The Wanted 18 -- cows on the run
With great skill, humour and passion, Shomali and Cowan relive the time in 1988 when members of the Biet Sahour community in Palestine purchased 18 dairy cows from an Israeli farmer.
Photo: The Wanted 18 Credit: The National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
What could be more innocent than buying 18 cows for your community? And, how could those cows possibly become a threat to the security of the state?
The answers can be found in Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan’s brilliant documentary, The Wanted 18.
Visual artist-animator, Shomali, was a six-year-old Palestinian kid living in Syria when the First Intifada began in 1987. His family had strong ties to the Palestinian town of Biet Sahour. Shomali first learned about the great cow escapade from a comic book.
With immense skill, humour and passion Shomali and Cowan relive the time in 1988 when members of the Biet Sahour community drove a truck to Kubbutz Hillel and purchased 18 dairy cows from an Israeli farmer.
The film masterfully moves between personal reflections, delightful Claymation and archival film.
Four of the herd, brought to life through Claymation, inject some levity into an otherwise heavy subject. Peacenik Rivka, herd leader Ruth, Lola the sexy pregnant cow and Goldie, the shit disturber go through their own transformations during their time in Biet Sahour.
Biet Sahour was cowless because Palestinians had to purchase milk from an Israeli supplier. The community decided owning their own cows would be a way of gaining independence and freedom. That idea expanded to become a wider goal of boycotting all Israelis products while also refusing to pay taxes to the Israeli government.
Those participating in the non-violent civil disobedience included high school teacher, Jalal Dumsieh; Geology Professor Jad Ishad; Pharmacist Elias Rishmawi; University student Ayman Abu Al Zulof; Bakery owner Nassim Hilal; and Saed Andoni a high school student and Shomali’s cousin.
Their resistance protested the denial of Palestinian self-determination; not being allowed to develop their economy; that all food and water had to come from Israel; and a lack of control over media.
Not a single resident of Biet Sahour had any experience with cows. So, university student Salim Jaber was sent to the US to learn about milking and caring for cows.
Once production started Virginia Saad, owner of the butcher shop, helped distribute milk to the community.
Biet Sahour soon became a model for others to emulate. And, that observes Ehud Zrahiya, Advisor to the Israeli Military Governor on Arab Affairs, meant the cows had become a problem.
Biet Sahour was a predominantly Christian town with a higher socio-economic and educated population and that complicated matters.
Ytzhak Rabin, Minister of Defence at the time, declared that he would bring Biet Sahour to its knees for refusing to pay their taxes.
The army was dispatched to confiscate personal belongings in lieu of unpaid taxes. Yet, it’s very telling that Zrahiya states, “If I was in their place, I would not have wanted to pay taxes. I only pay taxes to my own government.”
The cows, and the milk distribution network, inspired community organizing around victory gardens and the raising of chickens and rabbits making the community more self-sufficient.
The Israeli Military Governor, Shaltiel Lavi, knew the Palestinians were trying to replace the Israeli bureaucracy and that eventually led him to declare, “These cows are dangerous for the security of the state of Israel.” That’s when Lavi shut down the farm.
That decision led to some pretty creative solutions that had the Israeli military on an eight-day Intifada cow hunt that ended with a very small glimmer of hope when one fugitive cow escaped into the dessert.
Tired from years of resistance and under the weight of the 1993 Oslo Agreement, the Intifada ended.
“All occupation is evil. And, to get rid of the occupation we have to pay a price. It’s a very heavy price,” observed Jad Ishad, Palestinian Geology Professor.
That price continues to be exacted all these years later.
The Wanted 18
75 minutes
National Film Board of Canada (2014)
Available to teachers through CAMPUS or for rental to the public.