Silent Night takes viewers on a thought-provoking journey through the complexities of tourism in occupied West Bank, shedding light on the uncomfortable realities of economic dependence and systemic injustice.
In Silent Night, presented in the NEW:VISION strand of CPH:DOX 2024, Jonathan Schaller and Philipp Schaeffer take us on a journey organized by an Israeli tour company to Bethlehem, a city located in the occupied West Bank, just a stone’s throw away from Jerusalem.
Opening with a stark archival image of a Palestinian woman shot dead in broad daylight by heavily armed Israeli soldiers, the tourist excursion immediately appears trivial. Especially when the guide explains to the tourists that the Palestinian shopkeepers’ strike in Bethlehem might limit their lunch options.
The film follows the tour bus as it navigates through the extensive security checkpoints and the wall surrounding the city of Bethlehem, then drops off the tourists at the Church of the Nativity, where they are led by a Palestinian guide, showing them the very place where Jesus is said to have been born.
Quickly, it becomes evident that the two German filmmakers feel out of place in this group and experience genuine discomfort at the thought of sightseeing in an occupied territory and the epicenter of such intense tension with the occupying power.
The frustration of the filmmakers seems directed at these naive tourists who explore so blindly in such a complex territory. Yet, the tourists are never given a voice, and it’s conceivable that many of them are not oblivious to the situation.
The film’s interest lies not in critiquing absurd tourism because the Church of the Nativity remains a highly significant historical site and a crucial pilgrimage destination, much like many other monuments and places in Palestine. Nor does it lie in its nonexistent mise en scène – the film being captured spontaneously by two members of the tour group.
However, where the film provides elements of an intriguing reflection is when it showcases the economic ecosystem composed of Palestinian tourism professionals or the merchants revolving around tourist frequented areas and dependent on the influx brought by Israeli tour companies. Due to this economic interest, Palestinian guides and merchants do not openly express their total opposition to the policies of the occupying state.
Yet, the filmmakers include in the film a recurring confrontation: the pro-Israeli narrative versus the Palestinian resignation in the face of arbitrary, unjust, and routine crimes committed by the occupying power. However, they cannot afford to challenge the tourists they receive on this matter, lest they lose the hand that feeds them by bringing in tourists.
The film concludes with a text paying tribute to the unarmed civilian woman arbitrarily shot dead by Israeli soldiers the previous day, whose images were presented at the beginning. It’s a way of paying homage to the ongoing injustice endured by the Palestinian people for decades.
Ultimately, Silent Night offers little. The film lightly criticizes religious tourism in an oppressed territory. Nonetheless, it pays homage – never enough – to the reality of the colonization of Palestinian territories while highlighting the perversion of economic ties between Israeli and Palestinian economic actors, upon which the latter depend to survive.
It is, therefore, an effective short film, likely made hastily and without much distance, but it sheds light on a well-known and documented reality, although unfortunately, this does not prevent it from persisting.
