For respective weeks now, Israeli diplomatic and sympathetic institutions with Israel have been holding closed screenings of a crime-documenting movie committed by Hamas October 7, 2023. The event is addressed to tiny groups of journalists, activists and politicians who enter the area on the basis of a pre-established guest list selected by diplomatic staff. 1 specified show was besides held in Warsaw on 4 December.
Numerous comments on the ongoing escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict deny the tragedy experienced by residents of the towns bordering the Gaza Strip. Without taking any account of the suffering of the Palestinians and the people of Gaza, who have faced a hard reality for years in the face of the ongoing Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the area, as well as the regular bombings in which many civilians are killed, it is besides worth paying attention to the 1,200 Israeli victims, kibbutz residents, villages or participants of the music festival, who on October 7 were victims of a violent attack.
(No)ready for violence
The Warsaw show was held under strict security, with the ban on the entry of recording equipment into the hall. The incoming guests had to return their mobile phones to the box, leaving them under the supervision of embassy staff. A fast individual check with questions about the contents of bags and pockets, checking guests through security, passing through the metallic detector and leaving laptops in the closet were part of a standard safety set organized by Israeli services, but it besides sparked many backroom conversations between invited guests – especially with respect to "should journalists leave their electronic devices and tools of work under the supervision of third-country staff?".
However, this was a condition for participation in the projection, so there was no discussion or dispute. Before the screening, Ambassador Yacov Livne spoke to the invited guests, presenting the context in which the recordings were obtained. He pointed out that Israeli soldiers managed to get “tens of thousands of hours” of recorded material that papers the events of October 7.
A stunning number, but not verified. yet shown after the ambassador's speech, the movie lasted little than 50 minutes, and the ambassador, asked by 1 of the journalists participating in the show about the selection criterion of the recordings, replied that the movie was assembled by Israeli Defence Force soldiers in specified a way as to build a communicative about the events of that day.
This communicative showed respective different themes. any of the presented situations were already known from the X portal or Telegram – among others, a shocking recording of Hamas militants' entrance to the Beeri kibbutz, a recording of the evacuation of the music festival Nova or cold-blooded execution of a dog that looked like he just wanted to say hello to "guests."
The hourly dose of force is something that many observers did not expect, or were simply not ready for. And yet there was besides a fresh perspective, a closer look at many of these events, due to the fact that earlier in many cases there were not even video recordings from cameras that were taken from bodies killed after the attack.
Shows destination for selected
After the screening, there was no silence in the room, which was written by journalists from another countries who had the chance to participate in the shows. A fewer questions were asked to the Vice Ambassador Shani Tayar and Colonel Idan Katza, defence attaché. “ What is the intent of these screenings? Are they aimed at convincing the public to Israeli action in the Gaza Strip?"
Vice-ambassador Tayar pointed out that, by organising specified screenings, Israelis number on public opinion to ‘doeducation’. However, the goal may be hard to achieve, as only a limited number of participants, including journalists and publicists, who have been commenting on the mediate East political reality for years. Is it truly possible to show them evidence of force that the shawl will thin in Israel's favour when, in the eyes of a large part of the public, Israeli soldiers and leaders present commit retaliatory war crimes in Gaza, as shown by the crowds in pro-Palestinian demonstrations along with the slogans raised there?
Some call for all material to be made publically available to all interested, but this will most likely not change much. Those convinced that on October 7, there were no crimes or Israeli service behind them would not change their minds by watching anonymous armed men attacking civilians. Others may even be glad that the Palestinians retaliated after decades of oppression.
For many, this attack, which is brutal, even antihuman, and is marked by genocide, may be justified by action. It is justified – due to the fact that all another measures in this optics have failed before, and Palestinians inactive do not have their own state and existing political processes, designed to lead to an effective solution to the decade-long conflict, only cement temporary ideas, specified as the existence of the Palestinian Authority.
However, it is hard to watch this movie and have no reflection that it shows nothing but the effect of decades of dehumanization. Those active in the attack cheer, rejoice at the death of the Jews they killed. In specified a long, inactive active conflict, it is not hard to take the right to call 1 another human.
Thus, Israeli supporters will find in the movie confirmation that Israel's activities in Gaza are justified by the request to defend or prevent further specified incidents. Palestinian supporters will see in this video the effect of the years of Israeli politics, which blocks the anticipation of resolving the conflict in a satisfactory way to both parties.
I do not believe that showing this movie to everyone curious will have a affirmative effect. It can only cement existing prejudices, as well as power up servers of portals specialising in serving gore content to net users, not necessarily to supply context, or alternatively gruesome entertainment.
Juwal Kestelman case
Probably sooner or later there will be a leak of this compilation or another assembly containing scenes from the Gaza Strip, or even the death of Juwal Kestelman, an Israeli civilian who, with individual weapons, killed 2 Hamas terrorists on 30 November, after they committed a terrorist attack at Giwat Saul in Jerusalem, killing 3 Israelis and 16 injuring.
Kestelman, after shooting the bombers, put his weapon down, kneeled down and raised empty hands over his head in Hebrew cried out to 2 soldiers after service who appeared at the scene of the assassination. 1 of the soldiers, Aviad Frija, was to consider Kestelman an assassin and shoot him without considering identifying the man whom Israeli media present call a hero.
Frija is associated with the alleged "youth from the hills", an extremist faction of the settlement movement, linked to the judaic organization Power and the Minister of Public safety Itamar Ben Gwir. In his belonging to “the hill youth”, accused of many attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, many commentators see the origin of Kestelman's death, who did everything possible so uniformed soldiers could identify him before he was shot, which resulted in his death in the hospital.
Frija himself in an interview with Channel 14 of Israeli television, recorded before the media and investigators became clear that the man shot by him was Israeli, noted that "it was luck" and "found himself in the right place at the right time", adding that "all soldiers of the Israeli Defence Force want to put X" on their weapon. Frija means an unofficial symbol painted by soldiers, which is simply a kind of badge showing that a given soldier succeeded in killing the enemy. Fiji was later arrested, interrogated, and is under home arrest today.
Lawyers defending Frija argue that Kestelman's death was “an honest mistake” and “from the place where the soldier was standing, from what he saw and from the sounds he heard, he was absolutely convinced that he was shooting at a terrorist who inactive poses a threat of life for him and everyone around him.” At the same time, Chief of Staff of the General Defence Force of Israel General Herci Halewi pointed out that soldiers should not shoot individual who raises his hands in motion of surrender. It will not be until after the investigation of the gendarmerie that the decision will be made as to whether Frija will be charged and what.
In this situation, however, it is hard to believe that even after the current escalation of the conflict has calmed down, the Israelis and Palestinians will start to trust each another adequate to prosecute peace. The events of the last 2 months do not give optimism to the future, and any discussion of the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a "two-state solution" under which 2 independent states would be created alongside each other, or a "one-state solution" which would consequence in the emergence of a common state of both nations, seems even more abstract present than before.
But is it hard to be amazed if the bill of harm continues to extend?
