Lantos, Cronenberg and Reitman are hypocrites when they call protests censorship when Palestinian voices and calls for the end of Israeli apartheid and the brutal ethnic cleansing of Palestinians are suppressed by a predominantly Jewish owned and controlled media. We have never seen any photos of what Israel did in Gaza, why is that? Israel and its relentless propaganda is sickening and anti-democratic and free speech. I do not plan to attend TIFF this year.

End Israeli Apartheid Now.

Jason.

As far as I’ve always been concerned — and this is my position, I’m not speaking for anyone on this — Israel won the West Bank land in a war of aggression by its Arab neighbors, who attempted to wipe Israel off the map. They can do with it whatever they want. Throughout the history of civilization, when land was won in a war, it was owned by the victor. Returning land is a late 20th Century principle, and one that has conveniently been applied to Israel.

That the world community has never recognized this as their land, is anti-semitic and a bunch of BS. So to call the settlements there “illegal” is hogwash.

It has always been my view, that for the sake of peace in that part of the world, Israel should return those lands, that they should be magnanimous. But, they don’t HAVE to. Of course, Israel did leave most of the West Bank and all of Gaza, which were negotiating points for decades. Left VOLUNTARILY, with NO concessions or conditions from the Palestinians.

Of course, no matter what Israel does, there will be people and websites, such as you/yours, that will spin anything to make Israel wrong, such as your saying in your last post, “…horrendous humanitarian disaster orchestrated by Israel in Gaza…” Puulleease. Israel leaves, and now they’re responsible for making sure the people of Gaza have a life because Gaza borders Israel? Why don’t I hear you (or anyone for that matter) blaming Egypt?? Egypt borders Gaza.

Your last post is so full of pro-Arab and pro-Palestinian propaganda, it’s shameful.

As I said in my open letter to Greyson, there is plenty of blame for everyone in that region. Plenty. I know you won’t/can’t acknowledge this, because it doesn’t serve your agenda. You’d rather cast the Palestinians as the victims, because it suits your agenda and no doubt your prejudices. Even when the Palestinians turn down equitable peace accords, somehow the Israelis are wrong. It is precisely THIS kind of thinking, and attitude, that does not lead to peace, but continued acrimony.

No one is guilt-free here, I am certainly not suggesting that.

Both sides can trot out any number of skirmishes or atrocities to “prove” the other side wrong.

Both sides can justify anything and everything, in their agendas.

Your site clearly is presenting one side of the issue, not both. To say “There is enough information on our website for them to make up their own minds as to what is propaganda and what is not” is misleading. And in fact, propaganda.

The one serious missing component to peace in the Middle East, is the lack of the major Arab Nations really pushing for peace. Not the once-in-while BS publicity summits, but real efforts at peace. The U.S. cannot do it alone. And we also just had 8 years of a U.S. Administration that didn’t care to do anything.

Here is one undeniable fact. Every Arab country that has wanted to make a separate peace with Israel, has done so. From Egypt in 1978, where Israel returned all Egyptian lands seized during the wars, to Jordan in 1994. All the other Arab Nations have not been willing to normalize relations with Israel.

Who wants to deny this as truth?

President Clinton, Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat could have made peace in 2000. Records of that summit showed that Arafat walked away from making peace. Why? It didn’t serve his agenda. Getting (over a time period) most of the West Bank back, plus equivalent land inside Israel for the Israeli settlements wasn’t enough. Getting the right for some refugees to return to Israel wasn’t enough. Getting monetary compensation for those not allowed to return (who VOLUNTARILY LEFT the West Bank during the 1967 war initiated by the Arab nations) was not enough. No, there was always the moving goal line with Arafat.

I’ll bet this information is not on this site here.

There is no question that Israel at times has had leaders who don’t want peace. But Ehud Barak wanted peace. Rabin wanted peace until he was assasinated. Shimon Peres has wanted peace. If peace is to be had, it will only be achieved when Israel has a leader that wants it, and every time Israel has had one, Arafat has balked. The truth is, Arafat never wanted peace. He became a hugely wealthy man, from the unending fight between the Palestinians and Israel. How wealthy?

I’ll be this isn’t on your site either: Arafat was a billionaire, diverting over a billion dollars to private holdings, money meant for his people but never delivered to them. This is fact, and borne out by audits conducted by his own finance ministry after his death.

He was a corrupt man, who spoke a great game, and played a great game, but not one for peace. He maintained his power base and “leadership” through unending struggle with Israel.

If there is ever to be peace in that land, it will take Syria, Saudi Arabia and other major Arab nations there, to move towards a true peace with Israel, and to apply pressure to the Palestinian leadership to accept an equitable peace.

JC

Having now watched your film…

1) Your film is not a coherent piece of storytelling. Presumably it was invited to the festival in the first place due to your relationship with the festival heads.

2) One aspect of what you attempt to illuminate in your film is important: The violence against that festival in Sarajevo. What I learned from your piece of filmmaking here I could have learned reading one paragraph in 20 seconds. Where is your art here, as a filmmaker? Why are you telling us this story, rather than showing it? (One of the cardinal rules of screenplays and filmmaking is SHOW US, don’t tell us.) And what is this voiceover of someone teaching another words in presumably the Bosnian language? To hit us over the head with the written narration you want us to read? Pointless. No connection to the story you’re attempting to tell. Just let us read the narration.

3) What is the point with famous musicians in this story, doing covers of songs? How does this relate or connect in any way with the violence to shut the festival down?

I do not know you. I’ve never seen any of your work before. And this is the first time in my life, in my career, that I have ever written non-praiseworthy comments about another filmmaker. If I don’t like someone’s feature or short, I keep the comments to myself or among conversation with friends.

Because of the quality of your film (or my perceived lack of), this pulling your film from Toronto strikes me as a publicity stunt. Sure, some can say you don’t do this kind of stuff, because you don’t care about Hollywood. But you do care about publicity, I’m sure. We both know the power of this, and what it can do for one’s career. This appears to be no more than a publicity stunt.

And this is disconcerting to me. Using the complicated politics of the Middle East to promote yourself is, in my view, dishonest, disingenuous, and opportunistic.

I am an American Jew. I do not claim to know all the intricacies of all the issues between Israelis and Palestinians. But I have been following the issues since the first Palestinian intifada in 1987.

While I have never personally approved of the way the Israeli government handled that, or the second intifada, one MUST have perspective on the entirety of the issues in that region, and NOT pull aspects out of the larger issue to look at them individually and out of context. I believe most Jews, as myself, do not want to ever see an Israeli soldier killing anyone. But I also don’t want to see terrorists blowing innocent people up in Tel Aviv clubs and hotels, or see Hamas firing rockets into Israel killing children.

So let’s cut to the chase here, because I (or anyone) could write about all the back & forth between the two sides ad nauseam, and who’s to blame or who first started “the latest round.”

The Arab world, particularly the Arab nations that attempted to destroy Israel and wipe Israel off the map in 1967 and 1973, hold much responsibility in there being no peace in the Middle East. Anyone who truly understands the issues there — TRULY UNDERSTANDS — knows that for a lasting peace to take effect, it will require the real participation and backing of these Arab nations.

What does this mean? For one, they stop funding the Palestinians’ various military wings (and past and current terrorist activities) and they come to the bargaining table in sincerity. What many people not educated on these regional issues don’t realize, is that it serves some of these Arab nations’ OWN politics to maintain Israel as the pariah. As long as Israel is hated and despised, it focuses attention away from some of these corrupt Arab governments. (The leaders of these governments are not stupid.)

It is not in their best interests, in their minds, to have a “global” peace with Israel. Egypt became the exception in the late ’70s due to the foresight and forward thinking of that nation’s leader then, and Jordan in the ’90s as well. But this is not the norm. You have textbooks — TEXTBOOKS — in some of these Arab nations that schoolchildren read, that teach hatred of the Jews and Israel.

Propaganda? Damn right it is. The leaders of some of these nations do not want their citizens blaming them for their social ills, or high unemployment, or — God forbid — the reason there is no peace in that region. Blame the Jews. It’s easy and convenient. And of course, historical.

I apologize for my bluntness here, but people like you, Mr. Greyson, do not truly understand ALL the issues at play. The regional issues and the geopolitical issues. You glom onto pieces of the debate, and believe you understand everything.

If there is ever going to be peace in the Middle East, it will NOT take leaders, but statesmen. It will take all the Arab nations, and Israel, and the U.S., to come together to hammer out something everyone can live with. It will take the Arab Nations forcing the Palestinians to accept compromises that the Palestinians don’t want to accept, and it will take the U.S. forcing Israel to accept compromises that Israel does not want to accept.

One thing most people forget, is that Israel is a democracy. The leader that gets elected is either a “conservative” or “liberal,” and very contingent upon the mood of that nation at the time of election. (Just like the U.S.) Unfortunately, this affects their policies and engagement of the peace process. When there are terrorist attacks in Israel, the people there want revenge, not peace. (Just like here in the U.S. with 9/11.) Unfortunately, the human element of feeling injustice and wanting revenge cannot be removed from the human psyche. Awareness of this psychology, however, can sometimes help. But I digress.

You think that Israel engaging in some governmental propaganda, to try to change some of the world’s low opinions of it, is wrong. And thus, you pull your film and assert you’re making a statement. And yet, by doing so, you are asserting that Israel IS in the wrong here, and that they should be “punished” in some way. Forget about the latest round of Hamas rockets being fired into Israel last year, forget about the Palestinian leaders (Yasser Arafat, for one) in the past refusing to make peace with Israel when Israel had leaders who tried, and forget about discussing the Arab Nations’ leaders and their lack of real participation.

Just blame Israel.

This is short-sighted of you, and shows you have a real lack of comprehension of the all the issues at hand.

This is beside the point, but if Israel wants to engage in some propaganda around the world, why shouldn’t they? The Palestinians do it. And when looking at the entire history of U.N. resolution votes (and Security Council votes) since the birth of Israel, you have nearly every nation in the world voting AGAINST Israel the majority of the time. Except for the U.S. This speaks volumes about the world’s prejudices still existing today. Volumes.

Pulling your film from TIFF for publicity purposes? That’s your choice as a filmmaker and as a person. Pulling it under the guise of bringing light to your judgement that the TIFF is wrong in showcasing Israeli films? Naive, uneducated, and opportunistic.

Jerome Courshon
Producer/Writer
Los Angeles, CA