Posted on 12/27/2005 7:53:53 AM PST by Hildy
GAZA(Reuters) - The Palestinian mastermind of the Munich Olympics attack in which 11 Israeli athletes died said on Tuesday he had no regrets and that Steven Spielberg's new film about the incident would not deliver reconciliation.
The Hollywood director has called "Munich", which dramatizes the 1972 raid and Israel's reprisals against members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), his "prayer for peace".
Mohammed Daoud planned the Munich attack on behalf of PLO splinter group Black September, but did not take part and does not feature in the film.
He voiced outrage at not being consulted for the thriller and accused Spielberg of pandering to the Jewish state.
"If he really wanted to make it a prayer for peace he should have listened to both sides of the story and reflected reality, rather than serving the Zionist side alone," Daoud told Reuters by telephone from the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Daoud said he had not seen the film, which will only reach most screens outside the United States next month.
But he noted that Spielberg arranged previews in Israel, where some have accused "Munich" of lacking historical accuracy.
Several Israeli historians have also complained about what they see as a moral symmetry in the film between slain Olympians and the Palestinians assassinated by the Mossad spy service.
"Spielberg showed the movie to widows of the Israeli victims, but he neglected the families of Palestinian victims," said Daoud. "How many Palestinian civilians were killed before and after Munich?"
MOSSAD ASSASSINS
The Munich attack was "one of the pivotal moments of modern terrorism" he told Los Angeles Times in rare interview last week.
Daoud used different terms.
"We did not target Israeli civilians," he said.
"Some of them (the athletes) had taken part in wars and killed many Palestinians. Whether a pianist or an athlete, any Israeli is a soldier."
Spielberg's producer, Kathleen Kennedy, told a preview audience at Princeton University that a Palestinian consultant was used for "Munich". She did not say who it was.
"I do feel that we spent an enormous amount of time in discussion and put effort into exploring a fair and balanced look at the Palestinians that were involved in the story," she said, according to an official transcript of the event.
Historians noted that "Munich" presents Mossad assassins as having hunted 11 members of the PLO, while other accounts put the final Palestinian toll at as many as 18.
Daoud survived a 1981 shooting in Poland that he blamed on a Mossad mole in the rival Palestinian faction of Abu Nidal.
Though Israel allowed him to visit the occupied West Bank after 1993 peace accords, and Mossad veterans say the reprisals are over, Daoud said he feels he could still be targeted.
"When I chose a long time ago to be a revolutionary fighter I prepared to be a martyr. I am not afraid, because people's souls are in God's hands, not Israel's," he said.
A very.wise.decision.
There was one and only one redeeming element to that hideous work (Angels in America) and that was the convincingly degenerate performance by Al Pacino.
Who, after seeing it, I am convinced could make a pig fly.
Not that the series did, but Pacino was remarkable in it. The series was just.about.the.most.hideously.profane.thing I'd ever seen and I hope I never.ever. see it again.
Nor anything by Kushner...he's a corrupted individual.
You're so right about Pacino. He is incredible in anything he is in. He made me sit through two of the worst movies I've ever seen: DEVIL'S ADVOCATE and TWO FOR THE MONEY. And even Pacino couldn't get me to see Angels in America. I'm sure he was great. The best actor of our generation, bar none.
You're so right about Pacino. He is incredible in anything he is in. He made me sit through two of the worst movies I've ever seen: DEVIL'S ADVOCATE and TWO FOR THE MONEY. And even Pacino couldn't get me to see Angels in America. I'm sure he was great. The best actor of our generation, bar none.
LOL. Everyone thinks he's a producer.
he [Spielberg] needs to get out more beyond that Hollywood self congragulating clique
When he does get out it's usually to a place like .....Cuba.
His attempt at appeasement resulted in a film which satisfies nobody. Better that he took a stand.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
The Revelation of Saint John the Devine 3:15
Tony Kushner is a sad Jewish gay clown who has edited anti Israel anthologies and makes AIDS movies and plays. Steve Spielberg is going for his legacy now and wanted to make a serious movie about terrorism and I suppose anti Jewish terrorism. Tony Kushner is the last person you have write a screenplay if you are serious. Kushner plys his trade in the liberal echo chamber of New York City
SPIELBERG - YOU BLEW IT!!
"so Mohammed didn't target Israeli civilians because there's no such thing as Israeli civilians"
Even Jewish children are fair game because they may grow up to be soldiers. Pali logic is staggering.
...an obfuscation piece by Reuters. If we confuse and equate everything, everything will be equal and fair. Then there will be peace. Yeah, right.
lol....perfect.
Did you notice the backdrop to the credits at the end of the film?
Didn't see the film, don't intend to. What was the backdrop?
The twin towers.
I'm not bothering to see any more Spielberg movies
Pathetic to see a Liberal pray with 'eyes wide shut'. . .but sadly, arrogantly. . .typical. . .but worse, in Steven's case. . .praying this big, is just so very Hollywood.
Did you walk out?
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