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Shepherd 1
Chris Shepherd
Professor Winn
English Composition II
22 March 2017
Essay #3 Rough Draft
Shlomi Eldar is a journalist who has been covering what life is like along the Gaza strip
for more than 20 years. In Precious Life, Eldar is documenting the life of a Palestinian baby
named Mohammad who has a rare genetic disease that causes his immune system to be nearly
non-existent. Mohammad must receive a bone marrow transplant in a brief period of time or his
death is imminent. The documentary follows Mohammad, his father, a willing Jewish doctor
named Raz Somech, an anonymous Jewish donor, and his mother Raida. Raida and her husband
have already lost two daughters to the very same immune deficiency. Mohammad’s chances of
survival are curtailed due to the lack of money and facilities in Palestine. He must travel to Israel
to have the procedure done. His chances further diminish when taking into account the hostile
relationship between Israel and Palestine (Winn).
Eldar’s very powerful account of Mohammad pushes its audience to ethical quandaries.
Through an extremely effective documentation, Eldar makes the audience wonder to what extent
life remains precious (Winn). The account also begins to lay a blueprint as to how the two
countries can begin to coexist. Religious persecution, geographical differences, and hatred
corrupt humans. It is only through genuine interaction that we can get past those factors and
continue to advance as a whole.
Shepherd 2
One aspect of of Eldar’s documentary that makes it so powerful and polarizing is his use
of social, cultural, and religious contexts. One such social aspect is the blockade between
Palestine and Israel. This blockade is one of the main obstacles that Mohammad has to overcome
to get the procedure he needs. Throughout the film, the blockade remains a problem. The pivotal
blood samples of Mohammad’s cousin’s almost do not make it back across the border as
Mohammad is in Israel and all of his cousins are in Palestine. Also, Palestine being a poor,
technologically in-advanced war zone is a huge social problem (Eldar).
Eldar’s use of cultural contexts are equally as moving as the social contexts. An
especially gripping scene in the movie is toward the end when Shlomi and Raida are talking and
Raida begins explaining that Palestinians live unfearful of death. She explains that she is
accepting of death because most Palestinians die abruptly. Possibly the most powerful moment in
