Pourquoi Israël
- Birger Shmuel: he himself
- Granach Gad: he himself
Why Israel ( original title: Pourquoi Israël ) is a documentary of the French Jewish director Claude Lanzmann from the year 1973.
Action
25 years after the founding of Israel represents Lanzmann reasons for its necessity from the Jewish point of view dar. Although he wants to leave the reasoning of view of other religions and populations whose members themselves, Why should Israel be understood not as one-sided propaganda film. Even Palestinians or members of the PLO to come in the film itself, not to speak. Instead, among other emigrants from Germany, Tzabarim and Sephardim were interviewed. With the interlocutors are people of different embossing and intellectuals, policemen, Docker or prison inmates.
Background
Why Israel - the first film Lanzmann's - was formed in 1972, after he had years earlier tried unsuccessfully abzuhandeln the topic of writing. The premiere took place just three days after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 at the New York Film Festival instead.
25 October 2009 violent intervention " anti-imperialist " left radical groups prevented a performance of the documentation in the B-movie cinema in Hamburg's St. Pauli district. For the activists, it was primarily to members of the International Centre grouping B5. Lanzmann said he was " shocked "; this is the first time that the performance of one of his films was prevented. The action of the left reminded him of the blockade " verjudeter " films by the Nazis. " They call it anti-Zionism, but it is anti-Semitism. " In addition to the distribution of leaflets, allegedly insulted visitors of the film with the words " You Jews pigs," according to the testimony of a witness, but this was disputed by others. The organizers of cinema spoke of " intolerable abuse ". They themselves were threatened by force and three of the guests were injured with fists.
The demonstration was after numerous protests that regarded the incident as anti-Semitic, 13 December 2009 at the same location, this time under the supervision of a police force, made up. About 200 pro-Israel and anti- German Left also demonstrated against " anti-Semitic film censorship in Hamburg" with the slogan " Anti-Semitic bat impossible. Also left. "