V/O As the father of Palestinian resistance lay critically ill on another continent.. his home of the last three years was under siege.In the West Bank town of Ramallah .. the would be ..could be .. successors of Yasser Arafat were coming and going and networking like never before.
Upsot media scrum
Tape 4 TC 10 20 PTC Yasser Arafat didnt cultivate deputies nor anyone else with leadership flair.. he was too concerned they might become rivals.But in the frenzy outside of his compound.. a relatively newcomer to Palestinian politics appeared .. and the world media at least.. couldnt get enough of him.
Upsot T1 00 40 Barghouthi upsot five.. Im waiting
V/O His name is Dr. Mustafa Barghouhti.. and he claims to speak for what he calls a silent majority of Palestinians.He supports neither Yasser Arafats Fatah organisation nor the fundamentalist group Hamas.
Upsot Live cross T1 TC 3 40 I think having the elections is very important especially as we were preparing for elections before the sickness of Mr Arafat and he himself was supposed to participate.V/O Mustafa Barghouthi doesnt lead a party.. he heads the Palestinian National Initiative.. which he describes as a grassroots movement.
Unlike the armed factions.. his is a moderate voice that believes true democracy and dialogue with Israel is the only path to Palestinian statehood.
Upsot T1 TC 4 30would four thirty be good for you?.. four thirty would be very good for me..
Grab T1 TC 37 47 Barghouthi The other way was tried, we ve lost ten years and four thousand five hundred people who were killed. One thousand Israelis and three thousand five hundred Palestinians. We ve lost 53,000 injured people so that version, that narrative did not work. We have to opt for a different alternative narrative.
explosions Ramallah compound
V/O A closing chapter of the old narrative saw Yasser Arafat a prisoner in his own headquarters.It was March 2002.. and after a wave of suicide bombings in Israel.. the President came within a whisker of losing his life as his Ramallah headquarters was blown apart.
Upsot city noise.. Ramallah
V/O Despite its battle scars..Ramallah has become the political and business capital of the occupied West Bank.Its most famous resident may have departed ....but some who remain have their own plans for the governing Palestinian Authority.
Grab Barghouhti
T4 TC 25 06 We have to get rid of lots of bad things like nepotism, favouratism, factionalism, in appointments at the aparatus of the government structure there is an inflation of so many stuctures to give people jobs without them being ready or capable of them doing these jobs
Trevor reverse question: But these are just words arent they.. the Palestinians have hearing this kind of talk for years.. what makes you say youre any different?T4 TC 24 15 We are different, not only because we are talking differently because we are working
Upsot first aid course
V/O The voices of moderation in Ramallah are backed by millions of dollars from European governments.This community centre aims to draw in the young and disaffected.. before the radical groups do.And first aid instruction on the occupied West Bank is time well spent.
Upost screech of chairs
V/O But on this day.. the centres coordinator is counselling her students on how they might deal with the demise of Yasser Arafat.. and the uncertainty that might follow.
Upsot
Bahia talking to class
Bahia Amra (thought tracked)They are not happy and they feel also the Palestinian Authority they are lying to the Palestinian people.
(Arabic)Without our president we feel lonliness..Because our President is outside being treated. May God Heal him.
Bahia Amra 100% Its very confused and its very difficult at the same time the same moment and also its very dangerous for us as a Palestinian because I think we have to be ready for all emergencies
Upsot bell ringing
V/O Across town at the Friends private school.. the children of Ramallahs more affluent families were also pondering a life without the most significant public figure in their lifetime.Their principal told me its all anyones talking about. But rather than reflecting on the past.. these teenagers from both Muslim and Christian families are more concerned about what lies ahead.
Mahmoud Amra: They are always optimistic and generally they have future plans.. they know what they want to do in the future.. but of course we cannot avoid that at some point they feel like everybody else some sort of depression and pessimism due to the political situation.
V/O The principal arranged for four of his brightest students to talk to me.They agreed that it didnt really matter who replaced Yasser Arafat.. the bigger picture was how to win statehood.
Rasha We have to defend ourselves by some people going and blowing themselves up between the Israelis because we have no other way of defending ourselves.
Canaan: People our age.. They re interested in someone new, someone fresh, someone that knows , someone that wants peace, someone that can guarantee a free Palestine, guarantee a state with their own borders, guarantee a normal life for every teenager, every child, give everyone their own rights.
Farouk: For now, maybe we ll just have to have peaceful negotiations, make some compromises cause thats all we can do (thats giving up) Its not called giving up its doing what we can do.
Miral I'm talking!.. I wouldnt go and blow myself up I would go and maybe shoot a couple of soldiers or something if I get to do that.Then you d get killed! Yeah I would but I would die knowing that I died for something,for my land for my freedom trying to do something even if it takes another hundred years.Then youre dead, whats the use?Im dead theres another hundred people who d do the same.I wouldnt We d go on with this and eventually there d be freedom, believe me , I ll see you in heaven or whereever and I ll tell you, youre a stupid shit Farouk
upsot street scenes
V/O Into a post Arafat era.. everyone on the West Bank has their own prescription for ending Israeli occupation and achieving statehood.Limited self rule has become just that.. and many complain that their Palestinian Authority.. lacks authority.
PTC If ever there was an illustration of Palestinian self rule gone wrong.. this is it.Its Palestines paliament.. but in 2001 work suddenly stopped. Democracy literally hit a wall.Israel decided to build its so called secuirty fence right next door.Effectively it mean that politicians from Gaza and the West Bank could nt make it to sit in their own parliament.
V/O Israel says the wall is designed to stop suicide bombers from coming into Israel.But Palestinians accuse their neighbours of building borders.. walls instead of bridges.Theres resentment here that this should happen under Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority could not prevent it.
Ziad Abu Ziad.. because on the other side there are arabs they are not israelis they are not jews..they are Palestinian Arabs who live in the eastern part of jerusalem so this wall is seperating arabs from arabs.. palestinians from palestinians.
V/O In a crisis where most Palestinian leaders are talking only amongst themselves.. Jersualem Affairs Minister Ziad Abu Ziad.. agreed to speak to me about his governments problems.
Trevor: There is a perception though that the Palestinian Authority suffers corruption.. some of the people there are inept.. how do you address that kind of issue.Well you know this issue of corruption.. is there any country in the world that doesnt have corruption.. (is it hampering) no no it is used as an argument to to continue this process of character assassination of the Palestinian people at the Palestinian authority and the palestinian leadership of course wherever there are human beings and there is money.. you ll find some corrupted individuals.
V/O Back at the siege of Ramallah.. the movers and shakers of Palestine were planning succession and not saying a word to the outside world.But the champion of the silent majority was speaking out once more.. he offered me these final thoughts in his 112th interview for the week.
Mustafa BarghouthiWe are under occupation.. the authority is an authority practically without authority because it is an authority under occupation so there is a chance here for the world to help us conduct free democratic elections and initiate the first model of real democracy in the arab world.
V/O From the rubble of Yasser Arafats compound a new Palestinian President will embark upon a quest for statehood.Palestinians think fondly of the man they regard as a symbol of their struggle.. even though he couldnt deliver a national called Palestine.Arafat.. they say was blessed with nine lives.. his successor may not have such fortune ends
Upsot media scrum
Tape 4 TC 10 20 PTC Yasser Arafat didnt cultivate deputies nor anyone else with leadership flair.. he was too concerned they might become rivals.But in the frenzy outside of his compound.. a relatively newcomer to Palestinian politics appeared .. and the world media at least.. couldnt get enough of him.
Upsot T1 00 40 Barghouthi upsot five.. Im waiting
V/O His name is Dr. Mustafa Barghouhti.. and he claims to speak for what he calls a silent majority of Palestinians.He supports neither Yasser Arafats Fatah organisation nor the fundamentalist group Hamas.
Upsot Live cross T1 TC 3 40 I think having the elections is very important especially as we were preparing for elections before the sickness of Mr Arafat and he himself was supposed to participate.V/O Mustafa Barghouthi doesnt lead a party.. he heads the Palestinian National Initiative.. which he describes as a grassroots movement.
Unlike the armed factions.. his is a moderate voice that believes true democracy and dialogue with Israel is the only path to Palestinian statehood.
Upsot T1 TC 4 30would four thirty be good for you?.. four thirty would be very good for me..
Grab T1 TC 37 47 Barghouthi The other way was tried, we ve lost ten years and four thousand five hundred people who were killed. One thousand Israelis and three thousand five hundred Palestinians. We ve lost 53,000 injured people so that version, that narrative did not work. We have to opt for a different alternative narrative.
explosions Ramallah compound
V/O A closing chapter of the old narrative saw Yasser Arafat a prisoner in his own headquarters.It was March 2002.. and after a wave of suicide bombings in Israel.. the President came within a whisker of losing his life as his Ramallah headquarters was blown apart.
Upsot city noise.. Ramallah
V/O Despite its battle scars..Ramallah has become the political and business capital of the occupied West Bank.Its most famous resident may have departed ....but some who remain have their own plans for the governing Palestinian Authority.
Grab Barghouhti
T4 TC 25 06 We have to get rid of lots of bad things like nepotism, favouratism, factionalism, in appointments at the aparatus of the government structure there is an inflation of so many stuctures to give people jobs without them being ready or capable of them doing these jobs
Trevor reverse question: But these are just words arent they.. the Palestinians have hearing this kind of talk for years.. what makes you say youre any different?T4 TC 24 15 We are different, not only because we are talking differently because we are working
Upsot first aid course
V/O The voices of moderation in Ramallah are backed by millions of dollars from European governments.This community centre aims to draw in the young and disaffected.. before the radical groups do.And first aid instruction on the occupied West Bank is time well spent.
Upost screech of chairs
V/O But on this day.. the centres coordinator is counselling her students on how they might deal with the demise of Yasser Arafat.. and the uncertainty that might follow.
Upsot
Bahia talking to class
Bahia Amra (thought tracked)They are not happy and they feel also the Palestinian Authority they are lying to the Palestinian people.
(Arabic)Without our president we feel lonliness..Because our President is outside being treated. May God Heal him.
Bahia Amra 100% Its very confused and its very difficult at the same time the same moment and also its very dangerous for us as a Palestinian because I think we have to be ready for all emergencies
Upsot bell ringing
V/O Across town at the Friends private school.. the children of Ramallahs more affluent families were also pondering a life without the most significant public figure in their lifetime.Their principal told me its all anyones talking about. But rather than reflecting on the past.. these teenagers from both Muslim and Christian families are more concerned about what lies ahead.
Mahmoud Amra: They are always optimistic and generally they have future plans.. they know what they want to do in the future.. but of course we cannot avoid that at some point they feel like everybody else some sort of depression and pessimism due to the political situation.
V/O The principal arranged for four of his brightest students to talk to me.They agreed that it didnt really matter who replaced Yasser Arafat.. the bigger picture was how to win statehood.
Rasha We have to defend ourselves by some people going and blowing themselves up between the Israelis because we have no other way of defending ourselves.
Canaan: People our age.. They re interested in someone new, someone fresh, someone that knows , someone that wants peace, someone that can guarantee a free Palestine, guarantee a state with their own borders, guarantee a normal life for every teenager, every child, give everyone their own rights.
Farouk: For now, maybe we ll just have to have peaceful negotiations, make some compromises cause thats all we can do (thats giving up) Its not called giving up its doing what we can do.
Miral I'm talking!.. I wouldnt go and blow myself up I would go and maybe shoot a couple of soldiers or something if I get to do that.Then you d get killed! Yeah I would but I would die knowing that I died for something,for my land for my freedom trying to do something even if it takes another hundred years.Then youre dead, whats the use?Im dead theres another hundred people who d do the same.I wouldnt We d go on with this and eventually there d be freedom, believe me , I ll see you in heaven or whereever and I ll tell you, youre a stupid shit Farouk
upsot street scenes
V/O Into a post Arafat era.. everyone on the West Bank has their own prescription for ending Israeli occupation and achieving statehood.Limited self rule has become just that.. and many complain that their Palestinian Authority.. lacks authority.
PTC If ever there was an illustration of Palestinian self rule gone wrong.. this is it.Its Palestines paliament.. but in 2001 work suddenly stopped. Democracy literally hit a wall.Israel decided to build its so called secuirty fence right next door.Effectively it mean that politicians from Gaza and the West Bank could nt make it to sit in their own parliament.
V/O Israel says the wall is designed to stop suicide bombers from coming into Israel.But Palestinians accuse their neighbours of building borders.. walls instead of bridges.Theres resentment here that this should happen under Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority could not prevent it.
Ziad Abu Ziad.. because on the other side there are arabs they are not israelis they are not jews..they are Palestinian Arabs who live in the eastern part of jerusalem so this wall is seperating arabs from arabs.. palestinians from palestinians.
V/O In a crisis where most Palestinian leaders are talking only amongst themselves.. Jersualem Affairs Minister Ziad Abu Ziad.. agreed to speak to me about his governments problems.
Trevor: There is a perception though that the Palestinian Authority suffers corruption.. some of the people there are inept.. how do you address that kind of issue.Well you know this issue of corruption.. is there any country in the world that doesnt have corruption.. (is it hampering) no no it is used as an argument to to continue this process of character assassination of the Palestinian people at the Palestinian authority and the palestinian leadership of course wherever there are human beings and there is money.. you ll find some corrupted individuals.
V/O Back at the siege of Ramallah.. the movers and shakers of Palestine were planning succession and not saying a word to the outside world.But the champion of the silent majority was speaking out once more.. he offered me these final thoughts in his 112th interview for the week.
Mustafa BarghouthiWe are under occupation.. the authority is an authority practically without authority because it is an authority under occupation so there is a chance here for the world to help us conduct free democratic elections and initiate the first model of real democracy in the arab world.
V/O From the rubble of Yasser Arafats compound a new Palestinian President will embark upon a quest for statehood.Palestinians think fondly of the man they regard as a symbol of their struggle.. even though he couldnt deliver a national called Palestine.Arafat.. they say was blessed with nine lives.. his successor may not have such fortune ends