Defamation!
Defamation, a documentary film written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir, is a film that every American should see. As far as I know, it hasn’t been shown in theaters here, but I’m sure you can rent it from various online sources. Those like myself, who have Netflix can see it online for free on their Netflix account. Yesterday, I couldn’t find a place to watch it on Youtube, but got a screen showing a copyright conflict. I wasn’t surprised because Gilad Atzmon’s website said it wasn’t available on Youtube in the US. Today I found that you can watch on Youtube by starting from the trailer on the web page for the film, linked below.
The film begins with the director saying that, as an Israeli, he has never experienced antisemitism, so he is going to explore the subject in this film. The reason every American should see it is goes on to document the brainwashing (I can’t think of anything else to call it) of a group of high school students from Tel Aviv. The lesson begins with slides of the death camps being shown in their classroom, makes a stop in a Polish hotel where they are told that they can’t leave their rooms after dinner because Poland is too dangerous for Jews, and ends with a bitter, heart-wrenching, utterly terrifying visit to Auschwitz. I have been documenting some of Israel’s crazy stories recently, but this is truly beyond belief.
The film follows also Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League on a Lobbying trip to Europe ending with a visit to Auschwitz. It has numerous interviews with ordinary American, European and Israeli people. Between excerpts of the Israeli young people’s and Abe Foxman’s journeys, there is a brief, but pithy statement from Uri Avnery and a very intense interview with Norman Finkelstein. The web page for Defamation – The Film, is here.