The Great Book Robbery
Farewell my library! Farewell mansion of wisdom, temple of philosophers, institute of science, council house of literature!
~ Khalil Sakakini
This forthcoming Benny Brunner film chronicles a cultural destruction, it is the story of 60,000 books looted by Jews in the nascent state of Israel from Palestinians in 1948. Two versions (60 and 90 min.) of this forthcoming documentary are in the development phase. The project’s website is here: thegreatbookrobbery.org. You can contact the filmmaker at [email protected] for more information if you would like to support the project, and follow the project on Twitter @bookrobbery for updates.
From the project’s website:
The Great Book Robbery is a multifaceted cultural heritage project. It has two major components, a documentary film to be produced, broadcast and screened internationally and this very website which will grow into a multi-function platform.
Two European broadcasters already committed to air the film. Furthermore, we are in advance negotiation with various international broadcasters to join us as co-producers. Currentlywe are seeking strategic partners and public financial support for the film as well as the website.
60,000 Palestinian books were systematically looted by the newly born State of Israel during the 1948 war. The story of the stolen books is not only at the heart of our project but also the launching pad of a much bigger and wider endeavor: We intend on communicating the scope and depth of the Palestinian tragedy through the destruction of Palestinian culture in 1948.
If you are a Palestinian, Israeli, Christian, Muslim or Jew; if you live in Israel-Palestine or elsewhere in the world; if you are a sympathiser of the Palestinian cause or care about Israel’s moral character, we appeal to you to contribute whatever you can to this project.
Share your knowledge. If you know people whose libraries were looted or any other information concerning this historical episode, be it documents, pictorial material, or home movies – please contact us. If you would like to share your thoughts or insights on this subject matter you are welcome to contribute to our blog – please let us know.
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