By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Yoav Shamir
Original language title: Hashmatsa
Country: israel
Year: 2009
Running time: 91
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1377278/
Bruce says: “Too often a documentary does not present an equitable view of its subject. Filmmaker Yoav Shamir seems to have gone out of his way to present a balanced view of anti-Semitism in DEFAMATION. Nonetheless, his efforts seem to have neutralized his film which would have been much better had it taken sides or presented a point of view. The film begins slowly and it is unclear exactly where Shamir is going with his subject matter. He begins a journey to Auschwitz with a group of Israeli high school students, gets permission to film the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and interviews his Zionist grandmother who immigrated to Israel from Russia. We hear how thirty thousand kids visit Poland every year now and how the ADL, with 27 offices throughout the United States, has a budget of 70 million. It’s granny who spills the beans and tells the camera not all things about Israel are good, nor are all Jews deserving since many don’t contribute to society by working. In her opinion, lending money and investing in the market is not actual work. That’s the last we hear of granny.
“Shamir learns that the ADL reports about 1,500 anti-Semitic incidents each year. Working with a woman at ADL who has a spreadsheet documenting reported incidents, Shamir asks for a case that he can follow with a video camera but none seem to be suitable to his needs. Later in the film he does get hold of a disturbing video (totally unrelated to any ADL case files) which documents a stabbing in a Russian synagogue. Many talking heads offer opinions about what is and isn’t defamation. If a Jewish lady is walking alone and gets mugged by black assailants, it is reported as a racist incident. In actuality, she may simply be an easy target. Others think that anti-Semitism is an excuse to protect Israel.
“Shamir spends a lot of time traveling with Abe Foxman, Director of the ADL. Foxman is well connected internationally and seems to be feted everywhere he goes. He has access to high government officials in Israel and many other countries. Some Jewish scholars think anti-Semitism is a secular Jewish problem; orthodox Jews practice Judiasm. At a ceremony at a mass grave in Kiev, one woman states that without Israel there isn’t a safe Jew in the world. Many people think the Holocaust could be repeated today; others refute that idea, saying that Jews, particularly in the United States, have reached the highest levels of every profession and have a huge share of the wealth.
“Watching the indifferent school children at Auschwitz is a waste of time. True at the end many of the students are moved and bond over the experience but one gets the feeling that the emotions are quite temporary and just won’t stick. The film touches on the book The Israeli Lobby and U. S. Foreign Policy written by John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Stephen Walt (Harvard). Both men are interviewed and both are reviled by the ADL. When a sociologist, David Hirsch, speaks about the injustices to the Palestenians in Israel, he is called anti-Semitic. Norman Finkelstein, a controversial professor who was denied tenure at DePaul University after Alan Dershowitz intervened, speaks openly about problems throughout the world and how they are positioned in the media. He maintains that only Israel is excused from its atrocities. Israel certainly is no fan of Finkelstein since he was deported last year when he attempted to speak in that country. Finkelstein appears to be a bit off the wall as he rails out against Shamir. Shamir concludes the films with a sunset at Auschwitz, hardly an image that conveys hope or contributes to a meaningful conclusion for the film. 3 cats
“(DEFAMATION screened at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)”