Critical Analysis of the Discourses of Resistance, Occupation and Betrayal in the Movie Omar from the Perspective of Laclau and Mouffe

In the Islamic world, especially in Palestine, the concern of occupation is one of the most important issues. Many discourses have been formed to address this issue. It has also been reflected in the Palestinian cinema, which is itself a manifestation of the art and literature of resistance. The main purpose of this research is to investigate how political and social issues are reflected in the movie Omar [directed by Hani Abu-Assad] and to discover the implications of the prevalent discourse of the movie. This is highly significant because by discovering the discourses governing societies through artistic texts, the article looks at the Palestinian cause from a different angle and creates a new perspective in the reader. In this regard, the present article examines and analyzes the discourses involved in Omar from a semiotic point of view applying Laclau and Mouffe's method of critical discourse analysis. The findings of the research show that there are three main discourses in the Palestinian movie Omar: resistance, occupation and betrayal. Each character in this movie is a representative of one of the discourses; they express their class identity in the agency they carry as a subject. In the end, the discourse of resistance, by employing empty signifiers represents the ideal situation with a critical view of the existing situation and by mythologizing and deconstructing, stops the vicious cycle of occupation and betrayal and changes the political scene in its favor.