‘On the side of the road’ – interview with filmmaker

 On the Side of the Road – OFFICIAL TRAILER: “Delegitimize Zionism,” says Israeli filmmaker

By Sarah Levy, The Electronic Intifada, 6 November 2014

In a scene from her new film On the Side of the Road, Lia Tarachansky asks Amnon Noimon, a veteran of the Zionist brigades known as Palmach, what role he played in dispossessing Palestinians.

When Noimon indicates that the subject is too painful, Tarachansky replies: “I understand, Amnon. It’s just that because it’s so hard for you to talk about these things, that’s exactly why you must.”

Tarachansky has set out to address the inconvenient truth about the Nakba, the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Doing so is vital for justice to be achieved, she believes.

Not only does On the Side of the Road confront the reality of 1948, it examines how Israelis deal with that past today — how it is taught to the young; how the facts about it are available; how those facts are sometimes deliberately ignored.

Tarachansky has broken this taboo as part of what she makes clear is a long and ongoing process of rejecting Zionism. When she was six year old, Tarachansky was brought from Ukraine to the occupied West Bank by her mother. She grew up in the settlement of Ariel on land stolen from the Palestinians, yet inculcated with the idea that the Palestinians were an enemy of Jewish people.

Reporting on Palestine for The Real News Network, Tarachansky now lives in Ottawa, Canada. On the Side of The Road, her first feature film, is currently touring the US.

She spoke to Sarah Levy.

Sarah Levy: What led you to make the film?