Israel looted Palestinian
homes over their cultural treasures, among them books, manuscripts,
personal papers, photographs and works of art.

The The Great Book Robbery tells the story of the systematic looting in
1948 of tens of thousands of Palestinian books in a joint operation by the
Haganah - what became the Israeli army - and the Israeli national library.
Using eyewitness interviews, secretly shot footage, and historic images,
and shots of the books themselves, The Great Book Robbery tells the story
of the books and their owners, despite ongoing Israeli official denial.
Israel's national library denied the filmmakers permission to shoot the
collection of looted Palestinian books it holds, but the filmmakers did so
any way with a palm-sized camera.

We see books that were taken from the homes of well-known figures, such as
Palestinian diarist, educator and visionary Khalil Sakakini among others,
often with hand-written notes, or dedications by or to their owners. The
Israeli library catalogued the books under the code "AP" which stood for
"Abandoned Property."

http://electronicintifada.net/content/ny-times-jerusalem-property-makes-it-protagonist-palestine-conflict/8705

To be viewed at:

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/watch-great-book-robbery-israels-1948-looting-palestines-cultural-heritage

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/05/20125915313256768.html

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/6303260

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View trailer