And the Nominees are.........Detained at the Airport?

Bil'in is a village in the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank. It's also the home town of Emad Burnat and the subject of his Oscar nominated documentary "5 Broken Cameras." He headed to Hollywood this week to attend the Academy Awards.

Traveling in, out, and around Bil'in is difficult, as is traveling anywhere through the occupied Palestinian territory as a Palestinian, between roadblocks, checkpoints, segregation walls and the like. So you'd think the difficulties in Emad's journey from Bil'in to Hollywood would have ended after he made it out of Palestine.

Well, at least you'd think that is the case. It turns out that Emad, his wife and his 8 year-old son, Gibreel, who is also a subject in the film, were detained yesterday at the Los Angeles airport. Burnat, threatened with deportation, reached out to fellow film maker Michael Moore for help. Moore, in turn, notified the twitterverse.

"Apparently the Immigration and Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help," Moore tweeted.

Emad, his wife and 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn't have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) February 20, 2013

Commendably, Moore got in touch with some attorneys and attempted to help. Burnat told Moore, "It's nothing I'm not already used to. When u [sic] live under occupation, with no rights, this is a daily occurrence." Burnat was ultimately released.

Burnat has just released a statement through his distributor Kino Lorber describing the events:

Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at U.S. immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award® for the documentary "5 Broken Cameras" and they told me that if I couldn’t prove the reason for my visit, my wife, Soraya, my son, Gibreel, and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day.

After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: ‘Maybe we’ll have to go back.’ I could see his heart sink.

Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout the West Bank. There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday. Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day.

Burnat may be used to these sorts of procedures where rights are curtailed because of your ethnicity, religion or complexion while living under Israeli occupation. And while that is a sad reality, it shouldn't be the case. Nor should the oppression of Israeli occupation follow a Palestinian across the globe like a rain cloud wherever they go, especially not to the United States. This entire incident is an embarrassment and should be investigated. Why was an artist, his wife and their 8 year-old child treated this way? It doesn't make sense.

A number of media outlets have reported on the ordeal and while it is unfortunate, hopefully the silver lining will be that more attention is brought to a film intended to shed light on the draconian nature of Israeli occupation policies. Burnat rightly notes that these policies are far worse and far more extensive than what he had to endure on his way to the Oscars.

Raising awareness about them is a preliminary step to ending them. I'm glad he's finally made it to the Oscars and hope everyone can hear his story - a typically Palestinian one. 

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