This is an excerpt (09:50) from a documentary produced by Martin Himel, which tells the story of Israeli soldiers who fought in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank as part of Operation Defensive Shield. In an effort to root out terrorists during the Second Intifada, the IDF entered the refugee camp, where they were met by Palestinian militants who had booby trapped the camp. While Palestinian and foreign media sources initially referred to the incident as a massacre, genocide and human rights atrocity, reporting more than 500 dead, the final UN investigation confirmed between 52 and 54 Palestinian deaths, over half of whom were militants, along with 23 IDF soldiers. Through interviews and video footage from both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters, the documentary explores the challenges of urban warfare, difficult strategic decisions made by the IDF, and the bias of foreign media. The documentary focuses on Jonathan van Caspel, an IDF soldier who seeks to reveal the truth about what happened in Jenin in the name of his 13 friends who were killed in the battle. To see the entire documentary (47 minutes), click here.
We take Jonathan to London to meet some of the journalists and Human Rights activists who had written the massacre stories on Jenin. What Jonathan encounters is truly shocking. He is faced with bigotry, hostility, and a blatant double standard of ethics as well as closed-minded attitudes to perpetuate the Massacre Myth.
This myth guides attitudes reflected in EU polls, which showed 60% of Europeans believe that Israel is the number one threat to world stability, outstripping Iran, Bin Laden, Noth Korea and Saddam’s Iraq.