Bereaved parents slam Israel Oscar nominations
AN Israeli activist group has written to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of the 2013 Oscars next month, arguing two Israeli films nominated for Best Documentary Feature present a false and negative image of Israel.
AN Israeli activist group has written to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of the 2013 Oscars next month, arguing two Israeli films nominated for Best Documentary Feature present a false and negative image of Israel.
The Almagor Terror Victims Association of Israel claims the films Five Broken Cameras and The Gatekeepers present a solely leftist view of Israeli politics and society.
“Please be aware that the two Israeli films … create a false impression of the character of the State of Israel and are in point of fact political films whose messages are identified very specifically with the far left of the political spectrum,” the group wrote. “The two films…do an injustice to Israel and to the security forces tasked with protecting its citizens against terrorism.”
The group has argued The Gatekeepers, which features interviews with six former heads of Israel’s counterterrorism agency Shin Bet, is “a political film attacking the current Israeli policy of remaining in … the West Bank.”
In the film, the six men discuss the parts they played in the policies introduced in the aftermath of 1967’s Six-Day War and how these have affected the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The film does in fact let five former Shin Bet heads speak, but its immoral conclusion – that negotiations should be held with terrorists and that it is possible to come to an agreement with them – is offensive,” the group wrote. “As terror victims, we are of the view that one must not compromise with terrorism, whether practically or, as the film would have it, morally.”
The group also said Five Broken Cameras is “an incitement film that demonises soldiers of the IDF and contains anti-Semitic elements”.
Five Broken Cameras tracks the resistance of the West Bank village of Bil’in to the construction of new homes and the fence by Israel. As the years pass and the building continues, tension rises between the villagers and the IDF. The group argues the film “concerns the construction of the security fence at Bil’in only from the Palestinian perspective”.
“We request that you take our position into account when judging the material,” the group said.
The 2013 Academy Awards will be held on February 24.
ALEXANDRA ROACH
A still from “The Gatekeepers”.
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