Last update - 16:42 22/02/2009

Hamas sentences accused Israel collaborator death by firing squad

By News Agencies

Tags: fatah, israel news, hamas

A military court in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday sentenced a man to death by firing squad for allegedly collaborating with Israel.

Hamas spokesman Mohammed Nahal provided no other details regarding the sentencing. He said he did not know how many Gazans are currently on death row.

The death sentence in Gaza cannot technically be carried out unless Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party rules in the West Bank, approves the move. Abbas has not allowed executions to take place since he came to power in 2005.

Rights groups say that Hamas has executed 17 men who escaped jail during Israel's three-week military operation in Gaza last month, after being convicted as collaborators.

Amnesty International two weeks ago accused Hamas of carrying out a "deadly campaign" against its Palestinian opponents and critics in the Gaza Strip, particularly those they accuse of "collaborating" with Israel.

"Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip have carried out a deadly campaign of abductions, killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of 'collaborating' with Israel, as well as opponents and critics," the human rights group wrote in its latest report, on February 10.

Amnesty International succeeded in gathering testimonies from a number of victims, but said many others refused to come forward for fear of retribution from Hamas.

In its report, the rights group urged Hamas to "immediately end the campaign of abuses" and to allow an impartial force into the Gaza Strip to investigate the allegations."

Tensions between Hamas, who seized control of Gaza in a bloody 2007 coup, and opponent groups such as Fatah have flared again in the wake of Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip. The sides have held negotiations on reconciliation, but to little avail.

Amnesty's findings come in the wake of numerous media reports and quiet complaints by Fatah activists of similar instances.

Late last month, Hamas announced that it had begun reasserting control in the Gaza Strip and rounding up suspected collaborators with Israel, drawing accusations from the rival Fatah group that its members were being targeted.

Last update - 15:18 22/02/2009

Iran to begin operation of first nuclear power plant

By News Agencies

Tags: Iran, Russia, Israel News

Iran's official news agency said Sunday the country's first nuclear power plant would begin preliminary phase operation on Wednesday after a series of delays.

The report by the IRNA agency said the pilot stage operation of the power plant will start on Wednesday during a visit by the head of Russia's state Rosatom Atomic Corporation, Sergey Kiriyenko.

The long-awaited 1,000-MW power plant, which was built in the city of Bushehr with the help from Russia under a $1 billion contract, was expected to become operational in fall of 2008.

Some 700 Iranian engineers were trained in Russia to operate the plant.

Tehran also plans to build a 360-megawatt nuclear power plant in Darkhovin, in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

The West, which suspects Tehran of seeking to produce its own nuclear bomb, has been critical of Russia's involvement in building Iran's first nuclear power plant. Russia says it is purely civilian and cannot be used for any weapons program.

The head of Russia's state nuclear company, Sergei Kiriyenko, said this month Russia aimed to start up a nuclear reactor at Bushehr by the end of the year. The plant is located on the Gulf cost in Iran's southwest.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said the plant "is in the final stages of its construction" and the Russian side had boosted the number of staff to "increase the speed of work".

Analysts say Iran could become a central issue in relations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and new U.S. President Barack Obama, who has said that the United States was prepared to talk to Tehran.

They say Russia has used Bushehr as a lever in relations with Tehran, which is suspected by the United States and some European countries of seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude producer, rejects such allegations and says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more oil and gas.

Russia started deliveries of nuclear fuel for the plant in late 2007, a step both Washington and Moscow said removed any need for Iran to have its own uranium enrichment program.

Switching on the Bushehr plant could dismay some in the United States, Israel and Europe who are deeply suspicious of Iran's intentions.

Moscow says the plant poses no proliferation risk as Iran will return all spent fuel rods to Russia.

Last update - 14:50 22/02/2009

Olmert apologizes for Virgin Mary television spoof

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press

Tags: ehud olmert, israel news

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he feels regret, sorrow and disapproval for a comedy show that mocked Christian theology and offended the Vatican.

Government spokesman Mark Regev said Olmert told ministers at a cabinet

meeting Sunday the comedy segment was in stark contrast to good relations

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etween Israel and Christians worldwide.

Broadcast recently on a late-night show on the private Channel 10 TV station, the segment mocked the belief that Mary was a virgin and that Jesus walked on water.

The skit was a sarcastic response to the Vatican's rehabilitation of a

Catholic bishop who denied the Holocaust took place. The host later apologized for causing offense.

The Vatican issued a statement Friday calling the segment a vulgar and

offensive act of intolerance.

In the sketch, Mary is said to have become pregnant at 15, thanks to a schoolmate. It said Jesus could never have walked on water because he was so fat he was ashamed to leave the house, let alone go to the Sea of Galilee with a bathing suit.

The foreign ministry said the segment wouldn't be shown again and that its host, well-known Israeli comedian Lior Shlein, had apologized.

Last update - 00:09 14/02/2009

ADL chief: Pope Bendedict's condemnation of Holocaust denial not enough

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Jewish World, Abe Foxman

Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, sought to temper the enthusiastic responses expressed by Jewish leaders following their meeting on Thursday with Pope Benedict XVI over the reinstatement of a bishop who denies the Holocaust.

"The problematic and controversial chapter of the church and the matter of Holocaust denial do not end with the pope's declaration condemning Holocaust denial," Foxman told Haaretz.

Foxman, who was present at the meeting in the Vatican, refused to echo the compliments which other Jewish leaders feted the pope over his forceful denunciations of Holocaust denial.

"A meeting between Jews and the pope is always an important, historic event," Foxman said. Yet, "as long as the church allows an anti-Semitic bishop who denies the Holocaust to continue in his post under the aegis of the church, this means that the church is saying one thing yet doing another."

Foxman, himself a Holocaust survivor, seeks to emphasize that he appreciates the pope's condemnation and his moving statements on his planned visit to Israel. Yet, in his words, "you cannot say that you are against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial when you allow an anti-Semitic bishop and Holocaust denier to continue serving in the clergy."

"The church gave the bishop enough time to recant," Foxman said. "But he asked for forgiveness only from the pope and he said he is waiting for proof that indeed six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and the Nazis used gas chambers."

"Holocaust denial is a crime by law in key countries," Foxman said. "Only after the church recants from the rehabilitation and restores his prior standing as excommunicated can we say that the matter of the church and Holocaust denial has been solved."

The ADL is the largest Jewish organization active in the United States.

Last update - 20:58 20/02/2009

Vatican irked by 'blasphemous' Virgin Mary TV spoof in Israel

By Jack Khoury and The Associated Press

Tags: Holocaust, Pope, Israel News

The Vatican said Friday it has formally complained to the Israeli government about an Israeli TV show that ridiculed Jesus and Mary in an offensive act of intolerance.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the segment wouldn't be shown again and that its host, well-known Israeli comedian Lior Shlein, had apologized.

In the program, Shlein sarcastically denied Christian traditions - that Mary was a virgin and that Jesus walked on water - saying he was doing so as a lesson to Christians who deny the Holocaust.

It was a reference to the Vatican's recent lifting of the excommunication of a bishop who denied 6 million Jews were killed during World War II. The rehabilitation sparked outrage among Jews.

A statement from the Vatican press office said its representative in Israel complained to the government about the segment, which was broadcast recently on private Channel 10, one of Israel's three main TV stations, during Shlein's late-night comedy talk show.

In the clip, the Vatican said, Mary and Joseph were ridiculed with blasphemous words and images that amounted to a vulgar and offensive act of intolerance toward the religious sentiments of the believers in Christ.

In the show, Mary is said to have become pregnant at 15, thanks to a schoolmate. It said Jesus could never have walked on water because he was so fat he was ashamed to leave the house, let alone go to the Sea of Galilee with a bathing suit.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the ministry approached Channel 10 based on the papal nuncio's complaints, and was told the segment would not air again. Palmor said the station's legal adviser had also already sent a letter of apology to an attorney who represents a Christian group who had been offended by the segment.

Palmor said Shlein apologized live on Wednesday, and said he didn't mean to offend anyone.

The clip was a sarcastic response to the Vatican's rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson, who said in an interview broadcast on Swedish state TV that no Jews were gassed during the Holocaust and that only 200,000 or 300,000 Jews were killed.

he Vatican's rehabilitation of Williamson sparked outrage that only abated after Pope Benedict XVI met with Jewish leaders at the Vatican last week.

During his audience, the German-born pope issued a strong denunciation of anti-Semitism and said it was unacceptable for anyone - particularly a clergyman - to deny or minimize the Holocaust.

The Vatican has demanded that Williamson, a member of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, recant before he can be admitted as a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. On Thursday, the government of Argentina, where Williamson had been living, ordered him expelled within 10 days. It cited an immigration problem but also said his comments about the Holocaust had profoundly insulted Argentina, Jews and all of humanity.

The British-born Williamson had already been removed as director of the society's La Reja seminary. He has apologized for causing distress to the pope but has not recanted. He has said he would only correct himself if he is satisfied after a review of the evidence, but has said that would take time.

Last update - 19:25 18/02/2009

Will Virgin Mary TV spoof jeopardize Pope visit to Israel?

By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Israel News, Pope Benedict

Leading Christian and Muslim clergymen are calling on Pope Benedict XVI to postpone his planned visit to Israel, which is scheduled for May, in protest of a comedy skit seen on the late-night variety television show hosted by comedian Lior Shlein.

In a press conference held on Wednesday in Nazareth, religious leaders denounced Shlein for a spoof entitled "Like a virgin" which depicts two characters who play Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

In the skit, Mary is heard saying she had slept with many men and that she was not a virgin at all. The provocative segment prompted Christian lawyers to consider filing legal motions against Shlein and his television home, Channel 10.

In response, Shlein sent a letter to one of the attorneys pledging to apologize on the air for the skit.

Christian leaders said Shlein's jokes are "hurtful and humiliating to Christianity." Salim Kubti, an attorney and the chairman of an umbrella organization representing Christian courts, said he and a number of other lawyers are considering a lawsuit against Channel 10.

"It's clear that Shlein is a failure and as a result is looking for any way to improve his ratings, and he is jumping on a sensitive issue," Kubti said. "These statements go beyond satire and dark humor. These are serious statements that insult the sensitivities of every Christian and anyone who possesses values and mutual respect for other religions.

Last update - 16:52 22/02/2009

Five Palestinians found dead in Gaza-Egypt smuggling tunnel

By News Agencies

Tags: egypt, israel news, hamas

Gaza medics say five Palestinians have been found dead in a smuggling tunnel under the border with Egypt.

Health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said the men suffocated in the cramped, makeshift tunnel.

Local residents say they were smuggling food into the strip, which has been under a crippling blockade since the violent Hamas movement seized control there in 2007.

Hassanain said the men died Saturday, but were only found on Sunday.

The body of one man killed in the same incident was retrieved on Saturday

making a total of five.

Halting Gaza's smuggling is a key issue in negotiations for a stable truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The tunnels are used to smuggle food and consumer products, but also to run arms.

Egypt opens Gaza border crossing to students, medical patients

Egypt on Sunday opened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza to let students, third-country residents and medical patients stranded in the territory cross the usually closed frontier.

Spokesman Adel Zourab says Egypt has agreed to allow 500 students studying abroad and 500 others with valid residency permits for Egypt or other countries to pass through the border crossing Sunday. He says 800 medical cases will be allowed to cross on Monday.

Egypt sealed the border after Islamic Hamas militants seized control of Gaza in June 2007. It has occasionally opened the passage for limited periods.

European monitors on Sunday said they are ready to resume their assignment on the Gaza-Egypt border at a moment's notice, following an involuntary 20-month break, the head of the mission said.

In the past two weeks, 20 monitors returned to the region amid reports of

progress on a Palestinian power-sharing agreement and an Israel-Hamas prisoner swap - prerequisites for reopening the Gaza-Egypt border. For months, the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) had operated with a scaled-back staff of 18.

"We are waiting for all parties to agree," mission chief Col. Alain Faugeras said in an interview Friday.

The European monitors were deployed at the Rafah passenger terminal between Gaza and Egypt as part of a 2005 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority of moderate President Mahmoud Abbas. The monitors were to reassure Israel that weapons and militants wouldn't get into Gaza after its pullout from the territory in the fall of 2005.

Israel has kept its crossings with Gaza closed. Rafah is Gaza's main gateway to the outside world.

Last update - 12:48 22/02/2009

The racist's best friend

By Shahar Ilan

Tags: Meir Kahane, Baruch Marzel

Will it be possible to limit the activities of Knesset member-elect Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) if he takes racist, Kahanist positions?

When the 11th Knesset (1984-1988) tried to impose restrictions on on Ben-Ari's leader, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the High Court of Justice thwarted a large part of them. For example, the Knesset tried to prevent Kahane from submitting no-confidence motions on the grounds that he was a one-man faction. The High Court ruled that the Knesset was not entitled to deny a faction the right to try to topple the government. The Israel Broadcasting Authority decided to broadcast items about Kahane only when they had clear news value, to prevent him from using the airwaves for propaganda purposes. The High Court ruled that freedom of speech includes "freedom of racist speech."

Veteran Knesset members agree that it will be difficult to prevent the appointment of Baruch Marzel, who was secretary of Kahane's Kach faction in the Knesset, and Itamar Ben Gvir as Ben-Ari's parliamentary aides only because of their criminal records. Perhaps the Knesset officer will delay their permanent entry permits and authorization to park inside the building. An opinion from the security authorities, if there is one, could change the picture.

Former Knesset speaker MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud), who is considered a candidate for the position in the current Knesset as well, says: "If there is a reason that necessitates preventing the appointment of parliamentary aides, the Knesset speaker can exercise his authority."

What is unique to the Knesset is that everyone is within touching distance of everyone else, including the prime minister and top cabinet ministers. The Knesset guard is not particularly worried about Ben Gvir and Marzel, and believe that the two know how to walk the thin line. However, they are worried about their guests - Kahanists who do not know the thin line and are liable to rampage.

In 2005 Rivlin prohibited Davidi Hermlin, parliamentary aide to then-MK Naomi Blumenthal (Likud), from entering the building after Hermlin dyed his hair orange in solidarity with the struggle against the disengagement from Gaza. The Knesset argued that there is a prohibition in the building on demonstrations and provocations. Hermlin argued that this was a non-violent protest. The Labor Court ruled in Hermlin's favor.

Most of the conflicts in the past between Ben-Ari and the police had to do with visiting the Temple Mount. As a Knesset member, his entry into the Temple Mount compound will be more provocative. In the past the Knesset plenum decided to restrict the freedom of movement that afforded immunity to Kahane, but it is doubtful that the right-wing Knesset that was elected this time will repeat such a decision. If it does, it is doubtful that the High Court will uphold it.

This does not mean that a Knesset member's freedom of action is unlimited. The Knesset's regulations state that the presidium (the Knesset speaker and his deputies) "will not approve a law that is, in its opinion, racist in essence." This rule was established after Kahane submitted proposals for legislation that would establish that Arabs cannot be citizens of Israel and impose a prohibition on sexual relations between Jews and Arabs.

And what if harsh and even violent confrontations develop between Ben-Ari or Yisrael Beiteinu people and Arab Knesset members? The Knesset Ethics Committee has the authority to punish a Knesset member by banning him from sessions, and can also deny him the right to submit proposals for legislation for a defined period (but cannot limit his participation in votes). The outgoing Knesset Ethics Committee made little use of this authority. The next Knesset Ethics Committee can expect much harder work, and it is recommended that the next Knesset speaker appoints a tough committee.

Last update - 11:22 22/02/2009

German politicians, Jewish leaders slam Schroeder for Ahmadinejad meet

By Assaf Uni

Tags: Germany, Iran

German politicians and Jewish community representatives harshly criticized former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Saturday.

Schroeder, who is a senior manager at the Russian energy giant Gazprom, arrived in Tehran on Thursday for an unofficial four-day visit, facilitated by an Iranian doctor who heads a Hanover-based neurobiology research institute.

By meeting with Ahmadinejad, "Schroeder has harmed the image of the German government and of the whole of Germany," said Stephan Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Eckart von Klaeden, a senior official from the ruling party, the CDU, said the meeting with Schroeder "serves Ahmadinejad's election campaign well." Ahmadinejad will be running for office in June this year. The meeting drew criticism from the Greens party as well.

But on his visit, Schroeder himself criticized Ahmadinejad for casting doubt over the Holocaust, saying the slaughter of 6 million Jews by Nazis was a fact.

"The Holocaust is a historic fact, and there is no sense in denying this unparalleled crime," Schroeder told the Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Friday. "Iran needs to take responsibility and respect international rules, if it wants to be taken seriously as a regional power."

The former chancellor also called for opening direct talks between Tehran and U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.

Last update - 12:43 22/02/2009

Amira Hass / Gazans fear Fatah-Hamas split could sabotage Gaza reconstruction

By Amira Hass

Tags: Fatah, Hamas, Gaza

An apolitical group of community activists, businessmen and academics in the Gaza Strip is worried that Fatah-Hamas rivalries will undermine the Strip's reconstruction.

Both Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, have announced separate plans to repair the damages of last month's Israeli operation in Gaza. The new association plans to urge them to either form a joint leadership for the reconstruction effort or establish a steering committee comprised of "respected, professional and noncorrupt community representatives" to oversee the work.

An international conference to raise funds for the reconstruction will take place in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt early next month, and representatives of 80 countries are expected to attend. But the Palestinians will be represented only by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, as Hamas has not been invited. The Gaza activists fear that this will merely deepen the rift between the rival parties.

Several Arab countries that have pledged large sums for reconstruction have conditioned the donations on a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. For now, however, both the Fatah government in Ramallah and the Hamas government in Gaza have prepared their own plans and are demanding that international donors coordinate solely with them.

"The reconstruction of the Strip needs people from Gaza," noted one member of the new group, attorney Sharhabeil A-Za'im. "I can't think of anyone in Ramallah who could tell us what the reconstruction here should be."

He himself, like many other members of the group, has always been affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization, of which Fatah is the dominant faction. Hamas is not part of the PLO at all.

Another member of the group, economist Omar Sha'aban, termed it "a scandal that Ramallah has announced a Gaza reconstruction program without talking to us. The blood of the victims is still warm and the parties are already fighting over the [donated] money."

But the group realizes that Fatah-Hamas reconciliation alone is not enough for a successful reconstruction: A long-term truce with Israel and a reopening of Gaza's border crossings are also needed.

A-Za'im and Sha'aban, like many other members of the group, hope that the reconstruction effort can be leveraged into a tool for full-fledged reconciliation and formation of a Hamas-Fatah unity government. But even if this does not happen, they consider the steering committee they are proposing crucial to ensure that the reconstruction effort primarily serves the community rather than the government - for instance, that rebuilding houses and schools takes precedence over rebuilding government offices and prisons.

Last update - 14:41 22/02/2009

France to send envoy to Iran for nuclear talks

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies

Tags: Israel News, U.S., France

While the Obama administration formulates its policy toward Iran, France will soon dispatch a senior emissary to the Islamic Republic for talks with officials in Tehran.

Following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency indicating that Iran had amassed sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to produce an atomic bomb, Israel this past weekend called on the international community "to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran so that it will abandon its nuclear program."

The French official to be tapped by President Nicolas Sarkozy to meet with the Iranians is Gerard Araud, who holds the title of political and security director-general of the French foreign ministry. Araud has been France's point man in the six-power talks - which include the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - with Iran. Two years ago, he concluded a stint as Paris' ambassador to Israel.

Two weeks ago, Araud called on the U.S. to expedite the formulation of its policy of dialogue with Iran. Washington ought to take a "one-time shot" at talks with Iran, Araud said. Should those talks fail, the international community must impose a significantly harsher set of sanctions.

A diplomatic official in Jerusalem said the move represents a noteworthy shift given that Javier Solana, the European Union's top foreign policy official, has thus far been the front man in talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

"The French do not anticipate any extraordinary results from this visit," the diplomatic source said. "But they want to take part in preparing the groundwork for dialogue between the West and Iran."

Israel's ambassador to the U.S. on Friday called for the world to take "immediate and serious action" after a United Nations report revealed that Iran has acquired enough uranium for a nuclear bomb, Fox News reported on Friday.

"It's an extremely worrisome report. ... It emphasizes that with every day passing, Iran is getting closer to a nuclear military capacity," he said. "The world must take immediate and serious action in order to prevent this nightmare from happening," Meridor said.

Meridor did not describe what steps the international community should take, but said that "sanctions should be enhanced significantly" adding that "we are at a very, very serious and dangerous juncture to world peace."

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Oscars

February 19, 2009

Holocaust Movies: Winners and Losers

By Tom Teicholz

"The Reader"

Are Holocaust movies good for the Jews? Or even, for that matter, for society at large?

This year’s offerings include “Defiance,” a story of a group of Jews who were heroic resistance fighters; “The Reader,” a story of post-war revelation about a Nazi woman who beds down with a German boy; “Good,” about the moral compromises of a German university professor in the Nazi era; “Adam Resurrected,” based on Yoram Kaniuk’s novel about a demented Holocaust survivor living in Israel; “Valkyrie,” about the Nazi plot to murder Hitler; and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” about the friendship between a German officer’s son and a Jewish child in a concentration camp. The lineup even includes a horror movie, “The Unborn,” which features a Mengele-Auschwitz plot point. And then there’s Roberta Grossman’s documentary, “Blessed Is the Match,” about Hannah Senesh, which was on the early lists as an Oscar contender.

These Holocaust-related movies so crowded the end-of-year releases that at one point it seemed that on any given weekend you had to choose which Holocaust movie to see. However, come award season, with the exception of “The Reader,” most of them have faded — not only commercially, but also in terms of critical accolades and award nominations.

Why? Theories abound.

One issue is the quality of the films: For any movie to garner Oscar acclaim, it needs to transcend its subject matter by virtue of the pedigree of the filmmakers involved, as well as the acting, and it must feel triumphant; it needs to become a “must-see movie,” as did “Schindler’s List” and “The Pianist.” Among this year’s Holocaust-related offerings, only “The Reader” seems to have risen to both those challenges.

But right now, there’s also the anxiety of the economy, and audiences today are eager for stories of hope — whether in the candidates we elect for public office, the heroism of a pilot safely landing a plane in the Hudson River, a movie about a mall cop saving the day or, as concerns this year’s Oscars, a movie about an 18-year-old boy from the slums of Mumbai whose quest to be reunited with the girl he loves involves becoming a quiz show millionaire.

So, more Holocaust movies but fewer awards. So, will this year’s bountiful crop mean fewer Holocaust movies in the future? And if so, is that a bad thing?

In my travels in Hollywood, I have always heard how hard it is to make a film about the Holocaust. Some of the arguments have to do with cost — period movies are expensive — and there’s the matter of accents and foreign languages, not a big favorite among American audiences. Also, it is fair to ask: Who is the audience? Are Holocaust films going to attract teenagers (the largest segment of the viewing population)? Do they contain too much violence for women? Is the subject too sentimental or emotional for men? Will the films only appeal to Jewish audiences? Many Holocaust movies, made even after a great struggle, have not fared well at the box office. One very successful producer who made a Holocaust drama that failed vowed to me, “Never Again!” It was just too much work for so little return, he said. He decided to concentrate on more commercial fare.

Yet despite all this, many movies about the Holocaust era continue to be made, for myriad reasons, but most often because someone — an actor, a director, a financier — is passionate about a story, or because the story has the potential to become an “important” film (and is most often based on a best-selling and/or award-winning, attention-getting book).

I grew up one generation removed from the Holocaust, among survivors, and as a creative person, former movie development executive and still-aspiring film producer, I understand the irresistible pull of the most powerful story of our era. The pull of wanting to tell it, of feeling that there are important stories not yet told or fully understood, that there are still important truths that need to be stated. Everyone who has ever heard a Holocaust survivor speak knows that each story of murder or survival contains more nuance than any film will ever be able to do justice to — and yet each story clamors to be told to the widest audience possible.

My father, Bruce Teicholz, was, in fact, portrayed by name by the actor Ralph Arliss in the 1985 NBC miniseries, “Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story,” which starred Richard Chamberlain, and I confess that I rather enjoyed seeing him portrayed this way, as did my father, with whom I watched the show. My father enjoyed the attention, as well as the attention given to Wallenberg.

But herein lies the conflict: Films tell stories, and they can move and educate people and sometimes even change them. But the Holocaust is a reality and not a teaching story or an action adventure. The reasons a film does or does not work and the reasons we find it a credible rendering of some aspect of the Holocaust exist on separate tracks that of necessity must overlap to make a successful film.

And there’s the rub. Because good filmmaking is not about historical accuracy; it depends upon fakery and invention.

A movie, even a documentary, generally conforms to what audiences have come to know. A film has a certain length and a certain narrative structure. There are heroes and villains, often played by movie stars. There is conflict; there is drama; there are love stories; and there is often a point to be made. A work that “breaks the rules” still does so in the context of a set of expectations — and that format doesn’t by its nature fit the facts of the Holocaust.

For example, “Defiance” is about the Bielski Otriad, Jewish partisans who survived in the Byelorussian forest. It is a story that Edward Zwick, who wrote, directed and produced the film, and whose important historical work includes “Glory,” has wanted to tell for a long time. Clayton Frohman wrote the original script, based on the book by Nehema Tec, more than a decade ago.

Indeed, the story that Jews fought back, that Jews rescued Jews, that Jews served with the Red Army in fighting the Nazis deserves to be known; it demands to be part of our collective knowledge of the Holocaust, and it is all the more remarkable because of how the Bielskis created a society of their own in the forests of Byelorussia and were responsible for rescuing some 1,200 Jewish men, women and children.

The movie conveys these important facts, but it also casts the plot in terms of a conflict between the two older Bielski brothers, Zus and Tuviah, who differed philosophically on whether to fight and kill for revenge, or to resist and behave ethically. The film also tells the story in terms of sibling rivalry, ego and faith, through the brothers’ romances and their human weaknesses.

As a result, “Defiance” had moments when I became choked up by the heroic nature of what the partisans faced, but also many more moments when I was too conscious of the movie-making, such as in a “Godfather”-esque sequence that intercut between a Jewish wedding and a murderous attack on a Nazi stronghold. In the end, I felt I was watching a story and not immersing myself in history, and the personal dramas meant to engage me didn’t transcend the moviemaking. In the end, the movie is smaller, less important and less interesting than the story it attempts to tell.

“The Reader” presents a different dilemma. Its story takes place after the Holocaust, and the film uses Holocaust events to pose questions about guilt and shame, and how that damage, too, is part of the Holocaust story. Based on a novel by Bernhard Schlink, the film sets out to create a hall of mirrors in which secrets carry consequences and assumptions are constantly upended. In many ways, we are made to feel that the Holocaust-era events — as terrible as they were — are just one of many insolvable mysteries of human behavior. “The Reader” feels important and provocative in ways that could have garnered award attention — but it is only tangentially a Holocaust drama.

One of these movies, therefore, is about an important chapter of the Holocaust, but does not succeed; the other one succeeds, but is not really about the Holocaust — it only uses the Holocaust as a dialectical tool. Each disappoints in its own way.

Because the generation of Holocaust survivors will soon be gone, there is an urgency to tell these stories, particularly the innumerable personal tales that haven’t yet been told. At the same time, perhaps because the distance of time has diminished the number of actual witnesses among us, storytellers in all genres are now feeling more free to use the Holocaust as dramatic material in ways that have as much (if not more) to do with storytelling than accuracy. Moreover, the more we acknowledge that the totality of the Holocaust escapes interpretation, the more irresistible it becomes to explore the questions it poses as compelling drama.

Holocaust movies will always be hard to make, but no doubt there will always be creative artists with a passion to tell the stories that took place during the Holocaust.

Yet movies also get made because a financier, a star, a director, a successful writer (or any combination of those) is convinced that they can make at least some money doing so. And it is a reality that they become successes more often than not, not because a story is of historical impact, but because leads are attractive, or perhaps because the characters they play are flawed or heroic.

There always will be winners and losers among Holocaust films. Some may be memorable and may indeed have a large impact on how history is perceived. Nevertheless, we must also acknowledge that these films, by their very nature, are — like the shadows in Plato’s cave — mere projections, personalized recantations or reinventions of an epic series of events.

So, there cannot be a “good” Holocaust film, only a good film about Holocaust-related events.

Still, despite all this, should we be any less proud if one of these films wins an Oscar?

Last update - 20:15 21/02/2009

Ex-German chancellor tells Iranians 'Holocaust a fact'

By Reuters

Tags: Iran, Germany, Israel News

Visiting former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder criticized on Saturday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for casting doubt over the Holocaust, saying the slaughter of 6 million Jews by Nazis was a fact.

Since coming to power in 2005, Ahmadinejad has provoked international condemnation for saying the Holocaust was a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumor" in the Middle East.

"The Holocaust is a historic fact and there is no sense in denying this unparalleled crime," Schroeder told the Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

"Iran needs to take responsibility and respect international rules, if it wants to be taken seriously as a regional power."

Schroeder, due to meet Ahmadinejad in Tehran later on Saturday, also criticized the hardline leader for his views on Israel which Iran has refused to recognize since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Schroeder arrived in Tehran on Thursday for a four-day unofficial visit.

Ahmadinejad, who often rails against Israel and the West, said in January the subject of the Holocaust had been used to expand the international influence of the United States and Britain after World War Two.

Responding to Schroeder's remarks, the head of Iran's Chamber of Industry and Commerce Mohammad Nahavandian said it would be wrong to "measure the developments in the Middle East with two yardsticks".

"We shouldn't forget the recent massacre of people in the Gaza strip and should internationally condemn Israel for it," Nahavandian said.

He was referring to Israel's recent offensive against Hamas in Gaza, launched to end years of Palestinian rocket attacks. About 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the operation, according to Gaza officials. 13 Israelis were also killed in the hostilities.

Iran has repeatedly condemned the campaign, which Ahmadinejad has described as "genocide".

Israel, the United States and their European allies suspect Iran of trying to use its nuclear program to build an atomic bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity.