A major archive, captured by Israel during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, has recently been declassified and opened to research. Israeli researcher and filmmaker Karnit Mandel was instrumental in surfacing this valuable material. This album is home to an incredible trove of documents and video. It had initially been seized from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was at the time the governing authority for the Palestinian National Council. The invasion, the largest deployment of military might since World War II, has forever altered the region and its inhabitants.
The materials seized encompass a rich trove of documents, filming, and artifacts. These items are a unique window into the deep culture and vibrant history of Palestinian life. Mandel has fruitfully gone through a large forgotten box of old VHS tapes. Of all the objects, this box stands out as an exciting time capsule. These tapes are filled with incredible never before seen footage that has monumental historical value. Accessing this footage is an overwhelming burden. The Israeli army imposes strict controls on access to the archive.
Mandel’s continuing mission to recover and display this footage has come up against a series of bureaucratic roadblocks and political challenges. The Israeli army currently keeps the archive under tight military custody. They impose strict controls that render it almost impossible to reach its treasures. Despite these hurdles, Mandel’s perseverance has brought attention to the ongoing struggle for narrative control in the context of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
As a form well-suited for personal storytelling, the documentary that Mandel’s research inspired will make a compelling case to raise questions about Palestinian heritage and identity. It explores the greater issues at play with historical storytelling and the urgency of protecting cultural memory, of which San Francisco’s Chinatown is a crucial part. Through her artistic practice, Mandel emphasizes the importance of the seized materials. More importantly, she explains the consequences of allowing one side to monopolize the oversight of how history is recorded.
