Dear Chutzpanim,
I recently saw the movie, The Gatekeepers (שומרי הסף), at Cinematheque Tel Aviv. It is an internationally known movie, and earned an Academy Award nomination for the best documentary.
I initially went to the movie because My mother sent me an email, describing how she had seen the movie and was "again worried about my safety!" When I was younger I enjoyed teasing my mother a bit about her worrying too much, but now as I get older and more experienced, I've come to respect her warnings. In any case, after reading this email, I knew I had to go see The Gatekeepers.
The Gatekeepers consists of a series of interviews of former Shin Bet directors. Shin Bet is the Israeli internal investigation agency, sort of like the FBI. While Shin Bet is not as well known outside of Israel as the Moussad, one could argue that it is more important to Israeli security because they prevent domestic terrorist attacks. At work, I mentioned that I would go to this movie to some coworkers. One girl had an extremely hard line position against the film; she said that the former directors of Shin Bet interviewed in the movie should be imprisoned or shot. I guess this coworker felt that it is tantamount to treason to discuss national security issues openly. In general she is a very sweet person, but I guess like all Tzabars, she can be a bit prickly on the outside. Perhaps she had concerns that the former directors of Shin Bet could release some sensitive information; only previously known information that has passed the Israeli Military Censor was discussed.
Here is the trailer:
Spoiler Alert Below!
During the film, the various crimes and abuses by Shin Bet are explored, including the Line 300 murders, torture during Carmi Gillon's tenure, and collateral damage during targeted assassinations.
The film begins with Avraham Shalom discussing the Line 300 executions, during which two Palestinian bus hijackers were captured alive, were then beaten by IDF soldiers and given over to Shin Bet. The director at the time, Avraham Shalom, gave the order to execute them so their heads were smashed in by rocks while they were unconscious. In the film, Shalom, a sweet old grandpa looking character, admits that it was a mistake to kill the terrorists, but only because there was media there. He takes a very realpolitik position that there are no morals in intelligence work, only benefits and negatives. What's funny is that later he complains about how immoral the politicians who threw Shin Bet under the bus were, during the aftermath of the crisis.
One thing that is explored in the film is the story of the Jewish Underground, which I did not know about prior to the film. Essentially religious Jewish terrorists wanted to blow up the Dome of the Rock to bring about the end of the world, resulting in the coming of the messiah. What is insane is that they were caught trying to blow up a bus that would contain 250 Arab civilians, and were later completely pardoned. Several of these terrorists became members of Knesset, and are all free today, even after murdering Islamic college students.
The film is criticized in Israel as being leftist, but in reality it is just interviews of former directors of Shin Bet. Secret police organizations aren't generally known as bastions of peaceniks, pinkos and communists. An overarching belief however seems to be that they should always be talking with their enemies, and pursuing the peace, as Rabin had tried before being assassinated by Bar Ilan student Yigal Amir. Somehow the idea of pursuing peace has become to be considered leftist amongst Israelis and they mention that no Israeli Prime Minister other than Rabin has been serious about pursuing peace. This unfortunately seems to be the case, as settlements are expanded, and the no plans to end the occupation are pursued.
The movie is very interesting, and I hope you enjoy it if you go!
Sauce
I recently saw the movie, The Gatekeepers (שומרי הסף), at Cinematheque Tel Aviv. It is an internationally known movie, and earned an Academy Award nomination for the best documentary.
I initially went to the movie because My mother sent me an email, describing how she had seen the movie and was "again worried about my safety!" When I was younger I enjoyed teasing my mother a bit about her worrying too much, but now as I get older and more experienced, I've come to respect her warnings. In any case, after reading this email, I knew I had to go see The Gatekeepers.
The Gatekeepers consists of a series of interviews of former Shin Bet directors. Shin Bet is the Israeli internal investigation agency, sort of like the FBI. While Shin Bet is not as well known outside of Israel as the Moussad, one could argue that it is more important to Israeli security because they prevent domestic terrorist attacks. At work, I mentioned that I would go to this movie to some coworkers. One girl had an extremely hard line position against the film; she said that the former directors of Shin Bet interviewed in the movie should be imprisoned or shot. I guess this coworker felt that it is tantamount to treason to discuss national security issues openly. In general she is a very sweet person, but I guess like all Tzabars, she can be a bit prickly on the outside. Perhaps she had concerns that the former directors of Shin Bet could release some sensitive information; only previously known information that has passed the Israeli Military Censor was discussed.
Here is the trailer:
Spoiler Alert Below!
During the film, the various crimes and abuses by Shin Bet are explored, including the Line 300 murders, torture during Carmi Gillon's tenure, and collateral damage during targeted assassinations.
The film begins with Avraham Shalom discussing the Line 300 executions, during which two Palestinian bus hijackers were captured alive, were then beaten by IDF soldiers and given over to Shin Bet. The director at the time, Avraham Shalom, gave the order to execute them so their heads were smashed in by rocks while they were unconscious. In the film, Shalom, a sweet old grandpa looking character, admits that it was a mistake to kill the terrorists, but only because there was media there. He takes a very realpolitik position that there are no morals in intelligence work, only benefits and negatives. What's funny is that later he complains about how immoral the politicians who threw Shin Bet under the bus were, during the aftermath of the crisis.
One thing that is explored in the film is the story of the Jewish Underground, which I did not know about prior to the film. Essentially religious Jewish terrorists wanted to blow up the Dome of the Rock to bring about the end of the world, resulting in the coming of the messiah. What is insane is that they were caught trying to blow up a bus that would contain 250 Arab civilians, and were later completely pardoned. Several of these terrorists became members of Knesset, and are all free today, even after murdering Islamic college students.
The film is criticized in Israel as being leftist, but in reality it is just interviews of former directors of Shin Bet. Secret police organizations aren't generally known as bastions of peaceniks, pinkos and communists. An overarching belief however seems to be that they should always be talking with their enemies, and pursuing the peace, as Rabin had tried before being assassinated by Bar Ilan student Yigal Amir. Somehow the idea of pursuing peace has become to be considered leftist amongst Israelis and they mention that no Israeli Prime Minister other than Rabin has been serious about pursuing peace. This unfortunately seems to be the case, as settlements are expanded, and the no plans to end the occupation are pursued.
The movie is very interesting, and I hope you enjoy it if you go!
Sauce
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