Unlocking identities

Keys.

An Israeli soldier buries the key to a Palestinian home deep into the earth. The soldier wipes his brow, proud of the fruit of his labor and he turns away from the tiny grave. Moments later he hears an explosion of metal. When he whips around, he cannot believe his eyes. A tiny golden tree made of keys has burst from the ground.

This is the story Kanaan King al-Jamal tells three Aggies studying in Jordan. He says it is the story of a nation of people driven from their homeland who, despite half a century of displacement, continue to fight for their identity.

The key, al-Jamal said, is a symbol of the refugees' relentless determination to reclaim their homes and heritage.

This is the perfect metaphor for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a 62-year-long struggle which has left millions of Palestinians displaced and living in refugee camps, Jeffrey Frankens said. Frankens, a senior international studies major, along with friends Andrew Cagle and Adam Harpham, also senior international studies majors, traveled to Amman, Jordan, this summer in the hopes of making a feature-length documentary exploring the Palestinian identity and the meaning of home to the homeless individuals.

In Jordan, some refugee camps have been in existence for decades. In the minds of refugees, the living is temporary until they can return to their homes in Palestine. Many still own the keys to their houses.

"Of course, most of their homes are long gone by now," Harpham said. "It's mostly a symbolic thing."

After decades of conflict, most Palestinian homes have been destroyed in battles. Keys represent the promise of reclaiming their homeland, Harpham said. Others build keys from scraps to display in their homes or to wear around their necks to remind them of their heritage and roots. This idea is the main theme of the documentary created by Frankens, Cagle and Harpham.

"Essentially the subject of the film is looking at identities," Cagle said. "Just seeing them among different generations and the different diaspora communities."

The film does not address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict directly. Cagle said it's more a facet of the conflict where one can see part of the bigger picture through this smaller window of identity.

The start

Harpham, Cagle and Frankens started the adventure at a Model Arab League function this past year. They were roommates, and while they discussed the required study abroad international studies majors must take, they realized a mutual apathy toward a traditional study abroad.

Harpham said the idea to make a documentary was almost immediate. Originally, the focus of the film was Arab perception of the United States in U.S. foreign policy, but Cagle said they did not have the proper connections to explore the topic. Frankens said it was also too broad.

"At the time none of us had that much film experience so it was a bit ambitious," Harpham said, "but between the three of us we had the necessary skill sets."

Cagle acted as cinematographer, Harpham conducted interviews and did graphic design, and Frankens made the necessary networking to gain access to refugee camps, translators and interviewees.

"We started making connections with the Palestinian community in Houston, sort of trying to network into Jordan," Frankens said. "We also raised money of course, we all got our way fully funded through scholarships and grants."

In the camps

The men lived in an unofficial refugee camp, a neighborhood called al-Mahata, what they compare to the ghetto slums of a developed city. They said they wanted to experience the culture first-hand and immerse themselves in the Arabic language, which they had all taken multiple years of at A&M.

"We wanted to live in the environment of the people we were studying, and we thought it would be unfair to not live with them," Frankens said. "The people were very welcoming and grateful to us for trying to learn their situation."

Cagle said the spirit of community was palpable. He could not walk to the market without being stopped by someone to chat. Harpham said the Jordanian government, along with its secret police, Mukhabarat, dissuaded some people from talking to the Americans though.

"The Mukhabarat just follow you around everywhere. They don't want Palestinians saying anything about the Jordanian government to foreigners. It was frustrating when we were doing interviews because people didn't want to talk with the police around," Harpham said.

Harpham said they had translators with them while conducting interviews. He said their Arabic skills were enough to conduct daily business but not cultivated enough to have theoretical or philosophical conversations.

The Department of Palestinian Affairs, what Harpham called the king's voice in the camps, provided them with a translator once, but the Aggies did not use their services again when they realized they were not receiving direct translations.

Frankens, Cagle and Harpham worked closely with the United Nation Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.

"The UNRWA sees over the education, health care and building codes," Cagle said. "They are the government in many ways in all the official refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza."

They visited refugee camps across Jordan. The first camp visited, Jabal Hussein, was the nicest refugee camp because of its location in the middle of Amman. Because of its location, Jabal Hussein provided the most job opportunities to its inhabitants.  Frankens said the camps do not look like what most people would expect. Instead of tents or makeshift shelters, the camps consist of permanent buildings. Frankens said seeing the living conditions was overwhelming at times.