|
|
May 20, 2005
At the Green Line gives balance
Documentary actually allows soldiers to provide differing points
of view.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
Zionists, most Jews and others who support the state of Israel
could be forgiven for assuming that a documentary with the title
At the Green Line, which profiles the attitudes of Israel
Defence Forces soldiers serving in the occupied territories, is
an anti-Israel film. But they would be wrong.
At the Green Line does give more air time to the views of
members of the Courage to Refuse movement – which is comprised
of soldiers and officers who challenge Israel's mandatory military
service, especially the army's role in the territories – and
it does include some strong images of Palestinian farmland being
plowed under to make way for the security barrier. However, director
Jesse Atlas manages to provide what could almost be called a balanced
view of the difficult choices with which IDF soldiers struggle;
their need to reconcile the sometimes conflicting moral duties of
protecting Israel from terrorists and treating Palestinians humanely.
Atlas interviews soldiers who refuse to serve "at the Green
Line," those who disagree with the occupation but continue
to serve and those who find no moral conflict with serving in the
army. He allows IDF officers to explain how hard they try to instil
moral values into their soldiers, beginning with the lesson that
weapons should be used only in very specific instances of either
defending Israel or themselves. He includes interviews with soldiers
who have shown rational thinking – i.e. been slow to pull the
trigger – even when their lives have been in danger. One soldier
notes that, with power, which the IDF has in the region, comes increased
responsibility.
The Courage to Refuse members speak of the military culture that
they feel has come to dominate Israeli society. One points out that
the difference between Israeli and American young people is that,
at 18, Americans are choosing a college, whereas Israelis are picking
a unit. These soldiers – who now number approximately 635 out
of 10,000 active reserve combat soldiers, according to the film
– say they have no problem with serving in the military in
times of war, but that they are not properly trained to be occupiers,
that this should not be the role of an army.
Most documentaries about the Israeli-Palestinian struggle portray
the Israelis as the bad guys and the Palestinians as the harassed
innocents. While this one leans slightly in that direction, it should
not be lumped in with that crowd. At the Green Line brings
up important issues that should not be brushed aside and it does
so in a way that elicits discussion more than confrontation. The
effort is laudable.
At the Green Line plays at Pacific Cinémathèque
on Saturday, May 28, 4:30 p.m., as part of the annual DOXA Documentary
Film and Video Festival, which runs May 24-29. The film is preceded
by Women in Black, a profile of several women who are part
of the Edinburgh, Scotland, contingent of the international peace
group that originated with Palestinian and Israeli women who hold
silent public vigils to protest what they consider to be war crimes.
For more information, call 604-646-3200, e-mail [email protected]
or visit www.doxafestival.ca.
^TOP
|
|
