For like five minutes, I thought it would be a funny idea to start this review pretending like I was doing a deep dive into the new “Melania” documentary, but then I had the (quite obvious) epiphany that giving money, publicity, or my words to propaganda directed by a hack filmmaker photographed cuddling women next to Jeffrey Epstein isn’t hilarious. At all. In a period where Trump has artistically pillaged the Kennedy Center, unknown parties on Craigslist are offering $50 to see “Melania” in Boston area theaters over the opening weekend and the Justice Department released pieces of the Epstein Files to pull focus from ICE’s murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, it makes more sense to write about something less pathetic and nihilistic.
Instead, I want to talk about “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a hybrid documentary that uses the real- life recordings of Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was murdered on Jan. 29, 2024, during a shelling by the Israeli army while it invaded Gaza. In her final few hours alive, Rajab was on the phone with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a group of call-center volunteers who were trying to get an ambulance to her location over several hours while a tank pinned down her and six of her family members in their black Kia. An ambulance came close to reaching her, but the PRCS soon lost contact with both Rajab and the paramedics.
It took 12 days for the Israeli military to withdraw and for rescuers to finally reach the location. What was found was the little black Kia with the bodies of Rajab and six of her family members (along with the 335 rounds fired into the car), as well as the destroyed PRCS ambulance and the two paramedics, also killed.
The startling originality of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” lies in its juxtaposition of authentic PRCS call recordings with dramatized performances of the volunteers who assisted her. Whether you classify it as a docudrama or a hybrid-doc, the result is a grueling viewing experience—made even more devastating by the viewer’s knowledge of the ultimate fate of both the young girl and her would-be saviors.
It’s even more depressing looking at the situation a little over two years later. According to initial investigations, not only were the family and paramedics killed in a “planned execution” by the Israeli army, but fragments of American-made anti-tank rounds were found at the site. At the time, the Israel Defense Forces said there were no troops in the area, while an Al Jazeera investigation found that there were three Israeli tanks in the vicinity. The U.S. government feigns emotional devastation while continuing to supply weapons, even as the International Criminal Court files war crimes complaints against the IDF battalion commander responsible for killing Rajab. The world continues to turn in slow circles, becoming less and less like one I recognize.
Almost every minute of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” is devastating, especially when looking toward Gaza now, when 18,000 children (so far) have been killed in what is now a politically charged and debated genocide. Director Kaouther Ben Hanna doesn’t brook debate with this film. However, taking the (apparently controversial) position that the murder of children (or, dare I say, anyone) is evil, regardless of their religion and race. Peace shouldn’t be political.
What I find remarkable about the film itself is that, even by dramatizing the events at the Palestine Red Crescent Society, it doesn’t become histrionic, manipulative, or inauthentic. Ben Hannah shows us archived photos of Rajab as we hear her real voice, crying out to be rescued, making her a real person and tragic victim, even to those who would somehow take issue with the politicization.
Here’s the thing. We are long past the point of anything and everything being politicized in ways both insane and otherwise. Worldwide pandemic? Genocide? Americans murdered on the streets by masked men led by a lil dude dressed like an actual Nazi? Seems like these things are obviously bad and we should all be profoundly against them. But we’re not and I won’t assume sanity from this country ever again.
When “The Voice of Hind Rajab” concluded, the audience remained in total silence until the credits finished and the lights rose. As everyone quietly shuffled out of the theater, I had a thought so depressing that I didn’t even want to follow it to its logical conclusion. I thought, “I wonder how they’ll try and find a way to justify killing a little girl with a tank.” I’m happy this movie exists and that this question can be posed (and Hind Rajab can have some semblance of a legacy), but how the hell is this our reality now? It’s a tough film to watch and simultaneously completely crucial for the betterment of humankind.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab”
Dir. Kaouther Ben Hanna
Grade: N/A
Now Playing at Tin Pan Theater
This article appears in the Source February 12, 2026.
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Well done. Today, the NFL should take a principled stand and sit out the Super Bowl in the name of our nation—drawing a clear line in the sand. This is a moment that calls for moral courage: to hold a dictator accountable through impeachment and imprisonment, and to signal that no individual is above the rule of law.
Our world has become unrecognizable. We are living in the midst of a global conflict that transcends borders and institutions, eroding democratic norms and threatening the foundations of a free society. This is no longer simply about politics or party affiliation. It is about our moral compass, our shared humanity, and whether we are willing to stand up for the values that define us.
I don’t know if I would be able to watch this documentary, but thank you for doing so and writing about it. That was an amazing piece of journalism! Thank you.
Thank you to Jared Rasic and to The Source for this exceptional piece of writing housed inside a film review. I don’t think I can watch this film but I do know that it is incredibly important for the world to have in existence and I’m grateful it was made and it’s now being showcased here in our little town of Bend, Oregon.
As the great granddaughter of a survivor of the Armenian Genocide in the early 1900’s I am sickened and furious that any of my American tax dollars go towards funding and supporting anything of the like. The generational trauma alone is insurmountable, and yet our country is currently supporting ground zero for another genocide while simultaneously and casually throwing out the idea of eventually turning Gaza into a resort town. It literally makes me want to vomit just writing it down.
Thank you to the editor of The Source for having Rasic on as a writer after all these years and thank you to Rasic for helping me put words to my insurmountable feelings about this situation.
We’re fortunate to have your thoughtful view of the world representing the mindset and culture of our town.