Criticism of Israel | Documentary »Naza«: Hit the mark

At the 83rd Venice Film Festival, directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor were awarded a Special Jury Prize for their documentary film “Naza”. The Israeli government now wants to revoke their citizenship. Photo: AFP/Stefano Rallandini Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor have obviously touched a nerve. The fact that the Israeli government wants to revoke their citizenship shows, above all, that doubts about Israel's conduct of the war are not allowed. Anyone who reacts to a documentary with such a radical punitive measure obviously wants to silence all criticism. From this one can only conclude that the two filmmakers hit the mark - mind you, Israeli citizens of Jewish faith and not some "anti-Semitic Israel-haters of Arab origin" that the Israeli government likes to defame.

In Israeli politics, there has long been no distinction between the government and the opposition when it comes to Gaza. The war is supported and justified by all political camps. Where is this oh-so-open society in moments when criticism comes from within its own ranks, from its own citizens? The country has been living in a permanent state of war for a long time. A film like "Naza" is quickly seen as a stab in the back of one's own army, as a threatening defeatism that one cannot afford in view of the supposedly permanent threat.

Based on statements from military personnel who speak anonymously, »Naza« reveals the brutality of Israel's warfare: indiscriminate killings of civilians, the destruction of residential buildings, the use of artificial intelligence with the aim of more efficiently extinguishing human life. In short, he shows the human abyss of soldierly action and obedience from which most Israeli soldiers are unable to escape: “My role is technical in nature; “There is no moral position,” replies one of the military personnel in the film. Israel's government seems to take the position that a moral position is even undesirable. And the two directors should now feel this.

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