Why Israel

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Movie
German title Why Israel
Original title Pourquoi Israël
Country of production Italy , France
original language English , German , Hebrew , French , Russian
Publishing year 1973
length 185 minutes
Rod
Director Claude Lanzmann
production Véra Belmont
Maurice Bidermann
music Bernard Aubouy
camera William Lubtchansky
Colin Mounier
cut Françoise Belloux
Ziva Postec
occupation

Why Israel (Original title: Pourquoi Israël) is a 1973 documentary by the French Jewish director Claude Lanzmann .

action

25 years after the founding of the State of Israel , Lanzmann presents reasons for its necessity from the Jewish point of view. Although he wants to leave the argumentation from the point of view of other religions and population groups to their members, Why Israel should not be understood as a one-sided propaganda film . Palestinians or members of the PLO do not have their own say in the film. Instead, emigrants from Germany, Tzabarim and Sephardim , among others, were interviewed. The interlocutors are people of different backgrounds such as intellectuals, police officers, dock workers or prison inmates.

background

Why Israel - Lanzmann's first film - was made in 1972, after years of unsuccessful attempts to deal with the subject in writing. The premiere took place just three days after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 at the New York Film Festival.

On October 25, 2009, violent intervention by “anti-imperialist” left-wing radical groups prevented the documentary from being shown in the B-Movie cinema in the Hamburg district of St. Pauli . The activists were primarily members of the International Center B5 group . Lanzmann stated that he was "shocked"; this is the first time that one of his films has been prevented from showing. The action of the left reminds him of the blockade of "Jewish" films by the National Socialists. “They call it anti-Zionism , but it's anti-Semitism .” In addition to the distribution of leaflets, a witness reported that visitors to the film were insulted with the words “you Jewish pigs”, which others, however, denied. The organizers of the cinema spoke of "intolerable insults". You yourself were threatened with violence and three of the guests were injured with fist blows.

After numerous protests classifying the incident as anti-Semitic , the screening was rescheduled on December 13, 2009 at the same location, this time under the supervision of a police presence. Around 200 pro-Israel leftists and anti-Germans also demonstrated against “anti-Semitic film censorship in Hamburg” with the slogan “Make anti-Semitic thugs impossible. Leftists too ”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Weiss : Anatomy of Anti-Zionism . In: Spex # 325 (March / April 2010), pp. 45ff.
  2. ↑ Claude Lanzmann: "They were red with a brown core" . In: Spex # 325 (March / April 2010), p. 50ff.
  3. ↑ Christiane Peitz: Israel film blocked: Antifas as anti-Semites. In: tagesspiegel.de. November 22, 2009, accessed September 2, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Benjamin Weinthal: 'Why Israel' film canceled after violent German leftist protest. In: jpost.com. November 22, 2009, accessed September 2, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Per Hinrichs: Anti-Semitic Assault: Outrage over blockade of Israel film. In: welt.de. November 23, 2009, accessed September 2, 2018 .
  6. ^ Sebastian Hammelehle: Anti-Semitism in Hamburg: Director Lanzmann "shocked" about riots at Israel-Film. In: Spiegel Online . November 19, 2009, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Statement on the incidents on October 25, 2009. In: b-movie.de. Archived from the original on November 7, 2009 ; accessed on September 2, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Doris Akrap: Left anti-Semitism: How do we feel with Israel, comrades? In: taz.de. December 9, 2009, accessed September 2, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Volker Weiß: Close your eyes and go for it. In: jungle.world. November 19, 2009, accessed September 2, 2018 .
  10. ^ Lena Kaiser: Demo in Hamburg: Israel flags against anti-Semitism. In: taz.de. December 14, 2009, accessed September 2, 2018 .