On the occasion of the Palestinian Nakba Day, Casa Árabe and the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain are organizing this event, which will include a screening of the documentary film “The Great Book Robbery.” After the screening, a film forum will be held, which will also include the participation of Amer Musa Odeh, the Ambassador of Palestine in Spain, and Eduardo López Busquets, the General Director of Casa Árabe. The session will begin at 7:00 p.m., with free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.

“During the war in 1948, tens of thousands of books were taken away from the private libraries of Palestinian citizens from Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth and other cities. Many of these volumes came to form part of Israel’s National Library. This episode in the contemporary cultural history of the Palestinian people remained unknown until an Israeli doctorate student, during his research on archives, came across several files titled “Compilation of Arab books from the Occupied Territories.” Based on this finding, the “disappearance” process of a part of Palestine’s cultural heritage was traced and made known. The historical documentary “The Great Book Robbery” includes testimony by historians, civil servants and some of the owners of those private book collections, to increase awareness about this chapter in the history of dispossession of the Palestinian people.” (Notes taken from the film website).

Since the 1980’s, Brunner has been writing, directing and producing documentary films internationally. His work, which he defines as being of political content, gives of a voice to the dispossessed and makes visible those “others” who are not normally represented. His films deal with topics related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the modern history of Israel and the Jewish people through people whose lives are inspiring in and of themselves. His work has been presented at numerous international festivals, including the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Jerusalem Film Festival and San Diego Jewish Film Festival.

This conference, held with the cooperation of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain, is organized on the occasion of Nakba Day (May 15), the date on which Palestinians commemorate the moment in 1948 when Palestine’s territory was partitioned under the British mandate, resulting in the dispersion of the native population.