Reading the world news, I am often appalled by the actions of the Israeli armed forces. In fact, I’ve got a firm, recurrent irritation going on… and I sometimes wonder if I could be accused, then, of being anti-Semitic. Of course, I would retort that I am not against Jewish people in general, but more specifically against some particular actions and policies of the State of Israel. Perhaps, though, my accuser would respond that the State of Israel is the ultimate expression of Jewish identity, or Jewish destiny, so that to be against Israel is to be against Jews, and ispo facto anti-Semitic.
I could go on to argue that Woody Allen is one of my favourite film-makers, and isn’t he, lik, some kind of pop-culture icon of Jewishness? But maybe Woody would simply be called a “self-hating Jew”, so that my warmth towards his films only confirms my bigotry.
But enough sophistry. I was talking about Israel, because last night I saw Waltz with Bashir, an Israeli film investigating peoples’ experiences of the 1982 war in Lebanon, and in particular the massacre of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The film is partly about what it is like for a young person to go to war, partly about the way that these same people, when older, tuck their memories away in a locked room, and partly about the moral responsibility that Israel may bear for the massacres at Sabra and Shatila. In some moments, the film compares the actions of the Israeli army to the actions of the Nazis in massacering Jews. (Art director David Polonsky disputes what exactly is being suggested in the film - but the Israel/Nazi comparison seems indisputably present, in some way, even if it is not endorsed as a good comparison.)
Watching this film helped me to ask myself more clearly: What exactly do I think of Israel? Do I blame the Jewish people? Has all this got something to do with their religion? And indeed, Waltz made me notice more explicitly that my angry reaction to world news reports may be somehow connected with thoughts about the Holocaust. I am more appalled by Israeli violence, because I think that the Israelis were so recently, as a people, the victims of violence… so I somehow expect them to be wiser or more compassionate than other nations. But does the Holocaust mean that the Jewish people have some other set of ethics and responsibilities in the face of conflict? Can they be expected to be extra-pacifist just because they suffered the most brutal massacre in history?
I wonder whether these questions can be pondered openly in mainstream Israeli society. And will Waltz for Bashir make questioning more possible for those people, as it has for me?
Again, returned to the recent interview with Polonsky:
How has the response been to Waltz With Bashir?
“In Israel? It was very, very good. Much better than we had expected, mainly because it’s animated, it skipped over the usual responses whether lefty or righty. We were expecting the accusations of Leftyism, but we were surprised when some film critics felt we weren’t taking enough responsibility for the massacres.
“For me, it was very moving to see people from different political views coming out of the film and saying ‘This is a very moving experience.’ Of course there are some people saying, ‘Why are we accusing ourselves?’ but mostly people view it as a work of art, which is good.”
This is a film that brings things to the surface. Many things. Maybe different things for different people. Go watch it, unless you are afraid to know what you really think.
Comments 2
Your problem with Israel may stem from the presentation of the facts.
Yes, what happened in Lebanon was terrible, but where is everyone tackling about the Phanlanges and what they did.
Just like why is the whole world not talking about the 120 or so Palestinians that Hamas slaughtered in one week to come to power. Or the people that they’re shooting the knee caps off of right now for showing any decent against Hamas.
Israel is NOT a war mongerer. From it’s outset in ‘48 it was attacked. Every way Israel goes into is caused by aggression from it’s neighbours.
I feel for the Palestinian people. But their enemy is not Israel. It’s the Tyrannical leaders across the middle east who run their countries keeping their people down.
How would you feel if your neighbouring country sent children to blow them selves up causing a world of tension for a country trying to go about daily routines.
How about the fact that Israel NEVER expelled the arabs. If you think I’m lying that may be because the media you get your news from are for some strange reason pro-arab. Arabs backed by Iran and Syria. Arabs who condone the attacks on Bali, Madrid, London, New York - not to mention in Iraq where they kill innocent Arabs in their suicide bombs at far greater rates than the civilian causalities in Gaza.
And maybe you are unaware that Palestinians fight from hospitals and residential areas and then cry out when civilians are killed. Just like Saddam tried to defend his power plants by tying civilians to fences so he could blame the US of attacking civilians.
War is never pretty. NEVER.
It would be wonderful if we could irradicate it, but it’s not going to happen whilst we have fanatical Muslims who want to kill all Jews. And when they’ve finished with Jews it’ll onto Christians because they believe that they are need to be converted or killed to.
Wonderful that you’re a caring person, but I think that your sentiments should be more informed. But you’re not alone. Alot of the world has got this situation all wrong.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 12:00 am ¶Max, I think that people criticise Israel more than the Phalangists because Israel is a powerful nation, while the Phalangists are a political group within a less powerful and less stable nation, Lebanon.
You said:
“I feel for the Palestinian people. But their enemy is not Israel. It’s the Tyrannical leaders across the middle east who run their countries keeping their people down.”
… But I don’t think this is a realistic view, given that the Palestinians voted for Hamas as their political respresentatives, while Israel have been keeping them under seige by blockading their borders.
I don’t think that Hamas are particularly *good* representatives of the Palestinian people, but I can see why they may have seemed the most attractive option available in the election.
I think that Palestinian militants and the Israeli government have been getting tit-for-tat revenge against each other since as long as I can remember. But I think that it would be easier for the Israelis to change their stance and make peace, because they are the more powerful party in the conflict. I think that they hold most of the cards, while the Palestinians are backed into a corner.
You seem to assume that I am an innocent, “uninformed” person. But in fact I have made quite an effort to educate myself about the situation.
Though I don’t agree, I appreciate your comments.
Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 12:54 am ¶Post a Comment