Salem Wasn't Salem (Salem Wasn't Safe) is story of a young man who was killed by a sniper bullet during the Gaza war of 2014 as he searched through the rubble for his family, as told by his good friend, human rights activist and film maker Mohammed AbedAllah from Gaza.

Salem in Arabic means safe, yet on the 22nd of July 2014 Gaza was anything but safe, especially for 23 year old Salem Khaleel Shamaly. Salem teamed up with a group of humanitarian workers, both international and local, including his good friend Mohammed AbedAllah and as they worked their way through the bombed out buildings, searching for survivors of the latest bombing onslaught, Salem was shot by an Israel sniper. Mohammed, who had been supporting his friend and had a phone with him, began filming and captured images of Salem as he lay dying and struggling to get up. Despite doing everything possible the solidarity activists were unable to reach him and seconds later he was shot again leaving friends devastated only metres from his side. The video of the murder of young Salem, was quickly uploaded and broadcast by news outlets around the world.

Two years on Mohammed AbedAllah has produced the documentary film Salem Wasn't Salem. Poignant, disturbing, graphic and hardhitting, the film details the last moments of Salem's life, and what life in Gaza is like for the young men living there.

"Salem the film represents to us everyone that has been killed and in his death he encompasses all of the suffering we have endured from the Nakba till the present day. Salem was lucky because there was a camera that objectively witnessed and recorded his murder. But there are thousands that are not so lucky if indeed luck is the correct term. There are no independent witnesses in many cases that held a cameras lens to the multitude of criminal acts. Salem's death was not an unfortunate accident as you will see. It was a deliberate annihilation of all that Salem and his birth name represented" - Mohammed AbedAllah Gaza

Previously only shown twice in Europe to private audiences, and not officially released as yet Waterford Palfest have been offered the chance to host the Irish Premiere of the film. The film contains scenes of violence.

• an introduction to the film, and a post-screening discussion chaired, by Eileen Carr. Eileen Carr, human rights worker and Gaza Toy Drive founder, who is a very close friend of Mohammed AbedAllah and is in constant contact with him since meeting in 2013 and throughout the ordeal of leaving Gaza.
• a screening of Small Hands in Handcuffs (CLUB) by young Waterford film maker Anrai Carroll.
• traditional Palestinian refreshments provided by PalFest Waterford from Larder artisan food shop, Waterford.