Not disappointed. Not troubled. Not “concerned.”

I am angry at distortions. I am angry at slogans repeated so often that people stop asking whether they are true. I am angry at extraordinarily serious accusations being delivered as settled facts by people who seem to believe that a microphone, a movie screen or millions of followers somehow confer expertise.

And I am especially angry when Israelis themselves provide an international audience with exactly the validation it seems to have been waiting for.

Which brings me to NAZA.

Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s documentary is built around testimony from 24 Israeli military and intelligence personnel whose identities are concealed from the public. It makes grave allegations about Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Abraham and Szor defend their reporting; Israeli officials and the IDF have strongly disputed the film’s portrayal.

Anonymous sources can, of course, be legitimate and sometimes essential.

But anonymity also means that the public cannot independently assess who these people are, what positions they held, precisely what each personally witnessed and where firsthand knowledge ends and interpretation begins.

Those are not unreasonable questions.

They are the questions journalism is supposed to ask.

Then NAZA premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

For twenty-four and a half minutes.

The film received what was widely reported as a record 24.5-minute standing ovation at Venice and later won the Special Jury Prize.

Twenty-four and a half minutes.

And I cannot get past one question:

What exactly were you applauding?

Were you applauding because two Israelis had seemingly handed you something you desperately wanted — Israelis you could point toward and say, See? Even they say it. Even Israelis confirm what we have been saying all along.

Is that what deserved twenty-four and a half minutes?

I do not know what was in the minds of every person in that room. I do not know Abraham and Szor’s motives, and I am not going to manufacture intentions for them.

Frankly, their intentions are no longer what interests me most.

Were the people cheering asking who these 24 anonymous sources were?

Were they wondering which allegations were based on firsthand knowledge?

Were they asking how the most serious claims had been corroborated?

Were they distinguishing evidence from testimony, testimony from interpretation and allegation from established fact?

Or was hearing it from Israelis enough?

That is what feels like betrayal to me.

Not holding Israel accountable.

Israel is not above scrutiny. No country and no military should be.

If soldiers committed crimes, investigate them.

If commanders violated the law, investigate them.

If policies were unlawful, expose them.

Accountability is not betrayal.

But accusation is not automatically truth either.

And an accusation does not become more truthful because people stand and applaud it for twenty-four and a half minutes.

Perhaps Abraham and Szor believe they performed an act of conscience. Perhaps they believe exposing what they see as wrongdoing represents loyalty rather than betrayal.

They are entitled to believe that.

I am entitled to look at the consequences and feel something very different.

Their twenty-four and a half minutes of fame came as their country was once again placed on trial before an international cultural audience.

To me, those twenty-four and a half minutes came at far too high a price.

When a Legal Accusation Becomes a Slogan

Nowhere does this problem bother me more than with the word genocide.

Genocide is not simply another word for terrible suffering.

It is not another word for a devastating war.

It is an extraordinarily serious legal accusation with a specific definition, including an intent requirement.

There are organizations and international bodies that have concluded Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide, while Israel categorically rejects that accusation. South Africa’s genocide case against Israel remains before the International Court of Justice; the Court has issued provisional measures, but the case has not produced a final merits judgment declaring that Israel committed genocide.

That distinction........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)