A powerful new voice for a powerless, ancient people
John McColgan will forever be associated with Riverdance, which he and his wife Moya Doherty took from an interval act in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin to the greatest and most successful cultural phenomenon to emerge from Ireland in the last 50 years. Before that, John, who joined RTÉ while still a teenager working in the ‘post’ room, was the creator of many of the hit entertainment programmes on Irish television from the Live Mike, Candid Camera and Murphy’s America. Every light entertainment show he touched became a hit.
Then, along with his wife, they decamped to London to work in breakfast television in the UK. After that came Riverdance, and everything changed. Many now look back on the show as the beginning of an Irish resurgence on the international stage – the beginning of a new era in Ireland. Today Riverdance is still going strong, as are its creators. But John McColgan has turned his hand to other projects as well. He has just produced and directed, along with his brother Gerry, and Trócaire – the Irish Catholic Church’s overseas development agency – the most powerful documentary I guarantee you will see anywhere this year.
This Is Palestine is a sobering, evocative and ultimately heartwrenching portrayal of a crisis, which McColgan points out, has slipped off the world news agenda because of the war in Syria, the Mediterranean refugee crisis and the terrorist attacks in London and continental Europe.
He reminds us that on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War, where Israel emerged triumphant, it still defies international law and UN resolutions in its treatment of the Palestinian people. McColgan says: ‘2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the war that defines the modern – and highly contentious geography of the region. Since 1967, Israel has militarily controlled much of the West Bank land the international community recognises as being the basis of a future Palestinian state. Fifty years on from that war, people in the region continue to live a daily reality of occupation, segregation, restrictions on movement and violent conflict.’
Through a series of powerful interviews, the documentary tells the story of land-grabbing, military rule, unspeakable atrocities and unending tit-for-tat violence.
Towards the end of the film, McColgan moves his gaze to the various peace groups emerging within Israel, including many ex-soldiers, who hold out hope for the future.
But he admits: ‘There are no easy answers to the situation in Palestine and Israel... what we do know is that the blockades, land seizures, house demolitions and segregation will not bring peace to this land.’ Trócaire seeks a non- violent solution to the crisis based on international law. They admit they get support but also acknowledge they ‘receive critical commentary, much of it designed to spread untruths’.
In McColgan – through his awardwinning photographic exhibition and now this documentary – Trócaire and the people of the Middle East have found a new and formidable champion. God knows, they need all they help they can get to highlight their unending pain. This Is Palestine is available to view on trocaire.org