Prostitute

An edited version of this letter appeared today in the J'sam Post:

Dear Sir:
I was disgusted by the fact that Keren Yedaya, in the interview with her
published in your newspaper ("Outside the frame," Oct. 1, 2004), says that
she does not regret the words she spoke upon receiving the Camera D'or prize
at the Cannes Film Festival for her film "Or." She stated then that "I want
to dedicate this film from the bottom of my heart to all the people who are
not free, to those living in slavery...it's very difficult for me to say
this because I come from Israel and we are responsible for the slavery of
three million Palestinians.." Not only is this demonstrably ridiculous, but
most Palestinians are fighting to gain access to paid employment in Israel,
and the fact that they cannot is due to the wave of terrorism that they have
unleashed on innocent Israeli civilians, that she completely ignores.
There is something [so fundamentally sick,] perverted [and twisted] about an
Israeli woman spouting in a very public forum the words of Israel's enemies.
[This is a form of traitorous statement, a fundamental lie against her own
country.] She herself identifies the Palestinians with prostitution, I
wonder if they appreciate this. In effect she has prostituted herself for
their cause.
[I for one intend to boycott her movies, and I call upon all Zionists and
Israelis throughout the world to do so until she retracts this
propagandistic statement. One wonders if she was required to make a
statement like this in order to win this prize in France of all places,
since it is difficult to conceive that there was no degree of pre-planning
in such an inflammable comment.]
[She cannot hide behind the artist's naiveté about the real world of
politics, because she clearly has not changed her views upon reflection. I
suggest that] if she really wants to make a movie about slaves let her make
one about the plight of women in the Arab world, including the female
mutilation that is so endemic there.
Sincerely
Jack Cohen
Netanya