New Wide Angle Documentary: Heart of Jenin

PBS’ Wide Angle has just broadcast another excellent documentary film called “Heart of Jenin.” The film follows the story Ismael Khatib, the father of a 12 year old boy killed by the IDF, who decided to donate his sons organs to other sick children including the daughter of religious Jew living in Jerusalem.

It is hard to remain unemotional as one sees the father’s clear anguish and sorrow as he gently hugs and kisses the children who now live with his son’s organs. Moreover, the film does manages to convey to its audience the difficulties of life living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.

It is undoubtedly a documentary worth watching and you can watch the whole film here. Once again, a job well done by Wide Angle.

But even with all that said, I have one small issue with the film. Like many American and European documentaries, the filmmakers failed to properly translate the Arabic word for God (الله‎) as God. Instead, they went ahead and used the Arabic word for an English translation, “Allah.”

This always drives me crazy as it helps to further cement in non-Muslim minds the idea that Muslims worship a God seperate from the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus named “Allah.” It is my great hope that the filmmakers recognize this error and change their translation with haste.

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A screenshot from Heart of Jenin with the translation in question.