Entertainment

‘The Law In These Parts’ review

Well into this Israeli documentary about the legal system in the West Bank, former military judge Jonathan Livni responds to a question about beatings during interrogations with: “What are you asking me — if I knew about these things?” Instantly he answers himself: “Of course.”

The set consists of a leather chair, a table and a green screen. One by one, nine former officials sit with director Ra’anan Alexandrowicz to discuss how they helped to develop and administer Israel’s military judicial system under the occupation. On the screen behind them flash grainy scenes of the West Bank’s residents, living, working and on trial; the officials’ eyes sometimes slide to the images as they talk.

It sounds like a dull parade of talking heads. But it is riveting. One man explains that Israel’s own court system couldn’t be applied to the Palestinians, as that would imply citizenship. Another tells of how his remembrance of an old Ottoman law about land ownership became the rationale behind much of the settlement movement.

They talk of Palestinians’ right to petition the Supreme Court, and the benefits that right does and doesn’t offer. Former judge Oded Pesensson calmly reminds the filmmaker that his ability to see a movie in safety, let alone make one, relies on the very system Alexandrowicz is questioning.

“The Law in These Parts’’ more than accomplishes its goal of provoking a discussion about imposing laws on people who have no say in making them. “When it goes on for 40 years,” asks Livni, “how can the system function? How can it be just?”