The State We're In, 14 May 2011. A Palestinian villager leads a peaceful protest against Israeli tanks and wins. A Ugandan ex-officer throws eggs at his president to make a point. And a Somali bride lays down her law to both her parents and husband. The trial of John Demjanjuk, possibly the last Holocaust trial, has concluded with a guilty verdict. A victim tells us if he feels justice has, or even can be done. Photo: John Demjanjuk's identity card, Trawniki labour camp, Poland.
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Olives not bullets
Ayed Morrar lives in the West Bank village of Budrus. When he heard that Israeli tanks were going to demolish the olive groves to build a security fence and totally isolate the town, he helped lead protests – peaceful protests. He tells host Jonathan Groubert how their non-violent approach won the day.
Link - Budrus documentary
Link - Movies That Matter
Watch the trailer for Budrus
Fighting back
Haji Womboga never backs down from a fight. As a soldier in the Ugandan army, he fought on the losing side of an internal conflict. So he fled to Sweden. But later, when Uganda’s president came to Sweden, Haji continued his fight: by throwing eggs as the visiting president. Years later and living back in Uganda, there was an emergency police couldn’t handle: an Army Lieutenant had robbed a shop, and taken a mother and child hostage. Haji got some of his veteran buddies together, stormed the house, and saved the day – all without even harming the robber.
Rebel bride
In Somalia, parents choose their daughters’ husbands. And once married, husbands rule the roost. But try telling that to 25-year-old Foutuma. Her parents didn’t like the man she was in love with, but she married him anyhow, and told them only after she got married. Turns out her husband is a member of Al-Shabaab, the Islamist faction linked to Al Qaeda – and Foutuma doesn’t like them. She tells Jonathan that if he refuses to leave the group, she’ll defy him, too, and leave him -- even though she’s pregnant with his child.
Courtroom dramatics
Rob Fransman’s parents were murdered in Sobibor prison camp during World War II. John Demjanjuk is on trial for being a prison guard at the camp. Rob explains what attending the trial in person means, and doesn’t mean, in his personal quest for justice.
Video - Rob Fransman returns to Sobibor with his granddaughter:
Courtroom dramatics conclusion
The Demjanjuk trial is finally over, after two years. Rob Fransman tells Jonathan what the verdict means to him, but also his ambivalence over the meaning of justice.
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I recommend reading "Escape from Sobibor" by Richard Rashke (published 1982). He interviewed many who made it through the forest when a massive escape was launched from this camp. After the escape, the Nazis burned Sobibor to the ground to hide the evidence.
many were killed in these camps that were not Jewish and suffer in silence PLEASE do a story on them
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