Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Eleven Days in May
tells the story of the 2021 Gaza war on Israel from the terrorists’
perspective. That is to say, the film preys on the emotions of the viewers to make
them side with those bent on pushing Israel and its residents, into the sea. As
Eleven Days would have you believe,
60 children were killed in Gaza, and that is all you need to know.
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| Jonathan Hoffman |
You don’t need to know, according to those who brought the
film to fruition, that a terrorist
father endangered his child’s safety by failing to remove him to a less
dangerous location than by his side. You don’t need to know, say the producers,
financers, and screeners of the film, that the “children,” who were murdered,
were, in many cases, teens who received extensive training in the use of arms,
and who were well educated to use those arms against Jews. You don’t even need
to know the identity of the aggressor or the timeline, according to those who
brought you Eleven Days in May.
Because if you knew those things, you might not hate Israel. You might not hate
the Jews enough. And that, after all, is the entire point of the film.
That, at least, was the impression of Jonathan Hoffman, who viewed the film on May 8. Hoffman, an instrumental figure in the defeat of Jeremy Corbyn, has made it his life’s work to advocate for Israel and to oppose antisemitism. The former vice chair of the UK Zionist Federation and adviser to Labour Against Antisemitism, Hoffman found the film to be an appalling exercise in antisemitic propaganda and incitement. A player on social media with more than 2000 Twitter followers, Hoffman wrote about the film on his activist blog in ‘Eleven Days in May’: Terrorist Propaganda Showing at a Picturehouse Cinema Near You!
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| Jonathan Hoffman was responsible for funding and publicity, and was the spokesperson for this anti-Corbyn campaign before the 2019 election |
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| Demonstrating at the final Corbyn rally before the December 2019 election |
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| October 2020 Countered Palestine Action anti-Elbit demonstration in Holborn They threw paint at us and at the building The court case in which Jonathan is a witness is ongoing. |
Based on what Hoffman reports, Eleven Days in May is a dishonest, hate-filled screed against
Israel. What is the purpose of the film? What, if anything, should Israel and
those who care about her, do to combat the lies? Hoffman graciously consented
to answer these and other questions:
Varda Epstein: You
have called Eleven Days in May a
“terrorist propaganda film.” Can you explain what you mean by this? Are you
saying that the film actually promotes terrorism?
Jonathan Hoffman: This is a film that could only be made
with the involvement or co-operation of Hamas in Gaza. To depict the children
that were killed but to withhold all context is pure propaganda. It’s precisely
like making a film lamenting the German children who were killed in World War
Two but omitting all context, in order to win sympathy for the Nazis.
Images of children and teenagers learning military tactics and weapons training at Palestinian Islamic Jihad's summer camp. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/wWDSV5PMYT
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 5, 2021
Varda Epstein:
According to your blog piece, Eleven Days
in May is being screened at 9 theaters in London, plus another 5 locations
in Britain. Are these cinemas frequented by specific sectors? Who is most
likely to see the film?
Jonathan Hoffman: Picturehouse has a reputation for showing ‘independent,’ ‘socially significant’ films. Of the 14 cinemas where Eleven Days is being screened, fully 12 belong to the Picturehouse group. No specific sectors frequent these theaters—the risk is that regular people will watch the film in order to learn more about the Middle East conflict. The only lesson they will take from this film, however, is the slanderous lie that Israel Kills Children.
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| "Much the same hopes and dreams and ambitions of children everywhere." |
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| My children never had this hope, dream, or ambition, ever. How about yours? |
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| Summer camp Gaza, 2021, doing maneuvers in a terror tunnel with a gun. Same as any other child, right? |
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| Son gets a lesson on how to murder Jews from his terrorist father. Both were killed in an airstrike in Gaza, 2021. *sad noises* |
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| Just another innocent child killed in Gaza in 2021 |
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| Loss to humanity. Tsk. |
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| He deserves to be remembered--when the lying mainstream media tells you that Israel is murdering children. |
Varda Epstein: The
advertising blurb for the movie states, “Over the course of 11 days in May
2021, over 60 children were killed in Gaza. They should never be forgotten.” We
know that several Israelis sit on the board of directors of Cineworld, owner of
Picturehouse, the entertainment company which in turn, owns 12 of the theaters
in which Eleven Days is currently
being shown. How can it be that Israeli Jews would be a party to the screening
of such a skewed portrayal of the facts, clearly meant to appeal to emotions
and incite further violence against innocent Israeli civilians? Is it realistic
to think that any Israelis are unaware that Gazan terrorists struck Israel
first, unprovoked, with some 4,500 rockets? What do you think these particular
Israelis want viewers to come away with after seeing this film?
Jonathan Hoffman: As far as I know the only Israelis
involved are the Greidinger brothers, through their part ownership of
Cineworld, which in turn owns Picturehouse. I have written to Mooky Greidinger
to ask if he knew about this film. If he did – and yet failed to stop it being
shown in Picturehouse cinemas – I am utterly horrified. Similarly if he
only learnt about the film from my blog but failed to terminate its showings.
Please note that I am not trying to get the film banned. But just because a
film is made does not mean that a cinema is obliged to show it or that Netflix
(for example) is obliged to make it available to subscribers.
Varda Epstein: Are
Israeli victims of Gazan rocket attacks even referenced in the film? Is the
proper timeline presented to the viewers?
Jonathan Hoffman: No and no.
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| Not mentioned in Eleven Days in May, Israeli child Ido Avigal (5), of Sderot, who was critically injured when a rocket launched from Gaza penetrated the safe room of his family's apartment. His mother and younger sister were both wounded in the attack. The three were transferred to hospital, where Ido succumbed to his wounds on May 12. |
Varda Epstein:
Award-winning actress Kate Winslet serves as narrator for Eleven Days. Do you think this says something about her political
outlet? Should the Jewish community be taking note of her participation as a
stamp of approval on incitement against the Jewish people of Israel?
Jonathan Hoffman: As far as I am aware, Winslet does not
have a history of denigrating Israel. Now she needs either to explain why she
failed to learn the truth about Operation Guardians of the Wall – or if she DID
know the truth, why she nevertheless agreed be the narrator of this film. It is
not an option to remain silent.
Varda Epstein:
Comedian Russell Brand called Eleven Days
in May “A beautiful film!” Why do you think Russell Brand seems to be
everywhere there is incitement to violence against the Jewish people of Israel,
since at least 2014? Why is he so focused on this topic?
Jonathan Hoffman: Because he’s an idiot who latches
unthinkingly onto the latest fashionable fad on the Left.
A beautiful film! @elevendaysinmay by Michael Winterbottom & Mohammed Sawwaf. Remembering children who lost their lives in Gaza over 11 days in May 2021 through moving interviews with the families. Go watch it at #PICTUREHOUSE cinemas.#ELEVENDAYSINMAYhttps://t.co/Cu0yMounzp
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) May 6, 2022
Varda Epstein: Aside
from skewing the events as if Israel attacked Gaza, and not the other way
around and aside from failing to mention that Gazan children are purposely put
in harm’s way to create news and photo ops for the anti-Israel media, how else
does the film fail to depict the truth?
Jonathan Hoffman: I would refer readers to my blog for a
detailed critique. A short summary of the film’s falsehoods and omissions:
·
Israel blamed for evictions
from Al Aqsa
·
Lies about Sheikh Jarrah
·
Lies that Israel fired hand
grenades in Al Aqsa
·
Fails to mention the thousands
of rockets fired into Israel
·
Fails to mention that Israel
achieves record low ratio of civilian to combatant casualties in asymmetric
warfare 1:1
·
Fails to mention deaths from
Hamas rockets that fell short
·
Fails to identify 17 year olds
who died who were terrorist supporters
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Fails to identify children of
terrorists who were killed in attacks on the terrorists.
·
Fails to mention that Hamas
tunnels caused deaths of children, because a street on top of one collapsed.
·
Falsely claims that Israel
fired missiles at a child.
Varda Epstein: Are
film viewers made aware that many of the “children” killed in Gaza were
actually teenage militants or in close proximity to adult militants?
Jonathan Hoffman: No.
We also discovered Facebook posts / photos showing Mohammad Suleiman in combat uniform and holding weapons.
— DigFind (@DigFind_) June 1, 2021
We wonder whether @nytimes (and @DCIPalestine) were aware of this before going to print as the information was posted to Twitter on 11 May 2021.
https://t.co/9PIklTSod7 pic.twitter.com/2ItGdRqMLR
Varda Epstein: How do
the filmmakers either present or get around these inconvenient facts?
Jonathan Hoffman: They omit them.
Varda Epstein: Who do
you suspect funded this film? Why is the film being aired now, at this specific
juncture?
Jonathan Hoffman: Some of the funding came, I believe,
from Revolution Films, co-owned by Michael Winterbottom who is a co-director of
the film. UNICEF’s logo appears on the credits at the end. I really hope
they didn’t fund it. If they did then I will urge my government in the UK to
protest.
Varda Epstein: Isn’t
this just one more attempt to smear Israel for an audience already filled with
anti-Israel, antisemitic hate? Does it matter? Assuming it does matter, and we
need to somehow act, what is it we can or should do about Eleven Days in May?
Jonathan Hoffman: Yes. It matters because it increases the danger for Israel and for Jews everywhere, plus, it’s antisemitic – or Don’t Jews Count? I urge everyone to protest to Mooky Greidinger: mooky.greidinger@cineworld.co.uk or via customer.services@cineworld.co.uk
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Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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