CAIR Welcomes South Carolina Town’s Passage of Hate Crime Ordinance

 The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a decision by the town council of Hollywood, South Carolina, to adopt a hate crime ordinance. 

The town council adopted the ordinance during a meeting yesterday, making them the 20th municipality in South Carolina to do so. The state has no hate crime law. 

SEE: Another SC town implements hate crime ordinance, as the state remains one of two without a law | South Carolina Public Radio

Town of Hollywood passes first hate crime ordinance

“We welcome the town of Hollywood’s decision to adopt a hate crime ordinance and urge South Carolina lawmakers to do the same on the state level,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “Crimes committed on the basis of bigotry are on the rise nationwide and must be taken seriously.”

He noted that CAIR has previously expressed support for a proposed statewide hate crime ordinance in South Carolina. 

CAIR-CA Welcomes Governor Newsom’s Signing of California Eid State Holiday Act

 The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) today welcomed Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of Assembly Bill (AB) 2017, which recognizes Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in state law and addresses a longstanding challenge for the state’s more than one million Muslim residents who are often forced to choose between practicing their faith and showing up to school or work. 

Authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney and co-sponsored by CAIR-CA, the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, and the Muslim Impact Council, AB 2017 permits state and school employees to observe Eid using existing personal holiday credit or leave time. The bill also authorizes K-12 schools and community colleges to close in observance Eid through locally negotiated agreements. 

AB 2017’s passage comes at a critical time for the American Muslim community. CAIR recently documented a 183% increase in incidents targeting mosques and Islamic centers from May to July compared to the same three-month period last year. Officially recognizing these holidays sends the necessary and powerful message that California values and protects its Muslim community in the face of growing hostility. 

In a statement, CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush said: 

“For far too long, Muslim students and employees in California have had to make the difficult choice between participating in observances essential to their faith or falling behind on their academic or professional obligations. AB 2017 removes these structural barriers and aligns state policy with the values of inclusion, equity, and respect for cultural diversity that define our state.  

“We commend Gov. Newsom for signing AB 2017 and sending a powerful message that amid growing hostility, California stands firmly with its Muslim community. We also thank Assemblymember Haney for his authorship and outgoing Senator Aisha Wahab for her co-authorship on this critical bill, as well as our partners, the Muslim Impact Council and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. Together, we’ve achieved a historic win for California Muslims.” 

CAIR-CA is the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. 

CAIR-CA Welcome California Study Exposing Use of Parking Complaints to Discriminate Against New Mosques

 The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today highlighted a new report revealing how municipal zoning laws, conditional use permits, and local administrative processes are frequently used to mask systemic discrimination against proposed mosques.

The report was published in the Journal of the American Planning Association led by scholars at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and UCLA with funding from the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies.

CAIR’s San Francisco Bay chapter served as a community partner on the research, which documents how institutional and regulatory barriers are used to delay, restrict, or outright deny approval for new mosques under the guise of neutral land-use policies such as traffic, parking, and environmental concerns.

The study illustrates how community opposition often exploits discretionary local approval processes to target Muslim congregations, imposing disproportionate requirements that are rarely required of other religious institutions or commercial developments.

In a statement, CAIR-San Francisco Bay Area Executive Director Zahra Billoo said:

“This report confirms what Muslim communities across California and the nation have experienced for years: illegal discrimination against mosque projects under the guise of parking concerns. Discriminatory opposition to the establishment of mosques rarely announces itself openly. Instead, it often hides behind manufactured concerns about zoning codes. This is unacceptable and must no longer influence governmental decisions.”

In a statement, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:

“We commend the Journal of the American Planning Association for releasing this detailed, important study. This report serves as a reminder that local governments must apply land-use policies fairly and without bias, fulfilling their legal obligations under federal civil rights laws like the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Otherwise, they should expect to continue facing accountability in a court of law.”

He called on municipal leaders, urban planners, and elected officials nationwide to review their land-use regulations and ensure transparent, equitable practices for all communities of faith.

To read the full summary of the study, visit the report on Phys.org.

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

Myanmar: Türk deplores deadly strikes at busy Rakhine market

 GENEVA – UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Tuesday deplored military airstrikes that reportedly killed at least 50 people, including vendors, customers, transport workers and other civilians – among them children and women, at a market in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine State.

In one of the deadliest attacks carried out in Rakhine since the coup of February 2021, the military reportedly hit Kyauktaw township at around midday on Monday. At least 58 people were also reportedly injured. The casualty count is expected to rise.

Reports said Monday’s strikes occurred during a busy period when large numbers of civilians were present in and around the market of over 200 shops operated by members of multiple communities, including Rakhine, Rohingya, Hindu, Daingnet, and other groups.

“This latest attack raises serious concerns about respect for international humanitarian law with respect to the conduct of hostilities,” the High Commissioner said. “Under this law, warring parties must abide by the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.”

“The strikes underline the grave plight faced by civilians across the country - but none more so than in Rakhine State,” said Türk. “For years now, Myanmar has been wracked by extreme violence, and the country’s population has been subjected to pervasive human rights violations and abuses.”

He pointed to continued reports of arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearance, forced labour and forced recruitment - in particular impacting the Rohingya, by both the army and the Arakan Army.

The attack in Kyauktaw came just hours before Malaysia started to implement a plan to deport some 5,000 Myanmar nationals. The High Commissioner called on the Malaysian authorities to immediately halt the process.

The High Commissioner has consistently appealed that no individual be deported to Myanmar, given the severity of the situation on the ground.

“This is no time to return any one forcibly to a country plagued by egregious human rights violations and abuses, and where many cruelly face the real risk of more of the same violence again upon their return,” he said.

Further to the principle of non-refoulement, States are prohibited under international law from returning people to countries where they face persecution, torture, serious harm or other serious human rights violations.

“There can be little doubt as to what awaits many returnees. The conditions are far from safe and sustainable, and it is deeply questionable whether any return in these circumstances can be considered truly voluntary,” the High Commissioner said. “Instead, other States need to step up and support countries hosting refugees, like Bangladesh and Malaysia, with alternative solutions.”

“The hundreds of thousands who have fled Myanmar in fear for their lives must be protected, and their fundamental human rights to seek asylum and protection abroad properly considered, in line with international law,” Türk said.

Bangladesh’s Energy Crisis By Saleque Sufi and Habib Siddiqui

 Bangladesh today stands at the edge of an energy precipice. Despite developing more than 30,000 MW (Megawatt) of grid-connected generation capacity, the country cannot consistently produce even 15,000 MW. During peak summer months, the deficit exceeds 3,000 MW, and citizens outside Dhaka endure 10-12 hours of crippling load shedding. Industries are suffocating, fertilizer plants remain idle, and nearly 40% of gas-based power generation capacity sits unused. The root cause is unmistakable: a chronic shortage of primary fuel, especially natural gas.

The present demand for gas stands at roughly 4,000 MMCFD (Million Cubic Feet per Day), yet Petrobangla — despite adding 900–1,000 MMCFD of imported LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) — can supply only 2,700 MMCFD. The resulting 1,200–1,300 MMCFD shortfall has cascaded across the economy, triggering production losses, unemployment, and severe social distress. Bangladesh’s energy crisis is no longer a technical problem; it is a national emergency.

This emergency did not emerge overnight. It is the product of decades of inadequate planning, misplaced priorities, and an overreliance on imported fuels. Unless the government acts with urgency, professionalism, and strategic clarity, Bangladesh risks sliding into a prolonged era of energy insecurity.

The Missed Decades: Coal, Gas, and the Failure of Exploration

Bangladesh possesses one of the world’s richest untapped coal deposits — 70 Tcf (Trillion Cubic Feet) equivalent of high-quality coal lying at mineable depth. Environmentally responsible mining technologies exist today that allow 80% land recovery, safe water management, and full rehabilitation of affected communities. Yet successive governments have refused to mine coal, bowing to misinformation, bureaucratic inertia, and vested interests.

The story of natural gas is equally troubling. Bangladesh is the largest riverine delta on Earth, with enormous geological potential for hydrocarbons. But after extracting the “low-hanging fruit” from only one-third of the landmass, exploration slowed to a crawl. Vast regions — Chattak, Tengratila, Potiya, Sitapahar, Kasalang, and much of the western zone — remain virtually untouched. Some of these prospects lie near the Indian border, where geological continuity strongly suggests additional reserves.

The offshore situation is even more disappointing. After resolving maritime boundary disputes with India and Myanmar, Bangladesh had a historic opportunity to explore the Bay of Bengal. Both neighbors moved swiftly, discovered resources, and began extraction. Bangladesh, meanwhile, remained stuck in bureaucratic loops, half-hearted bidding rounds, and weak investor outreach. As a result, offshore exploration has barely progressed.

The consequences are now visible: declining proven reserves, rising import dependence, and a widening gap between demand and supply.

The LNG Trap: Overreliance on Imports Amid Global Turbulence

Bangladesh currently imports 900–1,000 MMCFD of LNG through two FSRUs (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit) at Moheshkhali. But global LNG markets have become volatile due to geopolitical conflicts, supply chain disruptions — including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — and soaring prices. The country is now trapped in an expensive and unreliable import regime.

Policy missteps have worsened the situation. The interim government of Dr. Muhammad Yunus canceled a signed contract with Summit Group for a third FSRU — an error that cost Bangladesh an additional 500 MMCFD of regasified LNG capacity that could have been operational by 2026. Several advanced‑stage LNG procurement discussions were also abandoned. For nearly 18 months, no meaningful initiative was taken to expand LNG import capacity.

The new government is negotiating with a Chinese company for an additional FSRU, but concerns about competence and transparency linger. The dispute with Summit must be resolved in the national interest. Bangladesh cannot afford further delays.

Moreover, proposals for FSRUs at Khulna and Barishal appear overambitious, and ideas such as importing LNG in ISO tanks are technically unrealistic. Even if LNG imports increase, the transmission system is inadequate. The two existing Moheshkhali–Anowara pipelines can evacuate 1,600 MMCFD, but doing so would drop inlet pressure to 500 PSI, destabilizing the grid. A new parallel pipeline from Feni to Bakhrabad is essential and must be fast‑tracked.

Bhola: A National Failure That Must Be Corrected

Perhaps the most glaring example of policy paralysis is the stranded gas of Bhola. While the nation suffers from a gas famine, Bhola’s proven reserves remain disconnected from the national grid. Shockingly, the Prime Minister recently suggested it may take seven years to evacuate Bhola’s gas.

This is simply incorrect.

Pipeline experts confirm that a 120‑km Bhola–Barishal–Khulna pipeline can be completed within three years, provided land acquisition, procurement, and contractor mobilization begin immediately. Converting Bhola’s gas to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) or LNG for transport would be wasteful and inefficient.

Connecting Bhola would not only ease the gas crisis but also stimulate green industrialization in Barishal and Khulna. It would also encourage international oil companies (IOCs) to invest in nearby blocks, especially Block 7, which remains underexplored.

Institutional Weakness: The Achilles Heel of the Energy Sector

Bangladesh’s energy institutions — Petrobangla, BAPEX, SGFL, BGFCL, GTCL — are staffed with dedicated professionals, but decades of bureaucratic dominance have eroded their effectiveness. Many senior officials are nearing retirement, and a dangerous vacuum of technical expertise looms.

The DPP (Development Project Proposal) approval process is notoriously slow, often taking more than a year due to unnecessary queries from inexperienced officials. Land acquisition for drilling projects is equally sluggish. These delays cripple exploration and development.

Bangladesh must move away from exclusive reliance on bureaucrats for energy planning. The sector requires petroleum geologists, reservoir engineers, pipeline specialists, and project managers — not generalist administrators. Institutional memory must be preserved by retaining experienced professionals.

A Note on Other Energy Sources: Promise, but Limited Relief

While this essay focuses on Bangladesh’s gas and coal crisis — the core driver of today’s emergency — it is important to acknowledge other energy options. Bangladesh has explored nuclear, solar, wind, battery storage, and fuel‑cell technologies, but none can meaningfully offset the immediate shortfall in primary fuels.

Nuclear power, through the Rooppur plant, will eventually add significant baseload capacity. But nuclear projects are slow, capital‑intensive, and dependent on imported fuel. Rooppur will not solve the current crisis.

Solar energy has grown, yet Bangladesh’s land scarcity, monsoon climate, and low capacity factors limit utility‑scale deployment. Rooftop solar can help, but it cannot replace thousands of megawatts of gas‑based generation.

Wind power remains constrained by low wind speeds across most of the country, except limited coastal pockets.

Battery storage is still too expensive at grid scale, and fuel‑cell technologies are not commercially viable for national deployment.

These technologies must be part of Bangladesh’s long‑term energy transition. But they cannot compensate for the immediate collapse of domestic gas supply or the paralysis in coal development. The crisis Bangladesh faces today is fundamentally a primary fuel crisis, and only primary fuels can resolve it.

The Way Forward: A National Energy Rescue Plan

Bangladesh can still reverse its energy decline — but only through bold, urgent, and professional action. The following steps are essential:

1. Launch an Aggressive Domestic Exploration Program

• Conduct intensive 2D and 3D seismic surveys across the entire landmass.
• Deploy at least 10 exploration rigs by 2028.
• Prioritize drilling in Surma Basin, Chattagram Hill Tracts, western zone, and other unexplored prospects.
• Initiate a new PSC (Production Sharing Contract) bidding round for land blocks outside BAPEX’s ring‑fenced areas.

If executed properly, Bangladesh can add 5 Tcf of new recoverable gas by 2031.

2. Accelerate Offshore Exploration

• Replace foreign roadshows with a high‑level investor conference in Dhaka.
• Engage IOCs directly and offer competitive fiscal terms.
• Strengthen Petrobangla’s technical and managerial capacity.

3. Mine Bangladesh’s Coal Responsibly

• Adopt modern, environmentally safe mining technologies.
• Use domestic coal for power generation to reduce pressure on gas.
• Rehabilitate affected communities with global best practices.

4. Expand LNG Capacity — But Wisely

• Resolve the Summit FSRU dispute.
• Ensure transparency in new FSRU contracts.
• Build the Feni–Bakhrabad pipeline urgently.

5. Connect Bhola Within Three Years

• Begin land acquisition and contractor mobilization immediately.
• Engage international reservoir assessors and subsea pipeline experts.

6. Reform Energy Governance

• Reduce bureaucratic control.
• Empower sector professionals.
• Implement economic pricing for fuel and electricity to ensure financial sustainability.

Conclusion: A Call for National Resolve

Bangladesh’s energy crisis is not inevitable — it is the result of choices. For too long, the nation has relied on imported fuels, ignored its own resources, and allowed bureaucratic inertia to stifle progress. The consequences are now severe: power shortages, industrial stagnation, rising debt, and public suffering.

But Bangladesh also possesses extraordinary potential: vast coal deposits, promising gas basins, offshore prospects, and a capable technical workforce. With decisive leadership, professional management, and strategic investment, the country can regain energy security within a decade.

The government must treat the energy and power sector as a top‑priority national mission. The time for hesitation is over. Bangladesh must explore, develop, and utilize its own resources — boldly, urgently, and professionally.

Only then can the nation emerge from crisis and build a resilient, prosperous future.

About the authors: 

Saleque Sufi is widely regarded as Bangladesh’s foremost expert on the energy and power sector. Over several decades, he has accumulated hands‑on experience in planning, managing, and implementing major energy‑infrastructure development projects, as well as in system operation and maintenance. Before relocating to Australia, he served as Director of the Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL), where he played a key role in expanding and modernizing the national gas grid. He is currently a Contributory Editor of Energy & Power Magazine, published from Bangladesh.

Dr. Habib Siddiqui is associated with Esho Desh Gori – Let’s Build Bangladesh, a platform dedicated to national development and institutional reform. He is author of more than 25 books, including Operational Excellence in the Process Industry (Taylor & Francis, 2026), co-authored with his son, Hassan; and Inventory Control and Management: How Professionals Can Improve Performance (Taylor & Francis, 2027).

 

The Moral Collapse of Bibi Netanyahu by Cesar Chelala

 To have a moral collapse, one needs have morality as the starting human feature. I have problem with this heading, which assumes that Bibi the bastard, child-killer, genocidal maniac, guilty of war crimes in Gaza, had any morality to begin with. He did not. -- HS

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Benjamin Netanyahu, once determined to be remembered as Israel’s ultimate protector, has instead presided over one of the most damaging periods in the nation’s history. It is a tragic fate for a man who sought the mantle of heroism and now finds himself associated with unprecedented harm to Israel and to Israelis.

Following the war in Gaza — and especially after the October 7, 2023 attack — antisemitic incidents surged worldwide. The violence continued through 2024–2026, with 2025 becoming the deadliest year for antisemitic attacks, with fatalities recorded across three continents: Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) reported a 21 percent increase in U.K. antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2026 compared with the previous year, including record-high assaults, synagogue-related attacks, and repeated assaults on Jews and Israelis in public spaces.

One of the most severe and authoritative criticisms of Israel’s prime minister came in 2023, when members of the Entebbe rescue squad published a letter accusing Netanyahu of “sacrificing the State of Israel and the people of Israel for your own interests.” The veterans condemned Netanyahu and his allies for smearing anti–judicial overhaul protesters as anarchists and terrorists. “Deliberately, for years, you have been practicing ‘divide and rule,’ separating and pitting Israelis against each other. The Israeli public that does not support you has become ‘small,’ ‘weak,’ ‘traitors,’ and ‘anarchists.’”

Belittling his opponents has long been Netanyahu’s weapon of choice. When dozens of delegates walked out during his speech at the United Nations on September 24, he dismissed them as “moral cowards.” At the same time, he lashed out at every country that criticized him — France, Britain, and Turkey among them.

The international community, initially slow to respond to the Israel Defense Forces’ actions, has grown increasingly critical. Its voice is crucial in halting the Israeli government’s destructive policies. As Gideon Levy, the noted Israeli journalist, recently told Counterpunch “Israel is on a race to the abyss and will only stop if forced to. It is up to the international community to impose sanctions to stop Israel’s criminal delirium.”

As if the killing of more than 22,000 children in Gaza — their hands reaching out from bombed buildings in desperation — were not enough, Netanyahu has now ordered the displacement of West Bank residents in an apparent attempt to terrify them into abandoning their land. A United Nations report released last June found that “financial and military support” from Israeli authorities had “enabled settler attacks.”

A September 2026 report by B’Tselem, titled The Elimination Project, examined Israeli policies and practices affecting Palestinian collective life in the occupied West Bank. Drawing on 2,000 testimonies and extensive field research, the report describes policies and acts that international law recognizes and prohibits, including annexation, settlement construction, forcible transfer, persecution, systematic violence, and the denial of fundamental Palestinian rights.

The U.S. government has imposed no restrictions on settlement expansion, illegal annexation, military operations, or settler violence — all of which have reached record levels under Netanyahu’s administration, the most far-right, pro-settler government in Israel’s history. Asr Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, has written, “Under this government, Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, has expedited the destruction of Palestinian homes while streamlining the building of Israeli ones, whereas Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, has distributed arms to Israelis by easing regulations for licenses, adding around 7,000 firearms to settlers.”

Adding further fuel to the crisis, several retired IDF generals visited the West Bank in August 2026 and publicly denounced the government for allowing settlers in the occupied territory to carry out violent acts against Palestinians. Asaf Agmon, a retired Air Force general, said the attacks resembled the pogroms once suffered by Jews in Europe. Ephraim Sneh, a retired brigadier general and former minister of health, was even more direct: “This is ethnic cleansing, to put it simply.”

These facts are not the end of Netanyahu’s troubles. He now faces renewed questions about whether he had prior knowledge of Hamas’s October 7 attack. In early September, Haaretz reported that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the United Arab Emirates, had secretly warned Netanyahu that Hamas was considering a major operation. Predictably, Netanyahu and Israeli security leaders denied the report.

The elections of October 27, 2026, will determine whether Netanyahu remains in power. He has already inflicted considerable damage on Israel and on the Jewish people. Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the great physician and humanist, winner of the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize, wrote, “The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.” In Netanyahu’s case, the answer is painfully clear: what died in him is his moral compass.

Dr. Cesar Chelala is a co-winner of the 1979 Overseas Press Club of America award for the article “Missing or Disappeared in Argentina: The Desperate Search for Thousands of Abducted Victims.”

In NAZA, Israeli Whistleblowers’ Revelations About Civilian Deaths in Gaza Reflect a Longer History of Palestinian Isolation by Drew Paul

 There’s a powerful scene in Moroccan-French-Israeli filmmaker Simone Bitton’s 2004 documentary “Wall,” which tells the story of the construction of the West Bank barrier, a 448-mile – or 721-kilometer – network of walls and fences dividing large parts of the West Bank from Israel.

A concrete slab is slowly lowered into place in order to complete a section of the wall. Inch by inch, the vibrant, hilly Palestinian community on the other side gets smaller and smaller.

And then – just like that – a world that’s a stone’s throw away is gone.

As someone who studies the restrictions placed on Palestinians, I often think about this scene as a microcosm of Israel’s decades-long use of walls, checkpoints and surveillance technologies to seal off Palestinians from the rest of society.

A still from the 2004 documentary ‘Wall’ depicts the moment that a section of the West Bank barrier is completed. Down The Rabbit Hole/YouTube

Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than the Gaza Strip, which Israel fenced in during the 1990s and has blockaded since 2007, citing security concerns and the threat of militant attacks.

Thanks to these barriers, the immense suffering of Palestinians in Gaza – more than 70,000 of whom have been killed as a result of the Israel-Hamas war since 2023 – has been difficult to document. The Israeli government largely bars international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip independently, while Palestinians in Gaza are generally not allowed to leave the Gaza Strip.

But the Sept. 10, 2026, premiere of Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s film “NAZA” at the Venice International Film Festival has put the spotlight on the ongoing tragedy in Gaza without relying on footage of gruesome corpses or bombed-out neighborhoods.

The film consists largely of anonymous testimony from 24 members of Israel’s military and intelligence services. They discuss the ways in which Israel has used artificial intelligence to target Hamas officials, despite knowing the attacks will also generate large numbers of civilian casualties. The title, “NAZA,” comes from an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “nezek agavi,” or “collateral damage,” and it’s the Israeli military’s threshold system for how many civilian casualties are acceptable in its military strikes on Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Hamas-led militants from Gaza launched those attacks in southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and also taking about 250 hostages.

To me, part of the film’s power lies in its focus on the clinical way of carrying out strikes on Gaza from a distance. But the Israeli military’s approach could only work after systematically isolating the Palestinian people over the course of decades.

Unseen victims

In addition to constructing walls and blockading Gaza, Israel has enforced separation of Palestinians by restricting or denying permits to Palestinians wishing to enter or work in Israel through aerial surveillance and through the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Both the visual language and the content of “NAZA” reflect and reveal how knowledge of Palestinian suffering is often mitigated in Israeli culture, politics and daily life.

The film juxtaposes audio of Israeli soldiers’ testimony with shots of the Tel Aviv cityscape at night. In these interviews, the soldiers map out how targets are chosen, how attacks are planned and how much leeway is given for civilian casualties.

The victims themselves are largely unseen, despite their close proximity: Tel Aviv sits a mere 43 miles – or 70 kilometers – up the coast from the Gaza Strip.

The choice to film primarily at night, in darkness, using disembodied voices to tell a story not depicted on camera, further highlights the extent to which these events have been obscured in Israel and around the world. Perhaps that’s why the Israeli government has gone to such great lengths to discredit the film, saying it contains “deliberate distortions of reality.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to revoke the citizenship of its directors.

In response to the interest and backlash surrounding the film, the filmmakers announced that “NAZA” will be available to stream for free, for anyone to see, beginning in November 2026.

Breaking through

“NAZA” highlights a psychological distance between attacker and attacked that was enabled by AI, computer screens and the physical isolation of the targets. Yet it is far from the first film to call attention to the invisibility of Palestinians.

Elia Suleiman’s 2002 dark comedy “Divine Intervention” repeatedly stages scenes in which Palestinian characters are stuck at or try to get around an Israeli military checkpoint. And Yoav Shamir’s 2003 documentary “Checkpoint” chronicles everyday interactions between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza.

Other films center on acts of transgression or protest. Hany Abu-Assad’s 2013 drama “Omar” and Ameen Nayfeh’s 2020 drama “200 Meters” both feature Palestinian characters who break the law and surreptitiously cross the West Bank border into Israeli territory, exposing themselves to physical and legal danger.

“No Other Land” – the 2024 documentary that netted Abraham and Szor an Oscar, along with fellow directors Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal – points the camera on Palestinian protest movements against land expropriations and home demolitions in the West Bank. In the 2011 film “5 Broken Cameras,” Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat captures his West Bank village’s struggle against the construction of a massive wall that chokes off farmland and access to vital resources. Even as his cameras are repeatedly damaged or destroyed, Burnat refuses to stop documenting the resistance.

‘NAZA’ will be available to stream for free starting in November 2026.

Crying while shooting

“NAZA” also points to another phenomenon: how isolation and separation encourage complicity. The physical distance between Israeli soldiers and the people they target may make it easier to go along with or ignore what is happening.

In this way, “NAZA” grapples with a trope in Israeli films and literature of exploring the guilt of Israeli soldiers. Sometimes derisively referred to by critics as “shooting and crying,” the thematic framework of these films has been criticized for focusing on Israeli moral anguish at the expense of Palestinian experiences and perspectives.

For example, S. Yizhar’s 1949 novel, “Khirbet Khizeh,” which was adapted into a film in 1978, tells the story from the perspective of Micha, an Israeli soldier fighting in the 1948 war that established the state of Israel. He’s part of a squad that expels Palestinians from their village, and his ensuing guilt provokes a crisis of conscience that haunts him for years to come.

Decades later, the 2008 animated documentary “Waltz With Bashir” follows the film’s director, Ari Folman, as he plumbs his repressed memories of his participation in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Beirut and how he inadvertently helped Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia fighters carry out massacres of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

‘Waltz With Bashir’ centered on the fragmented memories, trauma and guilt of an Israeli soldier who had helped facilitate the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1982.

The “shooting and crying” genre was largely accepted in mainstream Israeli culture, with “Khirbet Khizeh” taught in Israeli schools for decades. But the Israeli government’s hostile reaction to “NAZA” perhaps signals not only the growing intolerance of dissent in Israel, but also a fading cultural and political concern with the morality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

Whose voices get heard

The centering of Israeli perspectives in these earlier works – as well as in “NAZA” – also shows how violence against Palestinians can be given greater credence when it’s described by Israelis themselves.

Recent Palestinian narratives about Gaza, such as “From Ground Zero” and “Thirteen in Gaza,” have garnered some attention and praise in the film world, but nowhere near the same amount as “NAZA” has in the weeks since its premiere.

Even “No Other Land,” which is centered on a Palestinian village, features an Israeli journalist and filmmaker, Abraham, documenting the protests and confronting Israeli soldiers, and may not have received the same acclaim if it had been made entirely by Palestinians.

Yet, despite these many barriers, Palestinians have never stopped finding ways to make themselves heard. In addition to films like “Omar” and “200 Meters,” videos and images shared directly to social media have allowed Palestinians to connect directly with audiences and shape global awareness of their plight, especially since the current war in Gaza began.

They have been able to bypass the physical barriers that have long restricted their movement – and the cultural barriers that have often kept their experiences out of sight.

NBC News covers ‘NAZA’ ahead of its premiere at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 26, 2026.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Drew Paul is a Professor of Arabic at the University of Tennessee.