LOOKING AROUND : The battle of Jenin, the sequel

By Barbara Sofer
Jan. 05, 2003

We should not be embarrassed to ban a film that debases the humanity of our children Imagine any of the following playing in the neighborhood movie theater: A documentary claiming more Christian children disappear in spring, implicating Jewish professors on a prestigious college campus. A film version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. A young European filmmaker's proof that the Holocaust never could have taken place. A medley of Nazi propaganda reels. A film picturing Jewish soldiers as ogres, denying medical aid and secretly burying bodies in a city called Jenin. Recently, a Jewish American professor tried to convince me that the censorship of the movie Jenin, Jenin was counterproductive. So many of us have been brought up to think of censorship as anti-democratic and often accomplishing the opposite of its purpose by bringing the censored item into the public eye. I wondered if he'd feel quite as liberal if he and his colleagues were portrayed as child-nabbers in a modern-day blood libel film. Indeed, Jenin, Jenin is a blood libel against the Jewish people, equal to Holocaust denial, and the Elders. Our Israeli Censorship Committee acts rarely, only when public interest is clearly compromised. Why, while we are doing our best to maintain the balance between security and morality, when we need to face up to everyday threats on our streets and schools, should we expose our citizens to the enemy's demoralizing propaganda? Demanding the freedom to show the "Palestinian side" in this case has as much validity as demanding to show the Nazi propaganda reels every time Schindler's List runs, in the name of fairness to neo-Nazis. "Think of Jenin, Jenin as a 10-ton missile aimed at the Jewish people," said Dr. David Zangen, the chief medical officer of Brigade 5, which fought in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield. I applaud the Israeli censors' unusual and judicious use of censorship to protect the public good in censoring Jenin, Jenin. That's in Israel. Jenin, Jenin has already been shown in Holland. As it begins to make the rounds of film festivals, Zangen offered the Foreign Ministry his services in debunking the lies. After he was initially rebuffed, I am glad that the Foreign Ministry has decided to take him up on his offer. Zangen's eyewitness testimony can be an antidote to a film made by Muhammad Bakri, weeks after Operation Defensive Shield was over. A Foreign Ministry official responsible for American media told me last week, on the record, that the defense of the Israeli cause in Jenin was weakened by the censorship of the movie. Such an act made Israel look anti-democratic in the eyes of other countries. The Supreme Court might disallow the censorship, the high-ranking official told me. NOW I was really confused. Would the Supreme Court's decision demonstrate that we are indeed a democracy or just the opposite, that we were anti-democratic by banning the film in the first place? The official admitted he was inexperienced in his job, dealing with American media, so I hope he won't mind my unsolicited advice: Stop apologizing about life in Israel. Israel is not only democratic. It is hyper-democratic. Do we think Switzerland or Austria is less democratic because Holocaust-denial is illegal there? Or Germany because Nazi regalia is now outlawed? Why should we be embarrassed by banning a film that debases the humanity of our children? Picture instead the answer of foreign governments when asked to withhold sponsorship for such a film: "Why should we refrain? The film is shown all over Israel." Jenin, Jenin can be a turning point for our dismal public-relations campaign. What we need is the same fighting spirit that the men in Brigade 5 had when called up after the massacre in the Park Hotel on the first night of Pessah. The turnout for this dangerous reserve-duty service was more than 100 percent of those needed. Not a soldier asked for a medical excuse, according to Zangen, who took medical care of them as well as injured Palestinian civilians and even terrorists. Like the volunteers who showed up for Brigade 5, Zangen has volunteered to do reserve duty in the public relations campaign. That is extra work all of us must do, too. A sort of national reserve for all Israel supporters in the battle for our good name. Last week, 120 college kids, brought to Israel on the initiative of Aish Hatorah yeshiva. were among the groups preparing to put forth Israel's message to American campuses. They met with Zangen. Among their concerns was how to oppose Jenin, Jenin on their campus when it came to town. More unsolicited advice: Keep it simple. There was no massacre in Jenin. The supposed bombing of the hospital never took place. The supposed west wing of the hospital never existed. Only a tiny fraction of Jenin was destroyed - the area booby-trapped by the terrorists. The so-called witnesses who testify about tales of run-over civilians and blown-apart babies are the exact sources who fantasized about mass graves. Even the United Nations has retracted its initial charges. More than half the human bombs, the suicide bombers who have over the last two years murdered Israelis, came from the armed camp of Jenin. The IDF had pulled out seven years earlier, making Jenin "unoccupied" territory. Foreign governments and public aid groups had poured billions of dollars into the town. As a pediatrician Zangen noticed "Not one slide or swing was put up for the children of Jenin." Parents had, however, invested in studio photographs, displayed in picture albums, showing photos of girls decorated with suicide belts and boys with suicide belts and rifles - a new generation poisoned with hatred and self-destruction. There should be another lesson here for us. Show, don't tell. The IDF should have let cameras in more quickly. Have enough faith in our soldiers to allow real-time coverage. Responsible war correspondents should have accompanied the Israeli forces into Jenin. Last April, I helped out a non-Hebrew speaking colleague interview an injured reserve soldier from Brigade 5. His testimony was nearly identical to Zangen's and appeared in a popular national newspaper. No sooner had it come out, than he was ordered to stop giving interviews because the international committee was investigating. What a myopic view of how world opinion is formed. Nine months after the fighting in Jenin, most of the lies about Jenin have not been corrected or retracted. Jewish communities abroad should use their influence to make sure this libel is not screened. If it is screened, loud protests have to be organized. Newspapers should be flooded with letters Spokespersons like Zangen and other eyewitnesses need to be imported for talk shows. The battle of Jenin is not over yet