Yoav Shamirs film Defamation asks the question: What is Anti-Semitism Today? To answer this he contacts the ADL and with Abraham Foxmans blessing and in hes capacity of being a Jew he gets an honest and in-depth view of the inner makings of the holocaust industry. He also follows a class of school children in what only can be described as a pilgrimage to Poland where they among other places visits Auschwitz. Before and during this trip one gets to witness how the teens are prepared and convinced that they are targets of a completely irrational hatred to this day in Poland just for the fact that they are Jewish. We can see how this artificially created reality manifest it self when two of the Jewish girls talk to an old Polish man and become convinced that the man are insulting them with anti-semitic slurs. Shamir also talks to Norman Finkelstein witch gives at times a very humoristic interview especially hes view of Abe Foxman but he also have many interesting view points about Jewishness in the modern world and states the original definition of anti-semitism (an irrational hate of Jews solely because they are Jews) and denounces the neo definition of "new anti-semitism" witch could be described as: all and any criticism of Israel and/or Jewish interests.
This movie is a very honest and at the same time humiliating depiction of the so called international struggle against anti-semitism as it shows how inherited guilt is used as a tool of extortion in a very deliberate and cynical way to promote Jewish interests as well as personal gain. Simultaneously it creates a strong identity in the perceived victimization of the Jews them selves witch could be a plausible explanation for much of the fanatical, aggressive and completely uncritical support for Israel and what is perceived as Jewish interests. A very interesting detail is how this cult of victimization is creating an almost reflexive belittling of other groups suffering and justifies any type of infraction in the furtherance of Israel and Jewish interests as a form of preemptive necessity. In short, this is a fantastic film not only because it deconstructs the so called "new anti-semitism" but primarily because it gives an insight in the Jewish psyche.
Defamation
http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=7208
http://www.defamation-thefilm.eu/html/home_english.html
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