THE SETTLERS
Bond/360
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya
Grade: A-
Director: Shimon Dotan
Written by: Shimon Dotan, Oron Adar
Cast: Moshe Halbertal, Moshe Levinger, Talia Sasson, Raja Shehadeh, Sarah Nachshon, Yehuda Etzion, Hanamel Dorfman
Screened at: Critics’ DVD, NYC, 2/16/17
Opens: March 3, 2017
For the sake of argument, let’s forget about the Jewish gangsters of the Depression era, notably Meyer Lansky and Arnold Rothstein—the latter dramatized as Nathan Detroit in “Guys and Dolls.” Since 1940, I would guess that most people never associated American Jews with gangsters. If you were brought up Jewish about the middle of the last century in Brooklyn, or for that matter Miami Beach or Los Angeles, you would associate Judaism with ambition, hard work, a love for education and books, and professions like medicine, law and teaching. There’s quite a difference, though, between American Jews and fellow members of the tribe in Israel. For the most part, Israeli Jews are fighters and not only that, they had built a country, working with their hands for Pete’s sake, making the desert bloom beginning with the great migrations from 1880’s. To be as direct as possible, Israeli Jews and American Jews share a kinship but their roots and character are distinct.
When Israel became a state in 1948, Jews around the world cheered. This was a country to be proud of, a place where Jews could be a majority in their own home and would welcome others of the faith around the world fleeing from persecution or simply up to making a change. In 1967, Israel won what I would consider a Pyrrhic victory over the invading armies of five Arab countries. Having won that war in six days, Israel expanded its boundaries to include all of Jerusalem, Sinai, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank. Why Pyrrhic? Because in the outside world, even in the U.S., politicians and ordinary people have been condemning “the settlements.” Entire Jewish towns grew up in the conquered lands. Buildings were constructed even right in the heart of Hebron, heretofore an Arab town, the structures populated by two major groups. One would be ultra-religious Jews who took literally the passage in the First Book of the Old Testament, “And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the Land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” The second group are Jews who are not necessarily religious but who crave wide open spaces for their large families, and far more affordable housing than they could get in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
Therein lies a dilemma, because the lands of Gaza and the West Bank are claimed en toto by Arabs who look upon Jews as interlopers, reflecting the European colonialists who humiliated them for several generations. The conflict between Jews and Arabs, not only in the settlements but in some areas all of Israel Proper, has encouraged U.S presidents to try to make peace between them. Though Gaza was evacuated, up to 500,000 Jews remain in the West Bank and, should a peace settlement require them to move, there could be a civil war between the settlers and the IDF, the army.
That’s where Shimon Dotan’s documentary comes in. The Romanian-born director, whose 2006 award-winning documentary “Hot House” warns that Israeli prisons are breeding grounds for a whole generation of Palestinian terrorists, sounds like a man who is at least left of center, yet while we expect him to tilt the arguments in “The Settlers” in favor of a Jewish exodus from outside the 1967 lines, he does not commit himself, and in fact gives the title characters all the time they need to defend their position. He illustrates that the settlements a) are the birthplaces of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and therefore meant for Jewish families; b) are cheap land; c) form a defensive barrier, a buffer zone between Arab countries, Palestinian opponents, and Israel proper. If Dotan intends for his film to garner strong reactions, those reactions would probably come principally from the huge majorities of the world who are against the Israeli expansion.
Behind the lenses, Philippe Ballaiche captures in brilliant color and black-and-white archival celluloid the barren scenery of the area with its rugged mountains and the red-roofed houses preferred by the Jewish settlers which, he believes, “do not fit into the landscape.” Amid that background he interviews mostly long-bearded Jews who are living in the area, without trying to balance their interpretations with enough Arab opposing arguments. Now, they say that if you put two Jews in a room, they will have three different opinions. Some of the Jewish subjects disagree even on whether the term “settler” is neutral or hostile. The more convincing folks say that the term is a pejorative because it means squatting on land that is not their own, while they defend their commitment by remarking that the Arab lands was bought by Jews and besides, the Bible justifies their residence.
There are two settlers whose comments will raise hackles and would tempt most American Jews (who are progressive in politics) to wish that they were left on the cutting room floor. One declares proudly that he is a racist. He has no use for Arabs anywhere near his housing. Another proclaims that even if the Jews wind up controlling all the land from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, he would favor pushing on and on—which unfortunately gives credence to the anti-Semites who say that there is a Jewish conspiracy to control the world.
Major events are hit upon. Rabin, who spoke against settlements, is assassinated by a fellow Jew, a right-winger who commits the first and only incident of its kind in Israeli history. Baruch Goldstein in a cowardly act executes twenty-nine Muslims in a mosque while they are praying. Gaza settlements are leveled and evacuated while Jewish settlers, losing their homes, question why Jews are forcing Jews out of their homes. Evangelical Protestants are strong supporters of a Jewish state including settlements, believing that when Jews have their own homeland, the Messiah will return. (Don’t wait up.) One such person, living in an outpost beyond the traditional settlements area, likes the Spartan life and confesses to being not religious (his family had converted from Protestantism to the liberal sect of Unitarianism). Another settler is living in a yurt as though she had visited Mongolia and liked the way they live, but the real reason is that it would be easy to pack up and leave if the Israeli army evacuates the area.
This brings us to date, beyond the time period covered by the documentary, as “Bibi” Netanyahu, visiting President Donald Trump on February 15, 2017, draws wide smiles from the Israeli Prime Minister when he did not insist on a two-state solution. “Whatever you like,” a surprisingly laissez-faire Trump states, meaning whatever floats the boat of Arabs and Jews.
While granting that the settlements have drawn opposition around the world, represented by a UN General Assembly vote recently condemning the policy, it has also brought anti-Semites out of the woodwork, using this as an excuse to be Jew-haters. People like these Neanderthals do not really believe that 1967, when settlements were created, is the real problem. The real problem to them and to most of the Arab world, is 1948, when Jews got a homeland in what was then called Palestine. They call that event, not so much the idea of settlements, to be the Naqba or disaster.
What about entertainment value, since no film can be highly praised simply because it educates us? Yes indeed, with a sharp script by Oron Adar and the director, steady and intriguing camerawork from Philippe Bellaiche, precise editing by Oron Adar and a non-intrusive music background from Ray Fabi, “The Settlers” did not really need much in the way of animation and special effects, though what we get from Macguff/Small especially is a final shot of a map of Greater Israel looked at from different perspectives.
Sometimes a documentary will bog down with talking heads. In this case, if you have a special interest in the subject, you will be riveted by some of the commentary, both fierce and simply exploratory. If you get your news from CNN, you will already be educated about the politics, despite what Trump says about that cable news channel. If you get your news from soundbites, this will be an eye-opener. Take a look and see whether this reinforces your view of the controversial issue or subverts them. You won’t be sorry.
Unrated. 110 minutes. © Harvey Karten, Member of New York Film Critics Online
Story – A-
Acting – B+
Technical – A-
Overall – A-
