Jewish history in the making, which way will it go? To the arms of the lobby, or the humanists? From JWeekly in the Bay Area:
Of the 37 films with ties to Israel in this year’s San Francisco
Jewish Film Festival, one in particular has several prominent local
Jewish leaders and activists outraged.
On July 25 and Aug. 4, the SFJFF will show “Rachel,” a documentary that
explores the controversial death of American peace activist Rachel
Corrie at age 23. Festival organizers invited Corrie’s mother, Cindy,
to a Q&A session following the July 25 screening…
"The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival made a serious error in
judgment in inviting Mrs. Corrie to the festival," Israel Consul
General Akiva Tor said via e-mail. "She is a propagandist who is immune
from responsibility for the causes she supports because it was her
daughter, Rachel, who was accidentally killed."So her staged presence becomes a kind of emotional grandstanding, rather than pursuit of a deeper insight."
P.S. Cindy Corrie, whom I've had the privilege of meeting a few times, is a great American and mother. She went to Capitol Hill in the weeks before her daughter's murder to try and change American policy so as to make her daughter safer. She was tentative then. Today, enlarged by her suffering, she has provided all of us who care about human rights an inspiring example of humanity extended across borders. And always with that quiet calm voice of hers.
Kudos to Peter Stein of the Jewish film festival, and AFSC, and Jewish Voice for Peace, for bringing Corrie to the Bay Area.
