Resistance Climbing

Zachary Barr Nick Rosen 2023 Palestine

English, Arabic (subtitled)

In ‘Resistance Climbing’ the renowned climber Tim Bruns invites American writer & climber Andrew Bisharat to Palestine to visit Wadi Climbing and to explore his roots. There he meets a diverse crew of Bedouins, activists and urban professionals who love climbing, taking on the rocky limestone outcrops north of Ramallah.

At a time when depictions of Palestinians focus almost exclusively on suffering, grief, and death, it could feel jarring to see Palestinian joy. Yet, in witnessing the happiness of Palestinians in Resistance Climbing, we are given a chance to focus on the individuality of a people too often reduced to numbers and made aware of the hopes and dreams that every Palestinian has - whether related to climbing or not.

It becomes clear that like life in Palestine, climbing has extra challenges - armed settlers stop development of new climbing areas and soldiers threaten arrest and imprisonment.