Good Garbage

Review by Tanner Wright

The short: 

Nearly 200 Palestinian families in the West Bank village of Ad Dhahiriya scrape out a living by collecting and selling trash from the Hebron Hills garbage dump on the outskirts of an Israeli settlement.

The long:

Devastating in its simplicity, this film does not spend time with maps or historical analyses of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Rather it follows the day-to-day lives of boys as young as 10 and their families as they scrape out a living from the trash of others. From men fighting with young boys over who has the right to scrap the metal from the inside of discarded tires, to mothers telling their sons to “shop” for clothes for their siblings in the landfill, this documentary exposes the indignity and injustice faced by regular people just trying to scrape out a living and provide for their loved ones.

To watch or not to watch: 

Watch. This film is incredibly difficult to watch as the initial shock of boys scrounging for trash to sell builds into a seemingly endless crescendo of tragedy and suffering for the families depicted. Regardless of the viewers stance on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the simple truths expounded by this documentary should be seen by all with compassion and with an eye towards a resolution which ensures basic dignity for the people of the region.