Closed Zone

Yoni Goodman, director of animation for the Academy Award-nominated film Waltz with Bashir, collaborated with Open Society Institute grantee Gisha to create a powerful animated film about how the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million residents experience living in a “closed zone.”

Despite declarations that it has "disengaged" from the Gaza Strip, Israel maintains control of the strip’s overland border crossings, territorial waters, and air space. This includes substantial, albeit indirect, control of the Rafah Crossing. Over the past 18 months, Israel has tightened its closure of Gaza, almost completely restricting the passage of goods and people both to and from the strip. The effects of the closure were particularly harsh during the military operation of December 2008 to January 2009. For three weeks, Gaza residents had nowhere to flee to escape the bombing.

These policies punish innocent civilians with the goal of exerting pressure on the Hamas government, violating the rights of 1.5 million people who seek only to live ordinary lives—to be reunited with family, to pursue higher education, to receive quality medical treatment, and to earn a living.

Closed Zone is also accompanied by a behind-the-scenes video, below.