Our beloved and renowned Ahmed El Ghandour, aka El Daheeh, nailed it with his episode “The Story of Palestine”, telling the whole story with details that some of us weren’t even familiar with, details that are similar to missing pieces of a puzzle that made everyone see and come to better understand the whole picture, the true events that led to the current situation and the real History of it all. It was an emotional rollercoaster though that left the viewers with a lot of mixed feelings through his unique and outstanding way of story-telling and directing.
1-The Theatrical Storytelling:
With expressive movement in a theatrical way, the right gestures; like air-quotes on several occasion, and grimaces; like winking or rising eyebrows especially when exposing lies and myths, along with the change of voice tones from lower to higher to monotone, and from sarcastic to serious to bitter to suspenseful, all that being mastered in a very captivating way expresses so many emotions indirectly; but that connect deeply with the viewers and make them fully engage with the story, as if he’s incarnating every event and character of the History, and it’s like dragging the viewer into the action of an epic historical movie.
2-Rollercoaster of a Plot
To better and deeply comprehend the story, the narrator used the plot elements. From exposition of characters, motives, places and initiation points, passing by the “made-up conflict” to get to the rising action of seizing the Land, expelling and terrorizing the landowners, up until the climax when invasions, massacres and ethnic cleansing take place, and finally the falling action that’s been going for decades and until this current moment, when The State of Israel has been declared and the settlers are in control, exercising Apartheid. However, there’s no resolution, it’s an open ending because the story is still ongoing.
3-The Motion-Picture Storyline
With an epic “Matrix Movie” cold open like beginning; the first chapter El Tantoura, he already has all our attention and compassion. It also serves as a preamble to the main element of the story, which is the reality of the oppressor, “the only democracy in the Middle East”, being revealed. Then comes the chapters and ending each one with a cliffhanger that makes you unable to blink until you’ve finished it all. Moreover, the mixing between different storylines but in a chronological order; the one with the History of the Land, The History of Jews all over the world and the Zionist movement, and the situation of Europe at each timeline. So again, like a puzzle or more like a mosaic, we get to see the bigger picture at the end, know the facts, and understand the roots of it all so that we may one day, like El Ghandour said at the end, get to have a corrective and just vision of how we can change that bitter reality and bring Palestinians their rights and freedom.
4-The Diplomatic Credibility!
Not to forget that depending on Jewish and non-Arab sources to tell the story was a big hit and a big shock at the same time. It shows a recognized “gap”, and affirms on how many realities have been manipulated to sell their version of the story, despite that the real History was written by their hands, yet those who dared telling it received exemplary punishments and were harshly maltreated.
In the end, we cannot but say that this episode shall be a classic masterpiece, for us and above all for all the younger generations, so that we keep inheriting and passing through the real story, so that we keep talking about the Beautiful Palestine and its History and its valiant civilians who never sold their land, instead they’re being oppressed and killed for staying in their land, and protecting their heritage, identity and future.