Thursday, December 04, 2008

Waltz with Bashir.



We saw Waltz with Bashir last night. A moving and thought provoking film, that also acted as an education for me. I had no idea about the massacre at Sabra and Shatila, 2 refugee camps for Palestinians in west Beirut on 15-16 september 1982.

In essence, the Israeli Defense Forces allowed Lebanese Christian Phalangist militiamen to enter two Palestinian refugee camps, where they massacred somewhere between 800 and 2000 people. Women, children and men.

It has been said that it was some form of revenge after the killing of Bashir Gemayel, who was looking likely to become president and was the Phalangist leader. It has also been said that the motives were more complex and politically driven. Whatever, another dark hour for humanity.

If the human race ever ends up in the dock, we are going to have a hard time persuading the jury we are anything but a selfish, nasty, power hungry group of xenophobic arseholes.

Go see.

1 comment:

Steve J Makin said...

I know about this stuff but choose to take the chickens way out and not face it, one of the many reasons I don't read newspapers anymore or engage with the real world anymore than I have to, its a shit choice I agree but its a coping mechanism