ARTE Distribution

This exceptional documentary series, made of three 52 minute episodes, gives the keys to understanding the historical, geographical and political situation in Palestine, thanks to never-before-seen archives and interviews with experts from around the world and the people facing the reality of what it is like to live on Palestinian territory. A land that is both an international ticking time bomb and the most disputed territory in contemporary history.

In his book De quoi la Palestine est-elle le nom ? journalist and Middle East specialist Alain Gresh looks at the place of Palestine in colonial history and in colonization. This is, without a doubt, the last great unresolved colonial question. Throughout the world, Palestine embodies a long-standing, divisive conflict, stirring emotions and irreconcilable oppositions. While Jewish Zionism is one element of this (hi)story, it alone cannot explain the destiny of Palestine and the fate of the Palestinians, just as the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 alone cannot embody the prologue to their national narrative.
So, how has the Palestinian identity been forged over the course of history, from ancient times to the present day, this sense of belonging to a people and a nation firmly rooted in what is undoubtedly the most disputed land in the world? A passionate subject par excellence, Palestine has been at the center of international and even national news for over 75 years. The issue affects everyone, mixing religion, archeology and history, ideology, racism, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
From the Ottoman conquest to the British occupation, from the creation of the State of Israel to the 1948 Nakba (Arabic: ‘the catastrophe’), from the Israeli-Arab wars to the Oslo Accords and their subsequent failure, from the colonization of the West Bank to the bloody attacks of October 7, 2023 and the destruction of Gaza, the history of Palestine is an international ticking time bomb: that of the most disputed territory in our contemporary history.
So how do we tell the (hi)story of Palestine and its people?
By going back to basics and retracing the steps involved in building an identity and becoming aware of belonging to a people, a nation. Although the term ‘Palestine’ has a geographical meaning, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, independently of the national identities of the peoples living there, it also has a political meaning defined by an essentially Arabic-speaking and predominantly Muslim national community. It makes no sense to mix up the two.