By Katia Khodr | Staff Writer
As of October 7, 2023, the genocide taking place in Palestine has become one of the largest
broadcasted live. For this reason, the fight for Palestine has fostered millions of people
worldwide, who have fallen witness to continuous slaughter. While the spark of international
outrage against Israel and international support for the Palestinian cause has turned into
somewhat of a fire, now, to say the least, I am struck with a devastating realization: the millions
of people speaking out for Palestine post-October 7 have only seen Palestine in a state of war,
and only know Palestinian culture as that which is being cleansed. Many do not even know the
conditions of occupation and cultural endangerment that existed and lingered for more than
seven decades before October 7. Surprisingly, a lot of these people I am mentioning are
students in one of my courses last semester. In an attempt to rewind time and enlighten us —
students out of touch with Palestinian culture and its multi-dimensional identity — one of my
professors decided to shift the entire syllabus to Palestinian-related media activism, film, and
social change. As we scroll through our refined syllabus, the name Michel Khleifi appears next
to the film title Wedding in Galilee, which is staring right back at me in bold Times New Roman.
In Michel Khleifi's Wedding in Galilee, the topic of occupation is central to the storyline. The film
depicts the state of Palestinian cultural practices under Israeli occupation, highlighting the
complexities and challenges confronted by the local community of occupied Galilee. Khleifi
investigates the pressures, clashes, and power dynamics inherent in the occupied territories as
the Israeli governor insists he and his soldiers attend the wedding if the ‘Mokhtar’ wishes it to
happen. The film dives into the resistance endeavors and flexibility of the Palestinian individuals
in the midst of the onerous conditions they persevere through. Substantially, Wedding in Galilee
offers a nuanced depiction of occupation and its significant impacts on people, families, and
communities in Palestine.
Khleifi utilizes different social components as images of Palestinian resistance and freedom in
his depiction of the Israeli occupation through the expectedly non-political occasion of a
wedding. Vocal transmission is demonstrated repeatedly throughout the film, whether it be the
'zalghouta' for wedding jingles, and is exploited as a trigger in numerous instances to the Israeli
military. The auditory imagery, which one can imagine just through the sharp reverberation, the
distinct vibration that reaches the ear, is enough to strike audiences in an attempt to engulf them
in Palestinian identity. Its repetition can be interpreted as a sign of the endurance of life and
culture under the harsh conditions of occupation. Furthermore, vocal transmission is used in a
variety of circumstances throughout the film, such as during bridal showers, which serve as both
a representation of culture and a form of resistance of the Palestinian, Galilean identity even
under Israeli apartheid, with Israeli militants attending the wedding. Films like this show that the
land is a land with a people, with a culture, with a history, with a heritage, and the wedding
becomes a process of unfolding this cultural aliveness.
Moreover, land serves as the foundation for the Palestinian economy, particularly in agricultural
regions. Farming and agriculture have been traditional livelihoods for Palestinians, and the
struggle for land rights has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance against occupation and
oppression. Through Khleifi’s directorial choices, he is able to portray Palestinians' right to self-
determination and sovereignty over their land. In one of the film’s most striking scenes, the
father is seen going after the horse through the minefield in an endeavor to save it,
demonstrating nothing but an acquaintance with the land and with the natural ecosystem within
it. The father did not require a map nor assistance from the Israeli soldiers (who in fact called for
his help) when it came to talking with the horse. This signifies a sense of connection and birth to
the land and ecology. It is notable to also consider Khleifi’s framing techniques, as the fact that
the Israeli soldiers have laid landmines in a land they wish to be theirs is an illustration of their
aggression, and their inability to navigate these mines reflects their alienation to Palestinian
territory.
The film exhibits a feminist theme and perspective, as it opposes stereotypes of the oppressive
Middle East not only by being an existing piece of feminist Arab literature, but also by depicting
power in Arab femininity. The female Palestinian characters have a major presence in Wedding
in Galilee, which is inverse to their officially acknowledged role in the community shown by
Khleifi. Sumaya, the groom's sister, is rebellious and subversive towards the Israeli militants, a
portrayal that echoes her defiance of her father, the dictator figure, whom she cannot be
controlled by. Her resistance towards authority alludes to Palestinian resistance against Israel's
apartheid state. This is especially evident when her father fails to stop her from assuming a
masculine role with her partner and teasingly donning his headpiece, showcasing her defiance
of tradition in the 1987 Galilee social setting. The crumbling of the patriarchal foundation of the
Palestinians hence becomes a symbol of the infiltration of the Israeli state, done by the
domination of women — an oxymoron in Palestinian and Arab culture. One of Sumaya's most
remarkable lines in this film is, “If you need to move, you have got to require off your uniform.”
The impression this line left on me is indescribable, as it implicitly urges and longs for
demilitarization and peace, at least for the moment in which they celebrate the union of the bride
and groom. The uniform becomes a symbol of the interruption of the Israeli government of
social tradition, and Sumaya gets to become a symbol, herself, of Palestinian malleability in the
midst of cultural shift and integration. As reflected during this lecture, to be amicable in the non-
political discourse that is Palestinian life, represented by the ‘holy matrimony’, the divisions in
which the Israeli uniforms represent must be stripped so that adaptation can occur.