Recently I attended the Los Angeles premiere
of a new documentary called Body
and Soul: The State of the Jewish Nation. British journalist and political commentator Melanie Phillips, perhaps
best-known to FrontPage readers for her book Londonistan, was on hand to deliver her remarks; she praised the
documentary as an important step in educating audiences about Israel and the
Jewish connection to it, and an important step in pushing back against the relentless
disinformation and lies that are like a contemporary plague on the land of the
Jews.
Body
and Soul was produced and
directed by Gloria Z. Greenfield, who was present at the premiere to introduce
the film. Ms. Greenfield, whose previous work includes The Case for Israel –
Democracy’s Outpost in 2008 and Unmasked Judeophobia in 2011,
is the president of Doc Emet Productions, the motto of which is, fittingly,
“Truth in film.”
At just over an hour in length, Body and Soul attempts an ambitious
scope, sweeping over thousands of years of Jewish history in the land of Israel
and across the Middle East, Europe, and Russia. It capably covers Biblical
history, the origins of Zionism, the Holocaust, the Six-Day War, the creation
of the modern state of Israel... pretty much every major historical era and
high (or low) point of the Jewish people.
I was glad to see that the film did not
overlook the important contribution of Vladimir Jabotinsky, the Jewish thinker
and warrior who emphasized that it was not enough to win the intellectual
argument for Jews and Israel; it was also necessary that Jews learn to shoot,
to defend themselves, and to be prepared to fight for their place in the world.
His message is one that each new generation of Jews must take to heart – and
that’s certainly true today in a climate of resurgent anti-Semitism and
Israel-hatred.
The film features such notable, articulate
commentators as Bret Stephens, Victor Davis Hanson, and Alan Dershowitz, as
well as nearly three dozen other academics and experts in political science,
archaeology, international law, and media (among them Prof. Robert Wistrich of
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a leading scholar of the history of anti-Semitism,
who passed away mere weeks after the film’s premiere). Together they assert the
undeniable case for an historical connection between the Jewish people and the land
of Israel, from at least 3000 years ago to our own time. “Jewish identity is
born in a journey to the land of Israel,” begins Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, “and
ever since, to be a Jew has been to be on a journey to the Promised Land.”
Body
and Soul also addresses the
current media distortions, propaganda, and lies about Israel and the Jews, that
have come to dominate public opinion about Israel thanks to the assiduous work
of Israel’s enemies and a complicit news media. The commentators discuss, to
name two examples, Yasser Arafat’s efforts to delegitimize Jewish links to the
land of Israel, and Palestinian attempts to fabricate a history for themselves
in that land which denies any Jewish connection, such as claiming Jesus for
themselves as a Palestinian Muslim.
“The violent means [of extinguishing Israel]
have failed – wars, military invasions, terrorism,” says former Knesset member
Einat Wilf. “What we are witnessing is an intellectual assault on Zionism,
which is not new but in many ways, I think, is unprecedented in how fierce it
is.” Harvard’s Ruth Wisse concurs: The Jews of Israel “have done well on the
military front, but how well have they done on the ideological front? How well
have they done on the propaganda, on the diplomacy front? Very badly, because
they’re fighting with their hands tied behind their backs.”
Historian Victor Davis Hanson speaks on the
complicity of academics in assisting the fabrication of a Palestinian people
and the delegitimization of Jewish history. Political pundit Bret Stephens
discusses how the delegitimization efforts are at least as dangerous as the
Iranian bid for nuclear weapons because those efforts have created the
conditions in which Iran’s acquisition of those weapons is seen as “somehow
acceptable.”
What must be done? “You have to change the
popular culture,” Hanson noted. “You have to object, and object vehemently,
when you see people distorting history.” Similarly, Ruth Wisse closes the film by
asserting that Israel must do what it did in 1948: every hour of every day, “demand
the right to be respected.”
“We can’t sacrifice who we are on the altar
of political correctness,” declares Canadian Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler:
And if we speak directly, and if we speak in terms of who we are and
where we’ve come from, what we aspire to be, then I think we will make a
contribution not only that understanding internationally of who we are, but in
affirming who we are, begin to give expression to it.
Because it never draws attention to itself, I
must note that Body and Soul’s soundtrack
is outstanding. Composed by the excellent Sharon Farber, an Israeli born film,
television and concert music composer who has been twice nominated for an Emmy,
the score is moody and subtle but powerful, and never overwhelms the film or
its speakers.
The downsides: as much ground as the
documentary covers, there is so much more to be said – an impossible amount, in
fact – that Body and Soul’s length is
inevitably inadequate, although it serves as an enlightening overview of
digestible size. And as educational and professionally produced as the
documentary is, the disappointing reality is that the people who most need to
see this film and take its message to heart are the ones most resistant to
facts and to truth, particularly where Israel is concerned.
But if enough supporters of Israel find
opportunities to share Body and Soul
with less informed friends and acquaintances; if, against all odds, it finds
its way into high schools and colleges; if the supporters of the Jewish people
take direct action to spread the truth and counter the lies, then perhaps
enough eyes will be opened to begin to make a difference.
(This article originally appeared here on FrontPage Mag, 6/2/15)
