"Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 13)"There are no innocents in Gaza. Mow them down." - Michael Ben-AriIsraeli film director Yoav Shamir directs "Checkpoint", a fly-on-the-wall documentary which presents footage shot at several military checkpoints imposed both within Palestine and along Israel's borders.The film, which possesses no narration, captures the psychological toll these checkpoints take on the more than three million Palestinians who live within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Much of its footage consists of interactions between Israeli soldiers – bored, tired, struggling and often failing to maintain some semblance of humanity – and the Palestinians who are required to pass through these stops to go about their daily lives. Many of the incidents shown highlight how the checkpoints are designed to demoralise, dis-empower, humiliate, belittle, inconvenience, and psychologically brutalise the Palestinians. Frequently, large groups of Palestinians are detained at checkpoints for long hours, held for no reason other than to further cement their subjugation. And so we watch as women and children are hounded, mother's are forced to abandon their offspring, Israeli soldiers harass pretty Palestinian girls, Palestinians are humiliated at gunpoint, Israeli soldiers brag and refer to Arabs as "animals", and Palestinian detainees are made to stand in the rain/snow for hours whilst waiting for "permission" to cross checkpoints.By now, Israel is renowned (and widely denounced) for the very sophisticated form of "soft" ethnic cleansing it employs. What "Checkpoint" does is put a human face on both sides of this knife's edge. Director Yoav Shamir was himself once a checkpoint guard, and so the film offers a certain nuance which someone with a one-sided agenda may not have captured. The Israeli soldier's aren't monsters, but the very position they are placed in makes them monstrous. "It's not my decision," they constantly insist, echoing the famous Miligram and Stanford Prison Experiments of the 60s and 70s (and several incidents at Abu Ghraib), in which situational or systemic factors are shown to mould individual personalities to such an extent that soldiers/wardens become increasingly violent, cruel and abusive, their actions even taking on a sexual turn (forcing prisoners to simulate sex acts or sodomy on one another etc). Meanwhile, the film puts a human face on Palestinians, whose plights are routinely ignored.Interestingly, the checkpoints have made heroes of Palestine's elders. Whilst young Palestinian men are effectively neutered or rendered impotent by Israeli soldiers, fearing to speak up lest they be shot or charged, Palestine's elders, because of the stigma of abusing the elderly, are given a certain carte blanche. Much of the film involves elderly men and women standing up to Israeli soldiers, while youths stand by on the sidelines, fearful of retaliation.Today there are over 700 "checkpoints" or "closures" in the West Bank. Seventy four percent of the main routes in the West Bank are controlled by checkpoints or blocked entirely. In addition to this, Israel has employed a complex system of roadblocks, gates, walls, and compulsory permits (echoes of WW2 era "Jewish Stars"). With the movement of Palestinians severely restricted, the Palestinian economy swiftly underwent one of the worst recessions in modern history – heightened due to new laws banning economic interactions with Israel - resulting in a chronic increase in unemployment and poverty. The checkpoints have also seriously affected Palestinian access to medical care and emergency medical treatment. Indeed, over the past few years, it is estimated that over a hundred and fifty deaths have resulted from soldiers stopping ambulances and patients. In addition to this, according to the World Health Organization, at least 69 women have given birth at checkpoints since the outbreak of the Second Intifada (between 2000 and 2006). Out of these 69 cases, 35 of the newborns have died, and a total of five mothers have also perished. Meanwhile, the numbers of checkpoints increase.8.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

This is a really good film about "hostages" on both sides of the conflict - the soldiers who are forced to maintain the rules and in particular the people who are just trying to live their lives and have to put up with the daily harassment that is created because of the rules....And by the way, I also like the style of it, no commentary, just "fly on the wall"-filming (minus the single comment made by the cameraman to a soldier) - In my opinion that is real documentary. You get to see what is going on and is allowed to develop your own interpretation. well done, Shamir

An even less 'sensational' take on the Islam-American conflict - a film that simply provides a fly on the wall account of various checkpoints on the Palestine-Israel border. Miles from anywhere, people travel frequently, walking long distances, to go to hospitals or to work. The Israeli guards like to 'show them' and routinely harass them by making them stand in the blazing sun, driving rain, or deep snow for many hours (eg up to ten hours) before returning their papers and often sending them home. They are polite, but admit to the cameras that this is how they deal with people - force them to stand in the rain. It could almost be a laid back Palestinian expose of what is happening at the checkpoints except - and here is the double-whammy - it is made by an Israeli, with Israeli funding - and it has been snapped up and promoted by the Israelis in cinemas but also the Palestinians - what is perhaps even more shocking (according to the director at the Edinburgh International Film Festival) it is now being used by the Israeli forces as training material for their guards. The filmmaker has certainly got his message across to a wide audience.I asked director Yoav Shamir (at the Edinburgh International Film Festival Screening) what his next project would be - he replied that he is making a film about anti-semitism - and it's backlash now the Jews have 'power'. Meeting such an intelligent and politically sensitive Jew makes us all wonder how there are Jews in power in Israel that let their country - with American help and Palestinian reaction - get into such a bl**dy mess.

Yoav Shamir´s film "Checkpoint" shows the everyday life of Palestinian citizens and young Israeli soldiers at the Checkpoints in a land of confusion.It´s amazing how close Yoav Shamir managed to get to film these two year documentary (2001-2003) and still not interfere with to much with the everyday incidents between those people.Brilliant. Breathtaking. Important film to show the rest of the world, but most important, show Israelians how these harsh situations at the Checkpoints appear. Hopefully it will lead to better understanding and less problems.A film about the harsh reality, but without the spectacular explosions.It will be very interesting to see what Yoav Shamir takes on his mind to film next time.Because there will be a lot of next time for this talanted director.Matt Mellow, reporting from the Lydmar Hotel lobby, Stockholm, Sweden