The Law in These Parts

Released Nov 14, 2012

1 hr. 41 min.

Documentary

History

Drama

List

88%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

The history of Israel's military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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walter m

"The Law in These Parts" is an insightful documentary that looks into the way the law has been enforced, often unevenly, by Israeli military authorities in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967. To the filmmakers' credit, they go directly to the source which is military judges who presided over cases and in some cases created that law. That is especially interesting considering the obscure Ottoman law that led to the creation of the controversial settlements. Considering the judges seem to be interviewed of their own free will, it does seem at least a little rude for them to be questioned as hostile witnesses, especially the one guy in a wheelchair. Plus, you are bound to get more information in a pleasant environment, anyway. That's not to mention the documentary being unnecessarily meta. I mean, yes, if the witness is still alive and can shed some light on the case in question, by all means interview her and not just talk about her.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Builds the background slowly but becomes increasingly compelling. It's interesting how the judges interviewed variously defend, criticize, justify, rationalize, resign to, and condemn the actions and policies of the Israeli occupation. some express powerful denial; some poignant resignation to doing the best they can in a bad situation.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An unflinching look at how the Occupation's perverse legal system has wrought injustice on the people of Palestine and a dark shadow on the conscience of Israeli society.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

'The Law in These Parts'. The disgusting actions and absurd double standards of the Israeli Supreme Court and military judges in the laws and rulings handed down over the last 40 years in Occupied Territories. Making it all the worse is the staunch defense the retired judges that are the subjects of this documentary still put forward. As far as they were concerned, the form of justice they were serving was to make sure whatever the military needed to happen, happened. No authority figure in the Israel army was ever questioned, and each judge took the word of the army as absolute truth, while discounting the Palestinians at every opportunity, because they were the "enemy". This was the system they were a part of, and a system they could break free of. All the Supreme Court did was enable the military.Their involvement eases the mind of Israelis, in OKing the military's actions. When increasingly large numbers of Palestinians were being arrested, the system started failing, as everyone had to stand trial. So what happened? They thought they'd speed the whole process up by bypassing that whole pesky trial aspect, unless a trial was explicitly asked for; the system was fine once again. Did this have to pass through parliament or anything? No, don't be silly! It was the decision of one man, and who knows how many thousands of lives it affected. Completely absurd. There's a theory put forward that if the military had been left to their own devices, going about things in an even more violent manner, the people of Israel would have spoken out against this, and not let it going on as long as it has. One interviewee says towards the end that these laws weren't written for the people within the Occupied Territories; they were written to protect us. We wouldn't be able to enjoy the safety that we do without their actions. "Us" and "we" was in the context of the people of Israel. I couldn't however help but think of the current U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. It's a mad world we live in where people in power think and function like this. It doesn't seem like it's stopping any time soon either. This is not justice, it's delusion. A real eye-opener.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Ra'anan Alexandrowicz

Director

Meir Shamgar

Actor

Dov Shefi

Actor

Abraham Pachter

Actor

Alexander Ramati

Actor

Jair Rabinovich

Actor

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David Lewis

San Francisco Chronicle

On the surface, it sounds like a boring, esoteric day in law class, but in truth, it plays out like a riveting session in court ...

Rated: 3/4

Jan 17, 2013

Full Review

Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

This may sound like a dry, legalistic endeavor, but the result will surprise you.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 13, 2012

Full Review

Farran Smith Nehme

New York Post

"The Law in These Parts'' more than accomplishes its goal of provoking a discussion about imposing laws on people who have no say in making them.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 16, 2012

Full Review

Stuart Klawans

The Nation

The Law in These Parts is more slowly cumulative in its impact than The Gatekeepers, but equally devastating.

Jan 9, 2018

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Intriguingly asks if justice can be served in the occupied territories given the current system of law administered by Israel for Palestinians.

Rated: B-

Jun 7, 2013

Full Review

Cynthia Fuchs

PopMatters

The Law in These Parts offers a series of historical anecdotes, memories that may or may not be wholly precise, framed by the filmmaker's commentary on the definitions of law, citizenship, and their effects on so-called realities.

Dec 8, 2012

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Synopsis

The history of Israel's military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Director: Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
Executive Producer: Martin Hagemann, Laura Poitras, Paul Saadoun
Screenwriter: Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
Distributor: Cinema Guild
Genre: Documentary, History, Drama
Original Language: Hebrew
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 14, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017

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