February 10, 2006
Moronic convergence Dept.
This blog has been following two controversies (among others) about distorting Jewish history: The MESA-ization of Columbia University (especially by Professor Joseph Massad), and the film Munich.
These issues converge in a review of Munich by the flower of the Columbia University Middle East Studies Department, Joseph Massad. (Isn't it neat how life does that sometimes?)
RELATED: The Moveon.org of mainstream movie-making: Participant Productions.
[ Alcibiades UPDATES: In a similar vein, Martin Kramer's comments on the Moronic Convergence that led to Joseph Massad's promotion to Associate Professor at Columbia: :
Continue reading "Moronic convergence Dept."
Judith | 02/10/06 at 12:07 AM | 0 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
February 02, 2006
Safe Inside My Hollywood Sized Dalet Amot
In the comments below saxcriminal wrote:
Spielberg says that "Jewish fundamentalists" are attacking him. Wow, he's really crossed a line.
Just to point out, I added some commentary to this story a bit further down the page.
Yes, it is amazing that Spielberg complains that Jewish "fundamentalists" are attacking him.
His basic position appears to be - discuss among yourselves - as long as no one disagrees too much with me. Outside of my dalet amot everyone else is insane. [dalet amot means 4 cubits (of land) and is the rabbinic calculation for one's personal space.] While simultaneously he considers himself extremely broadminded.
While the contradiction has its amusing angle, the naïveté of the man is astounding. He makes a film that deals with a nexus of issues that includes the most thorny and untractable issues of our times - the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, plus how to manage terrorism successfully to defuse it - questions which really don't have answers at all - and he's actually surprised by the strength of the reaction. And is in so much denial about it all and unaware of the limitations of his own perspective that all he can do is insult everyone who disagrees both to the right and the left. It's fairly mindboggling. Except that it seems typical for Hollywood.
But then Spielberg meant well. So let's all sing kumbaya, pay tribute to Spielberg's great genius and humanity, and go home.
Continue reading "Safe Inside My Hollywood Sized Dalet Amot"
Alcibiades | 02/02/06 at 09:43 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
January 30, 2006
Neither a Luddite Nor A Fundamentalist Be
More From The Annals of the Self-Deluded
Spielberg, on attempts to talk himself out of making Munich:
I discussed this film with all kinds of people who mean a lot to me, in the hope that they would talk me out of it, even my parents and my rabbi. But no-one would do me that favor. So my scriptwriter Tony Kushner and myself took on the project as seriously and politically unbiased, and as uncompromisingly as possible.That's right. Spielberg thinks that Tony Kushner's approach on Israel is politically unbiased.
Heh! Now I'm forced to imagine a mental landscape in America where Tony Kushner's Zionism would be regarded as centrist.
Continue reading "Neither a Luddite Nor A Fundamentalist Be"
Alcibiades | 01/30/06 at 02:00 PM | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
January 23, 2006
In the comments, saxcriminal points to an interesting interview in the London Times with Steven Spielberg about his film, Munich. Saxcriminal thinks it lame; I think it is interesting, if only because it shows the extent of Spielberg's self-delusion.
It turns out now that even George Jonas, the author of the much discredited work, Vengeance, on which Munich is based, believes that Spielberg does something which his book never did, which is elide the difference between terrorism and counter-terrorism.
Ooh, the ironies just compound and compound.
Alcibiades | 01/23/06 at 10:18 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
January 11, 2006
A Collective Snicker Arose
Spielberg's Munich was expected to be among [those films], tipped for awards both in Britain and at the Oscars.But the preview DVD sent to the academy's members is unplayable on machines used in the UK. As a result the majority of Bafta's 5,000 voters will not have seen the film, due to be released in Britain on January 27, and can hardly be expected to recommend it for acclaim.
Alcibiades | 01/11/06 at 10:55 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
January 02, 2006
Munich massacre cont.
Munich Massacre anniversary series here. And more on the movie and reactions to it.
Reviews and reactions are still pouring in. Bret Stephens reiterates a list of the movie's biases and misstatements of fact.
Via Banagor, an audio interview with Tony Kushner in which he discusses "the challenges he faced in constructing a work of historical fiction." I'm glad we're clear about that. (But, you know, it's "fake but accurate.") Kate Wright at RCP compares the movie's "historical fiction" to fact, and considers the political implications of creating this particular fictional narrative. (For the record, I think fiction can express the truth of a situation, but claiming that something is "true" even if the facts are false is a lazy way of not taking responsibility for making certain narrative choices.)
The Washington Post review concludes:"The problem with "Munich" is simple: It asks hard questions and finds easy answers."
Roger Ebert interviews Spielberg, who positions himself as a brave dissident:
Continue reading "Munich massacre cont."
Judith | 01/02/06 at 10:52 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 27, 2005
Sadly, Mr. Daoud, You are NOT following the program
Spielberg's therapy program for peace, that is. [ UPDATE at end ]
According to Spielberg, if only Israelis and Palestinians would get together and talk and hug and cry together and look at amateur films of each other's lives (a program he has planned for 2006), then intractable geo-political problems would melt away like so much pollution into the dissolving ozone. Which is the reason, Mr. Spielberg and his corps of actors...
[S]pent three weeks re-creating the Munich massacre in Malta and Hungary, with Arab actors from Syria, Iran, Libya, Egypt and France playing the terrorists and Israeli actors playing the Israeli athletes. None of the actors had read the entire script, only their small portion.“It was just very, very difficult for me to play war with them,” says Spielberg. “With real people from the real regions, and then to be staging these scenes of brutality as well as compassion. And it was — it was brutal and cathartic at the same — all in the same breath, to stage a scene where Jews have been killed and then I say, 'Cut.' The Palestinian with the Kalashnikov throws his weapon down and runs over to the Israeli actor who is on the ground and picks the actor up and falls into the Israeli's arms and is sobbing. And then the Israeli actors and the Arab actors all running into this kind of circle and everybody is crying and holding each other.”
Continue reading "Sadly, Mr. Daoud, You are NOT following the program"
Alcibiades | 12/27/05 at 03:45 PM | 6 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 26, 2005
A surprise from the Times
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
Since “Munich” officially opened on Friday, reviews have come in to add to the ones I discussed here. It's a mixed bag.
I expected the NYTimes to rubber-stamp the movie's politics, didn't you? But surprisingly, this review made it past the editorial board.
“There's no peace at the end of this,” warns Avner, the morally anguished Mossad assassin, as Steven Spielberg's new film, “Munich,” draws to a close. And by “this” he means the targeted killings that Israel is said to have begun after 11 of its athletes were murdered at the 1972 Olympics by members of the Palestinian Black September offshoot of Fatah.But Mr. Spielberg, in collaboration with his screenwriters, Eric Roth and the playwright Tony Kushner, also has a different “this” in mind. The camera pointedly settles on the period's skyline of lower Manhattan, showing the World Trade Center in sharp relief.
Continue reading "A surprise from the Times"
Judith | 12/26/05 at 08:55 PM | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 23, 2005
Steven Spielberg, statesman
Much more on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie.
Spielberg has been trying to do an end run around the political critics by screening "Munich" for policy wonks and hopefully getting their imprimatur for his cause of moral equivalence. Yes, moral equivalence; it's here in black and white:
[Mike] McCurry recruited Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross for a series of high-brow advance screenings and panel discussions in New York and Washington for leading policy experts, academics, diplomats, politicians and press. The goal: to drive home the point that Spielberg didn't try to spin the story in favor of one side or the other, and to inject the film into the current debate about the appropriate response to terrorism. [my emphasis - ed.]
I never thought I'd see Dennis Ross as an apologist for the PLO.
Continue reading "Steven Spielberg, statesman"
Judith | 12/23/05 at 04:49 PM | 6 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich remembered: Home page
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
Here's a master list of all the Munich posts:
Munich remembered: The PLO and the Germans and the French
Munich remembered: The Athletes
Munich remembered: The Olympics
Munich remembered: The Protagonists Speak
Munich remembered: First they came . . .
Munich remembered: the British Arabists
Munich remembered, the movie: "Inspired by Real Events"
Judith | 12/23/05 at 04:46 PM | 2 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich remembered: the PLO and the Germans and the French
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
At 5:00 AM, September 5th, 1972, a seminal event in the development of modern terrorism took place. Eight Palestinian terrorists invaded the site of the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. They killed and took hostage eleven Israeli athletes competing in the Games, demanding the release of over 200 imprisoned Arabs and 2 German terrorists. Over the next few tension-filled days, all the hostages and some of the terrorists were killed, and the remaining terrorists escaped, mostly due to incompetence and perfidy of the German government. The Olympic Committee made a controversial decision to continue the Games, and has never held any memorial for the slain athletes. Eventually almost all of the remaining terrorists were hunted down and killed by Israeli agents, directed by then Prime Minister Golda Meir.
Below are links to articles about the responsibility of various terrorist organizations for the massacre and the involvement of the Europeans and Israelis. (Some of these are from my “blogburst” of 2002, on the 30th anniversary of the massacre.)
Continue reading "Munich remembered: the PLO and the Germans and the French"
Judith | 12/23/05 at 05:57 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich, the movie: "Inspired by Real Events"
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
Several small films had already been made about the Munich Massacre, but the topic haunted Steven Spielberg for years before he decided to tackle it. In an LA Times interview, Spielberg talks about following the massacre on TV as a young man, and being deeply affected. His desire to make a moral statement about such a fraught subject, as well as tell a story, gave him pause, and after 9-11 he put it aside, concerned that it would be seen as exploitative.
But now Spielberg is seen as part of a new trend: Films which humanize terrorists. Although the DC Area Critics List has already awarded Munich top director and top film, it's been added to various top ten lists, and is nominated for several Golden Globes, negative reviews are easier to find than positive ones. Written by people passionate and knowledgeable about the subject matter, the negative reviews appeared early and attracted a lot of attention.
Continue reading "Munich, the movie: "Inspired by Real Events""
Judith | 12/23/05 at 05:41 AM | 8 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich remembered: the British Arabists
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
Some dusty papers in the vaults of the British Foreign Office were recently declassified. In these papers, Britain's finest diplomats fall all over themselves justifying the coldblooded murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games.
Continue reading "Munich remembered: the British Arabists"
Judith | 12/23/05 at 05:29 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich remembered: First they came . . . .
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
"First they came for the communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communistFirst they attacked the Olympics in Munich, Germany, killed 2 athletes, and took hostages and a helicopter. Police snipers shot the terrorists but didn't kill them. One of the terrorists threw a hand grenade into the helicopter and killed all the hostages and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an Israeli.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew
Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist
Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant
Then they came for me - and by that time there was no one left to speak up."-- Pastor Martin Niemoeller, martyr of the Nazis
Then they invaded the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 US citizens hostage, and I didn't speak up because the Shah was, after all, a real bastard and I had voted for Jimmy Carter.
Then 6 Islamic terrorists seized the Iranian embassy in London. They announced that they would kill a hostage every half hour, and they did but I didn't speak up because the hostages weren't anyone I knew.
Then Shiite suicide bombers from the Hizballah organization, with the support of the government of Iran, bombed barracks in Beirut, Lebanon where US Marines and French paratroopers were housed. 299 were killed, including 241 US Marines and I didn't speak up because, ever since Vietnam I wasn't very keen on the U.S. military anyway.
Then the Taliban government of Afghanistan arrested 24 international humanitarian aid workers in Kabul. Incarcerated were 16 citizens of Afghanistan, 4 from Germany, 2 from the US and 2 from Australia. Several were members of Shelter Now International (SNI). Several were accused of trying to propagate Christianity, punishable by long terms or execution and I didn't speak up because I was pretty damn ripped on some killer Afghani opium.
Then, on September 11, 2001 they came for me - and by that time, it was all I could do to make a few quick calls on my cell phone.
Judith | 12/23/05 at 05:10 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich remembered: The protagonists speak
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September.
“I don't see how the Germans could have made any mistakes that they didn't make. Over the years Munich has served as a model of what not to do in every conceivable way.”
-- Michael Hershman, senior executive at a security consulting firm that has participated in five Olympics.
“. . . . the village had been a refuge, admittedly imperfect, from a larger, seedier world in which individuals and governments refused to adhere to any humane code. For two weeks every four years we direct our kind of fanaticism into the essentially absurd activities of running and swimming and being beautiful on a balance beam. Yet even in the rage of competition we keep from hurting each other, and thereby demonstrate the meaning of civilization. I shook and cried as that illusion, the strongest of my life, was shattered.”
-- Kenny Moore, American athlete at Munich in 1972
Continue reading "Munich remembered: The protagonists speak"
Judith | 12/23/05 at 05:00 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 23, 2005
Munich remembered: The athletes
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September. “When you come to the . . . more »Judith | 12/23/05 at 05:00 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
Munich remembered: The Olympics
This entry is part of a series on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie, to provide factual background to accompany the movie's release. The authoritative documentary on the massacre is One Day in September. Ankie Spitzer, widow of the . . . more »Judith | 12/23/05 at 12:04 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 20, 2005
Another Review of Munich
Steven Bowman from the NYSun reviews Munich. He calls it Spielberg's statement of moral equivalence. Apparently this is what we learn from Munich:* Revenge is an uncivilized, savage act that lowers the revenger to the level of his victim. As . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/20/05 at 12:47 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 18, 2005
Spinning Munich Into Gold
What could be more cynical! Not content merely with having former Ambassador Dennis Ross in his pocket to provide diplomatic soothing for his new film, Spielberg has now hired Eyal Arad, one of Ariel Sharon's spin doctors strategists, to market . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/18/05 at 11:29 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 08, 2005
Roger Friedman Doesn't Do Irony
Judith discusses Roger Friedman's gushing review of Munich, as the "best movie of the year", below. He's impressed both with the film and the authenticity of its visual presentation: And yet, as far as I can tell, there are no . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/08/05 at 10:19 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 07, 2005
Moral equivalence in Munich
Gushing review of Spielberg's Munich from FOXNews. Gushing as in: There will be plenty of debate over whether Spielberg favored the Israelis or demonized the Palestinians in this movie. But the terrific screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth . . . more »Judith | 12/07/05 at 09:03 AM | 10 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
December 04, 2005
Not Just an Oscar for the Boy, He Wants to Make Peace!
According to a forthcoming article in Time Magazine, Spielberg is a mite ambitious about his coming film, "Munich," based on the account of a man who falsely claims to have participated in the Mossad mission to destroy the Palestinian perpetrators . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/04/05 at 04:19 PM | 4 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
November 23, 2005
An Oscar For Munich?
Does Stevie Boy Wonder hope to snag an oscar for Munich, the controversial new film about the aftermath of the Israeli response to the PLO massacre at the Munich massacres, based on an apocryphal account by Yuval Aviv, purporting to . . . more »Alcibiades | 11/23/05 at 05:01 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
November 02, 2005
Not Faster, Please!
Spielberg is rushing to get out his new film, Munich, before the December deadline, so it can be considered for movie awards. Does he have to? . . . more »Alcibiades | 11/02/05 at 07:53 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
September 07, 2005
The Final Irony
Check out this headline: Spielberg's 'Munich' miffs Palestinian mastermindSpielberg's new Palestinian critic is miffed for the same reason that a lot of Israelis and Jews are. Spielberg has based his film on an entirely specious and discredited account of the . . . more »Alcibiades | 09/07/05 at 10:31 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
August 25, 2004
Yasher Koach
The first Israeli to win a gold medal at the Olympics dedicates it to the victims of the Munich Massacre.The 28-year-old punched the air with delight on his victory and draped himself in the Israeli flag in what he . . . more »Judith | 08/25/04 at 02:36 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
May 13, 2004
Living well is the best revenge
Time for a bit of good news, yes? The Iraqi football team kicked Saudi and Kuwaiti butt on their way to the Athens Olympics. Go, team! Since torture and execution seems to be the theme of the week, let's . . . more »William | 05/13/04 at 11:38 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
April 09, 2004
It's 1936 - do you know where your liberties are?
Maybe I'll annotate this with links when I get a minute. Any one else want to take a crack at it? . . . more »Judith | 04/09/04 at 12:08 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - Munich Massacre
