Shot in the occupied territories this controversial documentary draws a parallel between the Israeli-Palestinian situation today and the myths of Samson and Masada. It is an exceptional and challenging film a rare event in contemporary cinema.
Aristotle once said that "Dignity consists not in possessing honours, but in the consciousness that we deserve them", and such is the enduring victory of Palestine and her people. As a Semitic civilisation, the Palestinian Arabs (from Phoenicia to the present day) have lost and regained their country more times than any other people on Earth: from Romans to Crusaders, Philistines, Mongols, Tartars, Britishers and Israeli Zionists; they've seen them come, and they've seen them go, though the Holy Land, in my opinion, seems to have drunk more than her fair share of blood in the centuries of bitter conflict. Avi Mograbi's compelling, if off-the-cuff, documentary about Palestinian life under Israeli occupation, employs the ironic juxtaposition of Jewish Torah legends Samson and Masada, with the Palestinian people's struggle against Zionism. Drawing parallels between Samson's destruction of the temple (arguably the first suicide bomber) and 960 zealots of Masada; who, legend has it, chose mass martyrdom (alternatively, mass suicide) to surrender when besieged by their Roman oppressors. Mograbi's documentary is at its strongest when it uses 'No Comment' veritie techniques (i.e. the absence of narration or voiceover) which are now regular features on many news channels, to highlight the banal, ritual indignities imposed upon Palestinians by their Israeli occupiers. We get a glimpse of life under the cruel white n' blue; as malefic Zionist troops, peering suspiciously from behind U.S. supplied M-16 gun sights in fortified watchtowers, stop residents at checkpoints; vandalise vehicles and bark orders at Palestinian citizens who dare answer back. Vicious in manner, but also afraid, in spite of their obvious military advantage; the Israeli"s alleged ultraviolent inferiority complex, only serves to remind us that these conscripted soldiers of Zion are predominantly drawn in from the most impoverished parts of Eastern Europe, fanatical ideologues drilled to act as both vandal and victim. And though soldiering is a stressful profession, it's impossible to be a good soldier in a bad war or an occupation built upon irrationality, injustice & racism. And though not as good as 'The Ramallah Diaries' (2004), 'Nekam Achat Mishtey Eynay' (which refers to a blinded Samson's last prayer asking God to avenge but one of his two eyes) offers an honest insight into Zionism today: an ideology which, like the idol of Dagon itself, seems to be buckling under the weight of its' own inequity; with money spinning "birthright" tours and neo-Nazi rock concerts for British & American tourists, Zionism is shown up as little more than a crumbling demi-god, housed in a modern day edifice of mammon. As mad Rabbis scream and shout, the crowd is whipped into a racist fervour by songs about Samson and Masada, serenaded with lines like "Revenge, revenge, revenge" the narrative comparison to the Palestinian struggle so obvious, that the old rocker has to shout "...on Palestine, Palestine Palestine" in a chilling, yet endearingly absurd rant. And though Mograbi uses the Masada example as a symbol of defiance, he gradually relates it back to implied themes of an Israeli persecution complex; subtly suggesting that perhaps, more than any other people in the Middle East; Zionists, a gathered clan who are taught to see themselves as history's hardest done by, may well be the most volatile / irresponsible cult to have nuclear weapons. For gone are the days when sycophants like Marvin Heir could freely censor films like 'A Dream No More' (1998), or Zionist thugs blockade informative documentaries such as Roy Battersby's 'The Palestinian' (1978) robustly championed on the Oscar stage by its narrator Vanessa Redgrave. Mograbi, whose nineteen years in film have seen him address Israeli imperialism (perhaps to make amends for his second unit work on Menahem Golan's anti-Semitic B-movie 'Delta Force'), with righteous indignation in films like 'August: A Moment Before the Eruption' or farcical humour with 'Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi'. My only criticism would be that some scenes (i.e. the telephone conversation), as interesting as they are, would be better suited to bonus material than part of the main feature. A film such as this has, no doubt, inspired a new generation of documentarians, most notably Ido Harr, whose award winning 'Nine Star Hotel' (2007) focused on Palestinian workers trying to earn a crust in the occupied territories. And though I'd love to see Mograbi make a film about 'Neturei Karta' and orthodox Jewry's heroic, hundred year resistance against Zionism, 'Nekam Achat Mishtey Eynay' is still a very good documentary, definitely worth seeing. Eyes wide open.
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Powerful political documentary shot in the occupied territories of Palestine, drawing a parallel between the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and the ancient myths of Samson and Masada.
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