The Militant - July 20, 2009 -- Letters

Vol. 73/No. 27 July 20, 2009

Letters

‘Waltz with Bashir’
As an Israeli Jew who is involved in the small (very small) movement to solidarize with Palestinians, I’d like to offer a few words of rebuttal to your recent article about the movie Waltz with Bashir (see May 11 Militant).

People here in the Palestinian-solidarity movement appreciate many aspects of this film, but we’re not happy with a certain smug self-satisfaction that it conveys: “We Israelis are very humane, and even when we’re compelled to do terrible things, at least we reflect upon it and feel some grief.”

You state: “The film … shows the real potential to win over sections of Israeli working people, intellectuals, and artists to the side of the Palestinian toilers.” You seem to see Palestinians as working away in sweatshops and so on. In reality, most Palestinians (in the occupied territories) are not “workers,” but part of the large segment of humanity that lives on the very edges of survival, and who often work in the informal economy. As a fellow Socialist, you need to update your analysis.

Yuval Adom
West Jerusalem, Israel

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