Israellycool excerpts some scenes.
His characterization of the film as a blood libel is accurate. People assume that a historic drama is based on reality, and while there were scattered instances of Israeli outrages in 1948 as in any war, they were most definitely the exception and were generally punished. Farha says that this was - and is - the norm for Israel, and as such it is outrageous.
But let's do a thought experiment.
Let's pretend that someone made an accurate drama about the massacre of Jews in Hebron in 1929.
The reality is that the Arabs did do atrocities then. As survivors testified, these included "widespread rape. The castration of seven men, including rabbis in their 60s and 70s. A seventy year old tied to a door and tortured until he died. A two-year-old with his head torn off. A rabbi set on fire. An elderly disabled pharmacist tortured to death, his wife mutilated, his daughter raped and murdered."
It would be a compelling story, with real drama and real facts. And it would never be shown on Netflix.
Movies about Nazis massacring Jews are fine, and the more detail, the better. But movies about Arabs abusing Jews? No, that would be considered Islamophobic, and wouldn't be touched by any mainstream streaming service or distributor. Imagine the outcry that would accompany such a film - it would make the Jewish reaction to Farha look like nothing.
Furthermore, imagine what such a film would include. Even if made by a fervent Zionist, it would feature subplots of Arabs saving Jews - which some did - to humanize the Arab side and ensure that the film is not incitement against Arabs as a whole.
Now, can you imagine a Jordanian or Palestinian film about the Nakba that would humanize Jews?
And you essentially cannot find it nowadays. It isn't streamed anywhere, and the only place I can find to buy a DVD is here at the National Center for Jewish Film.
Why is such a seminal event in Zionist history virtually ignored in film?
We know the answer.
UPDATE: The Hebron documentary is (unlisted) on YouTube with the English subtitles. You can watch it here:
(h/t GnasherJew)
