A timely new documentary film titled “There Is A Field” tells the story of Asel Asleh, a 17-year-old Palestinian peace activist who was murdered by Israeli police, through the lens of Black Lives Matter activists in the United States. 

The U.S. premiere of the film is on Sunday, October 18, at 3:00pm EST and will take place online. The film screening will be followed by a discussion on Black-Palestinian solidarity featuring Baraa Aslih, brother of Asel Asleh; Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; Margaret Kwateng, Black Lives Matter activist who performs in the film; Jen Marlowe, West Seattle-based filmmaker; and Raya Naamneh, activist and cousin of Asel Asleh.

Asel was one of 13 Palestinians inside Palestine’s 1948 lands who was murdered in the first ten days of what became known as the Second Intifada, with no accountability for any of the police officers. A further 47 Palestinians inside the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza were killed in the same period, with thousands more killed, wounded and imprisoned throughout the Second Intifada and beyond.

The film’s world premiere took place online in historic Palestine on October 2, the twentieth anniversary of Asel’s murder. The Palestinian martyr’s story is told as a play performed by Black Lives Matter activists in the United States, who comment throughout the film on the similarities and connections they see between oppressions of Zionist settler colonization in Palestine and European colonization and white supremacy in the United States. 

The U.S. premiere will be followed by a discussion on Black-Palestinian solidarity featuring Baraa Aslih, brother of Asel Asleh; Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; Margaret Kwateng, Black Lives Matter activist who performs in the film; Jen Marlowe, filmmaker; Raya Naamneh, activist and cousin of Asel Asleh; and will be moderated by Nadia Ben-Youssef from the Center for Constitutional Rights.

“A group of Black organizers, activists and artists come together in the United States who are already a part of the resistance and already part of movements here, connecting with stories and lives of people in Palestine and to their movements and to their history, is a part of building a larger movement and a larger trajectory towards global resistance,” says Margaret Kwateng, who is an activist in New York and portrays the mother of the martyr Asel in the film.  

The American director and playwright (Jen Marlowe) who was a friend of Asel's says that this project is much bigger than one family's story. “In Asel’s family, I hear echoes of the families of those who were murdered by the state in my country, including Michael Brown, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor,” says Marlowe. She hopes that everyone who watches There Is A Field will come away with a deep commitment to universal struggles for equality, freedom and human rights--and with a recognition that our movements grow stronger when they are connected to one another. 

Asel’s younger brother Baraa also says, “Our struggle to free Palestinians from colonization was never limited to the borders of Palestine. It is a global struggle against imperialism and colonial powers around the globe. The struggle of Black people in the US is also our struggle, the struggle of indigenous people in Brazil is also our struggle. Our solidarity is not an act of kindness or support, but an obligation and an inseparable part of our own struggle for freedom.”  

To RSVP, interested parties should register via www.thereisafield.eventbrite.com. A viewing link will be sent shortly before the event. 

The event is sponsored by Donkeysaddle Projects, Just Vision, Adalah Justice Project, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the People’s Forum, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and Dream Defenders.

For more information about There Is A Field, please visit www.thereisafield.movie.