[Dialogue] The Morality of 'Munich'

Sat Dec 24 12:36:45 EST 2005

Colleagues, a thoughtful take on a movie. Peace, Harry 
  _____  

AlterNet

The Morality of 'Munich'

By Jordan Elgrably, AlterNet
Posted on December 24, 2005, Printed on December 24, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/30040/

In 1972, Black September, a wing of Arafat's Al Fatah movement kidnapped and
then killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team during the Munich games.
This set in motion a series of reprisals by the Israelis, including targeted
assassinations of Palestinians, and continuing acts of terrorism by militant
groups against Israeli, European and American targets. Today we are no
closer to an end to the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and
East Jerusalem, nor to a lasting peace agreement that addresses equally the
needs of both Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Now comes "Munich," a Hollywood feature film, co-written by playwright Tony
Kushner and screenwriter Eric Roth, and directed by Steven Spielberg. Even
before the film's release, neo-conservative critics have attacked what they
perceive as a liberal bias in the film's portrayal of Palestinian terrorists
and their would-be Israeli assassins.

Never having considered Spielberg a political filmmaker, I went to an early
screening of "Munich" with low expectations, surprised that he would even
tackle the subject. Yet the story that unfolded proved to be an incisive
argument against the use of violence, under any circumstances, as a means to
achieve political objectives. While the Munich attack brought the
Palestinian struggle into millions of homes around the world and as such put
the decades-old conflict on the map, it also embroiled Israeli intelligence
services in black operations to assassinate its enemies wherever they might
be found. Palestinian terrorism created an image problem for the Palestinian
people, whose best interests I would argue were, and still are betrayed by
savage acts of violence against Israeli civilians.

And by engaging Black September and other terrorist groups on their own
violent terms, Israel betrayed its declared values as a Western-style
democracy that eschewed the death penalty in 1954 for ordinary crimes (and
only exercised the death penalty once, for Adolf Eichmann's "extraordinary"
crimes, in 1962).

Like Hany Abu-Assad's recent film "Paradise Now," which humanizes two
would-be Palestinian suicide bombers from Nablus, "Munich" is as much an
argument about the futility of violence to resolve conflict as it is a
cogent historical drama. It is shot in a gritty documentary style and may
remind some filmgoers of the early work of European director Costas-Gavras,
his political thriller "Z" in particular.

In fact, "Munich" is the work of a mature filmmaker--one who does not appear
beholden to popular American Jewish opinion that Israel is always the
underdog. The film depicts Palestinian and other Arab characters as human
beings, and it chronicles the change of heart that Israeli agents experience
as they go about their clandestine mission to assassinate those the Israeli
state identified as responsible for the Munich operation.

At the start of the film, five undercover agents based in Europe, led by
Avner Kauffman (Eric Bana), believe themselves on a mission for just
vengeance. But it is not long before Bana and the others begin questioning
the sanctity of their assignment. The bloody acts of revenge haunt Kauffman,
and though he says that he is becoming numb to murder, the truth is that he
gradually breaks down, succumbing to paranoia and fear. Meanwhile, for every
act of vengeance wreaked by the Israelis, the Palestinians respond with
further terrorist attacks. "Munich" makes it clear in the film's closing
frame that this cycle of violence continues to the present day.

And where are we? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no closer to a
solution: The military occupation of Palestinian territories is in its 38th
year; the settlement movement continues apace; and all the international
peace initiatives have failed. The one dependable reality of the conflict --
Palestinian suicide bombings and Israeli targeted assassinations -- is
utterly bankrupt. Nothing remains but for the Palestinians to seek justice
with a nonviolent revolution for peace, in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, and
for the Israeli people to follow new leaders who can devise political rather
than military solutions. Perhaps the recently elected Amir Peretz, who now
helms the Labor Party, can lead the way. "I see the occupation as an immoral
act," Peretz has said. "I want to end the occupation not because of
Palestinian pressure, but because I see it as an Israeli interest."

The actors of "Munich" perform with the intensity of an ensemble cast. Chief
among them are Australians Eric Bana, who convincingly does both an Israeli
and a German accent, and Geoffrey Rush, who plays Kauffman's black ops boss.
The other four assassins are performed by an international cast of British,
Irish, French and German actors, including Daniel Craig, who has been tapped
to be the next James Bond, and Mathieu Kassovitz, who appeared opposite
Audrey Tautou in "Amelie" and directed the hit drama "La Haine" ("Hate").
Omar Metwally, meanwhile, turns in a strong performance as Ali, a young
Palestinian militant, and the other Arab character actors chosen for this
film turn in subdued, thoughtful performances. There are also a number of
Israeli actors who stand out, including Ayelet Zurer as Kauffman's pregnant
young wife, Gila Almagor as his mother, and Ami Weinberg as General Zamir.
In fact, there are few Americans in "Munich," and most of them are behind
the camera.

Unsurprisingly, "Munich" has already engendered a legion of detractors even
before going into wide release. It matters not. Well into his career, after
having been lionized by Hollywood, with a litany of awards too long to list,
Steven Spielberg has finally made his masterpiece. 

Jordan Elgrably <mailto:jordan at jordanelgrably.com>  is artistic director of
the Levantine Cultural <http://www.levantinecenter.org/>  Center in Los
Angeles. 

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