Original subtitles

(playful orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] You know what I'm making the film about?

- No.

- [Voiceover] About anti-Semitism.

- Anti-Semitism? What's that mean?

- [Voiceover] It means when people hate the Jewish people.

- No way, man.

Jewish people control the world.

- [Voiceover] Yeah?

- Of course.

(playful orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] Being an Israeli Jew,

I have never experienced anti-Semitism myself.

But it's a phrase that always seems to be in the air.

Three words seem to appear over and over again.

"Holocaust," "Nazi," "anti-Semitism."

Living in a country that was founded

to give the Jewish people a safe place to live in,

I found this really disturbing.

So I decided I wanted to learn more about the subject.

- Ladies and gentlemen.

- [Voiceover] This is Abe Foxman,

the head and face of the Anti-Defamation League.

- I have been...

lucky to have survived, by miracle, the Shoah.

- Very nice speech, very good.

- [Voiceover] The ADL is the biggest organization

in the world fighting anti-Semitism,

with a budget of over $70,000,000 a year.

Abe Foxman has become the symbol

of the fight against anti-Semitism in the world today.

I thought he might be able to open some doors for me.

- Have a cup of coffee.

- [Voiceover] So I asked him to help me out on my film.

Abe Foxman was very welcoming.

I think he liked the idea of an Israeli filmmaker

taking an interest in anti-Semitism.

And he agreed to give me

unprecedented acces to his organization,

which has its headquarters in Manhattan.

- He's doing a film,

which I still don't understand what it is,

but, but we said, "Yes, yes, and yes."

And you're on the record.

- Got it.

- Okay. - I'll be good.

- Okay, he's not gonna hurt us.

- Great. - On the other hand,

he's a good journalist, okay?

- I'll take care of him. - He wants to get,

you know, good stuff.

- [Voiceover] Foxman introduced me

to some of the senior staff at the headquarters.

- Here, you can talk to him, too.

- [Voiceover] Would you say the ADL is like the biggest

Jewish organization dealing with anti-Semitism?

- Oh yes, yes, in the world.

Yeah, there's no question about that.

Yeah, certainly in the United States,

but I would say in the world.

We have all of our 27 offices all over the country

with their ears to the railroad tracks.

It starts with an insult, a denigrating statement,

and, at the very top, what it is,

what you have is genocide.

And in-between is every bad thing

that can happen to somebody.

(playful orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] This is my grandmother.

She's over 90 years old, and she lives in Jerusalem.

I decided to tell her about the film I am making.

- [Voiceover] Her family immigrated from Russia

in the 19th century because of the strong Zionist ideology.

The first Zionists came to Israel,

or Palestine as it was then,

because they thought it was the only solution

to anti-Semitism.

(quiet orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] Tens of thousands of Israeli

high school students fly to Poland each year

to learn first hand about the Holocaust,

the worst genocide in human history

and the most terrible result of anti-Semitism.

When I was in high school in the late '80s,

there were less than 500 kids going on this trip

in the whole country.

Today, there are more than 30,000.

I decided to join them on their journey,

and their initial preparation,

which takes place in Yad Vashem.

- [Voiceover] The kids are going through

a longer preparation for the trip to Poland.

The school counselor is in charge

of their mental preparation.

Yedioth Ahronoth is the most popular

and influential newspaper in Israel.

I'm curious about the people

behind the reports of anti-Semitism

I read on a daily basis.

- [Voiceover] Now he's over 80 years old,

and he's making sure that the future generation of reporters

will be just as committed as he is.

- [Voiceover] The headline in the Israeli paper

was quite worrying.

I wanted to see how the Anti-Defamation League

actually fights anti-Semitism.

- Where the hell is he?

Where is everybody?

Where's the secretary?

- [Voiceover] They're coming in now, Abe.

- [Abe] Thank you.

They're gonna come in.

Thank you.

- Hello.

- [Voiceover] Hello.

- [Abe] Have a seat and say hello, introduce yourself.

- Yeah, Joel Levi.

- [Voiceover] Hello. Yoav.

- Yoav, very nice to meet you.

Lemme give you a card.

- [Voiceover] Thank you.

- No?

- [Abe] You don't have to button your--

- Why not?

- This is a working session.

- [Voiceover] Okay, so it's a working session.

- So, the reason I asked to sit with both of you is...

what looks like a spike

in anti-Semitic and racist...

activities or manifestations.

Now, New York seems to be at the center,

or at least getting the attention.

Where do you see it, how do you see it?

- Well, I've had a lot of meetings

with the police department,

and, last week, with the mayor, to talk about this.

There is a wave, there's no question about it.

- I don't know if it's attached to the time of the year.

It may be attached to the presidential election.

I'm not quite sure why we're seeing it here.

- [Voiceover] Do you have enough resources

to deal with all the stuff?

- No, no, no, no, no.

We're flooded everyday with these things,

all over the country.

It's a very big problem.

- [Voiceover] According to the ADL reports

from the last couple of years,

the average numbers of anti-Semitic incidents in the US

is around 1,500 a year.

I'm hoping Joel Levi can help me find a case

I'll be able to follow.

What I'd like to do is to follow a case.

- I understand, yeah.

- [Voiceover] 'Cause, you know, every film is like a drive.

Once we have like a case we can follow,

so that would be great.

We're going over the fresh data

collected over the last couple of weeks

to see if there's anything I will be able to film.

- We have received, in the last week or so...

someone who (clears throat), employment case.

Someone who didn't, wasn't able to take days off

for the holiday.

Um, someone who,

um, is a school teacher

and wanted days off for Shavuot.

Someone who is a nursing student

and had some issues with taking time off,

as well as, with taking time off.

We also got a phone call from someone

who was complaining about a website

that had anti-Semitic remarks on it.

Uh, someone who's complaining

about an article in the newspaper,

who they thought had anti-Semitic undertones.

And, and that seems to be the round-up--

- And that's what we've had in the last two weeks.

Those are the kinds of incidents

that we've had recently.

Five in two weeks.

So there's no way to predict.

- [Voiceover] There wasn't anything suitable

from the last two weeks.

So Joel Levi tries to help me to find a case.

- What we're looking for is an incident

that they might be able,

and they will do all the contact work,

but an incident they might be able to follow,

to actually see something that has happened,

to go to the site, talk to people there,

to show what has happened,

the impact on them,

how we interact with all of that, and so on.

- [Voiceover] Assemblyman Hikind

has a lot of Jewish voters in Brooklyn,

and he suggested a case for me.

(playful orchestral music)

- You know, I had a very interesting case...

just last week.

A woman went to a funeral

not too far from here,

thousands of people,

and she heard a police officer on the phone

say something to someone else,

something very derogatory about the "Jew something,"

to somebody.

This woman was at the funeral, she heard this.

She was so upset, she wrote me a letter.

I can show you the letter.

And she called me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, is this the only letter?

Yeah, okay.

You want me to read part of it to you?

Actually, you could look at it.

"I overheard a very disturbing conversation

"that a policeman had on his cell phone.

"I heard him say, very loudly,

"I wasn't even standing close to him,

"quote, I'm just finishing this Jewish shit.

"Sorry for using this kind of language,

"but this is the exact quote.

"I was so offended by the vulgar language,

"which is never appropriate," et cetera.

And she goes on.

I made the police officer call the woman.

He apologized on the telephone.

- [Voiceover] Hikind thought it was a good case,

but the police wouldn't let the officer go on camera,

and the Jewish woman seemed to be satisfied

that the policeman had apologized.

I realized that it might take some time

to find a suitable case to film.

And the kids had just finished their preparations,

so I had to join them and fly to Poland.

(kids cheering)

- [Voiceover] The man with the blacked-out eyes

is an Israeli Secret Service agent,

whose identity we are not allowed to reveal.

- [Voiceover] Travelling around Poland today,

it's hard to imagine what it must have looked like

over 60 years ago.

But the guides help the kids to visualize

and feel how it was under the Nazi regime.

(kids laughing)

- [Man in blue] Go to your rooms right now!

Right now, go to your rooms.

Right now.

- [Girl running toward camera] Go to your room.

- [Man in blue] What's happened here?

What are you doing?

Excuse me, this is not a night club,

we have some other guests here.

I know that they are kids,

but you have to understand us,

we have some other guests here.

They're coming down,

and they are saying, "We won't pay for it."

- [Voiceover] Although the days

in the Poland trip are long and exhausting,

the kids still have a lot of energy

when they get back to the hotel.

- [Manager] Close the door. - [Man in black] Quiet, okay?

- [Manager] (speaks foreign language) Close the window.

Close the window and stay in your room, okay?

- [Voiceover] As the kids were facing

anti-Semitism in Poland,

or at least feeling that they were,

a case was reported in Brooklyn

that seemed suitable for the film.

(kids singing an anthem)

According to the report,

a B'nos Mernachem shiva school bus,

full of young children,

had been pelted with stones

as it was making its rounds dropping off children.

One of the stones had crashed through a window,

where one of the children was sleeping,

and landed in the aisle between the seats.

A second stone broke a window

and barely missed two other children.

Two mothers witnessed the incident

and gave descriptions of a group of black youths,

between the ages of 10 and 12.

- [Voiceover] So were you scared?

- Huh?

- [Voiceover] Were you scared? - I was worried for the kids.

I was worried for the kids more than for me.

- [Voiceover] But all of a sudden you heard

like a big noise, how was it?

- Big noise in two windows.

- [Voiceover] The back?

- The middle on the side.

- [Voiceover] And the kids started to shout or what?

No, they were quiet?

- They were sleeping.

They're three year old, they're sleeping on the bus.

- [Voiceover] Was going back from school?

Crazy, huh?

(jazzy piano music)

Crown Heights is a mixed neighborhood of Jews and blacks.

In 1991, there was a lot of tension

between the two communities,

leading to the Crown Heights riots,

which went on for three days,

and resulted in many casualties.

This is Benjamin Litschitz,

the local reporter in Crown Heights.

Maybe put your arms like, uh, you know?

- Hold it?

- [Voiceover] Yeah.

- I'm not a poster boy.

- [Voiceover] He was the first to report the incident.

- I'm not a big strong guy.

See, like, where the rocks went into the bus over there?

- [Voiceover] Wait, wait, can you go back to that?

Most of the like, of the crimes in Crown Heights

are targeted at Jews?

- It's always been known throughout the course of history,

Jews are soft targets.

We've been the victims of so many,

so many...

major incidents, genocides, and catastrophes,

and holocausts, and everything.

It's just the way we are.

We've always been victimized.

When a black guy sees two people walkin' on a street,

a black person and a Jewish person,

his choice to attack someone will not be a black person.

'Cause a black person, you never know.

What is that guy?

Does he carry a knife, does he carry a gun?

A Jew is a soft target.

It's always been known like that.

Which is why we always encourage to walk in pairs.

Which is why we always.

We don't walk so much outside,

like at night, so to speak, alone.

It's a.

- [Voiceover] I thought I should speak

with some of the blacks in the neighborhood,

to see what they feel about anti-Semitism.

I mean, like, we interviewed this guy,

and he told us it is gonna be like

a Jewish guy and a black guy walking the street,

and, you know, somebody wants to rob,

they will go for, like, the Jewish guy 'cause

like he's an easier target. - They're not gonna go

for the Jewish guy. - Actually no, he's wrong.

They will actually go for the black guy,

because you go for a Jewish guy,

you get more time. - You get more time.

- Like the lawyers, the judges,

will actually give us more time if we rob--

- Yeah, 'cause it's a hate crime.

- Someone from another race. - They're gonna classify it

as a hate crime. - That's why most blacks

rob each other, because you get less time, I hate to say it.

- [Voiceover] So it's like a practical thing, right?

- Yeah, it's a lot of wisdom behind it to be honest.

- And, honestly, speakin' like,

if you wanted to rob a Jewish person,

like, why would you rob a Jewish person?

Like, you don't ever see them with nothin'

that would make you wanna rob them, like.

- Yeah, especially them up there.

They just, they basic, simple, they don't have nothin'.

And most people use credit cards.

- Like, how could you target out a Jew person,

like when all them dress the same,

like everybody dress the same,

they all look the same, so.

I don't know. - I've lived around here

35 years, I have never seen a Jewish person

get robbed in this neighborhood.

- [Voiceover] They are kind of incidents

between blacks and Jews, right?

There are some issues.

- It ain't really, it's just like favoritism,

they get treated better.

Like the police will treat them better.

- Yes they do.

- If I'm arguin' with a Jew,

the cops goin' come to me,

they're not gonna bother them.

They're gonna think I'm the aggressor.

They're not gonna think they're the aggressor.

Because they already have like a perception

that Jews are more holier than black people.

- Lemme tell you somethin', another thing, you know.

They are supposed to be so the chosen ones,

but they be in the welfare office,

and the section-8 office,

they the first one to gets any kind of bargain deal

on anything.

They're the first ones to get any kind of discount or.

They know the system very well, okay?

A lot of times they have all this money

comin' in the household,

but somehow they always figure out a way

to manage gettin' section-8

or public assistance, whatever services is available,

trust me, the Jewish people the first ones

to find out about it.

They're the first ones to utilize it.

- Actually, they're a part of the mind-control system

that they use through television and the media.

The higher-ups that is.

- That right there is in a book

called The Elders of the Protocols of Zion

that was in like 1898.

They was talkin' about how the Jews rule,

use TV and media and propaganda to control the world

and take over the world.

So little things like that just, aw man.

Who wrote that book?

I'm tryin', it was a Russian who wrote that book, too.

Whoever's watchin' this, Elders of the Protocol of Zion.

Read it.

It gives you an idea, the blueprint to take over the world.

It is.

- [Plaid man's voiceover] They're implementing it right now.

- It's actually, when you read it.

They say it's false, but when you read it,

you see everything comin' to light.

- [Voiceover] The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

describes how a group of old Jews

sit around the table plotting conspiracies

to take over the world.

But that's considered to be like

a really anti-Semitic book, you know.

- It is anti-Semitic to a certain.

It's really not anti-Semitic if it's the cause--

- [Man in blue] It's not anti-Semitic.

- [Plaid man's voiceover] People keep saying things

that they really don't know what they're talkin' about.

- If somebody's tellin' the truth.

- It's not anti-Semitic.

- If somebody's tellin' the truth about something,

why does it have to be anti-Semtic

'cause it's not in the Jewish people favor?

It's not anti-Semitic, it's just somebody bein' honest.

- Facts is what it is, bottom line.

- [Voiceover] No, but just to put things straight,

like this book, the books of the Elders of Zion,

the Protocols of the Elders-- - That was actually, they said

it was written by a Jew actually.

So it's really not anti-Semitic.

- [Voiceover] This book was like kind of a fraud,

you know?

- Yeah, they say it's a fraud.

- [Voiceover] There wasn't such a thing

you, know, as like a bunch of people sitting together

running the world, you know.

This is kind of bullshit, you know.

- What you say, that's bullshit?

- [Voiceover] That is not true, it's like a false book.

- That's not bullshit, a bunch of people sittin' together

and runnin' the world. - No one knows if it's

a false book.

- The United Nations is a bunch of people

sittin' together runnin' the world,

so how could you say that's bullshit?

- [Voiceover] No, it's different, you know.

- All right so.

- [Plaid man's voiceover] Exactly, there's no difference.

- [Voiceover] You said some pretty harsh stuff

about like, Jewish people.

- No, no, no, see, no, no, no.

- Hold on, you gotta listen.

- [Voiceover] Let me finish.

So maybe one day

like you guys on the streets,

and they feel like afraid, or they feel tension,

there is something, you know, like.

- That goes to what I was tellin' you before,

they don't know us, they never took the time

to get to know us.

She was tellin' you that they separate themselves from us.

- So if you don't wanna get to know someone,

you will never, you can't. - Honestly speaking, like...

you're tryin' to manipulate the conversation.

- [Voiceover] No, I'm just askin', I'm askin' a question.

- No, no, no, no, 'cause we told you,

we have no problem with them.

- First of all, why wouldn't we be afraid of them also?

There's a misunderstanding,

and there's a lack of communication.

How do we know that we're safe amongst them?

- [Voiceover] Talking with them made me realize

that living in a mixed community

can create a lot of tension that can be easily inflamed.

I went to talk about the situation with Rabbi Hecht,

one of the leaders of the Jewish community

and commissioner for human rights.

- Even the attack on the school bus.

Not every time when somebody calls somebody

with a name, that you're a Jewish so-and-so,

or you're a black so-and-so,

does that mean that I am a racist in heart,

or is anti-Semite in heart,

or that I'm doing it only because of anti-Semitism.

If five crimes happen,

five blacks against five Jews,

it has to be anti-Semitism.

Why?

Listen, even if the reason why I hit that Jewish kid

is because I knew that he's not gonna fight back,

or the white woman in this neighborhood,

who's a Jewish woman,

I stole her pocketbook 'cause they know

it's gonna be easy prey.

That's not called anti-Semitism.

Now again, you wanna put it into some category

and lock the guy up for a longer period of time,

because he saw a weak woman and he grabbed it.

But again, I think we have gone a little too far.

- [Voiceover] Many of the anti-Semitic incidents

reported by the ADL happen to Orthodox Jews

since they are the easiest to spot,

so I was pretty surprised by Rabbi Hecht's response.

- Lemme tell you guys, I am suspicious

when a guy makes a living

from a particular situation.

So if there's a particular film crew

that make a living from blood,

that's why I'm suspicious every time they show blood.

If a guy is created

only because of anti-Semitism,

I'm nervous about his reports.

Are they accurate?

He has to create a problem because he needs a job.

- [Voiceover] So you're saying like, I mean,

the ADL is not like a credible organization or?

- I really can't pass judgment on the organization,

so we'll leave it that way.

I'll be politically correct.

But, uh, but, but, listen.

Clearly, the ADL

has been responsible in certain areas

to flare up things as much as they've helped.

Of course having said that,

now I'm on the ADL's blacklist now,

so Mr. Foxman is not gonna come to my home for dinner,

but what should I tell ya?

- [Voiceover] An important part of the ADL's work

are the international missions.

And Foxman decided to allow me to join him.

Every year, a few ADL board members and contributors

get to join Foxman as he travels to various countries,

meeting heads of state, politicians,

and other influential people who can help

in the fight against anti-Semitism.

(cameras click)

(crowd applauds)

It's like an organized tour,

but apart from visiting museums

and other tourist attractions,

the chosen ADL members get to join Foxman

in taking an active part in the struggle

against anti-Semitism.

- You have to debate what is proportionate

when someone attacks you.

- You are serious people

and you're here for serious business,

and you're gonna see the Holy Father,

and everything the ADL does is serious business.

- [Voiceover] The police escort along the way

made me realize I was traveling

with some pretty important people.

- Seeing the Pope tomorrow.

Pro-dee Friday.

(Godfather-like orchestral music)

- Beautiful.

How gorgeous.

- [Voiceover] I'm curious about how

Mr. Foxman gets to meet all these important people.

Why would all these ambassadors,

politicians, and heads of state,

take the time to meet him?

- It's their perception of the power

of the Jewish community.

Which is one of those signs of the anti-Semitism.

It's a very thin line, you know.

They believe we are more powerful than we are.

I've always said, Jews are not as powerful

as the Jews think we are,

nor as powerful as our enemies think we are.

We're somewheres in-between.

But, um, they do believe, to some extent,

that we can make a difference in Washington,

and we're not gonna convince them otherwise.

So how do you fight this sinister

conspiratorial view of Jews,

without using it?

Look, when the United Nations comes

to its General Assembly,

we meet with 40 heads of state,

foreign ministers, why?

- [Voiceover] I think I got it.

It's like a poker game, in which Foxman bluffs

the other side into thinking

that Jews have more influence and power in Washington

than they really have.

The downside is, that the idea of Jews being so powerful

can result in envy, even hate.

Foxman has a very close realtionship

with the Israeli government.

You've been here before, right?

- [Foxman] Oh yeah, a couple of times.

- [Voiceover] Israel relies on Foxman

when it comes to issues of anti-Semitism.

And being the Jewish state,

anti-Semitism is always on the agenda.

(playful orchestral music)

- Hi, Abe.

What I wanted to ask you since we met last,

about the issue of Venezuela,

because I heard voices

kind of saying it's not so bad.

In Latin America, it's not so bad.

But I'm not convinced and the question is--

- [Foxman] You have good reason not to be convinced.

You have good reason, it is getting worse.

- Why?

- Um, and little by little, as long as oil money works.

- I'm told that by our experts,

it's the only, except for Iran,

it's the only government propagating

anti-Semitism today around the world.

It's a--

- [Foxman] Formally, right. - This is quite scary.

- [Foxman] Within the country and outside.

- So are you pressing in any way?

- We've talked to Jessie Jackson,

who has a relationship, but, um...

it's not for camera, but there are other plans.

- We'll talk about it in a minute.

- We have a very beautiful view from here.

- [Voiceover] The first example of what Foxman

is talking about,

was a meeting with the special advisor

to the Ukranian President Yushchenko.

The Ukranian government would like

to distance itself from the embrace of the Russians

and strengthen its ties with the West,

most especially the United States.

They believe that the Jews can become their allies

in the US Congress.

- Um, we come to celebrate your democracy,

but we also come with mixed feelings.

The history of the Jewish people in this country

is primarily one of tragedy.

We would like to see a more active,

a more aggressive approach to dealing

with issues of anti-Semitism.

It took a long time--

- [Voiceover] Foxman is concerned

about the Ukranian government's comparison

of the famine in the Ukraine before World War II

with the Holocaust.

- [Foxman] The one thing that you need

to be sensitive about...

is not to link it with the Holocaust.

- [Voiceover] I know.

- Be careful that it not be played...

as your genocide, our genocide.

Because that will be counter-productive

on all sides.

- We, of course, respect Holocaust,

and I understood your message

and we try to be very, very diplomatic.

- [Foxman] Here it is.

- [Voiceover] I was impressed by the way Foxman

handled the meeting,

but it also raised some questions for me.

He was kind of pushing him a little bit, huh?

- He was kind of what?

- [Voiceover] Pushing him.

- Yes, of course, of course.

- [Voiceover] It's always like that?

Yeah?

- Of course.

- [Voiceover] I wasn't sure how bringing up things

that happened over 60 years ago

had any relevance to fighting anti-Semitism today.

- In order to combat it effectively,

I think that you have to take responsibility

for anything that happened in the past,

and then reach the present and then go forward.

- [Voiceover] Like with your husband,

when you quarrel.

- Yes.

- [Voiceover] Sometimes you need to give some slack

to get what you want. - No.

- No, no, no. - [Voiceover] No?

You're always tough? I bring up everything from

the past 50 years, what his mother did. (laughs)

Absolutely not, no,

that's not the American Jewish way.

(laughs) I don't know about the Israeli Jewish way.

- [Voiceover] Lay on the guilt trip.

- Absolutely, we need to play on that guilt.

- [Voiceover] I asked when you have a quarrel,

whether she give you some slack sometimes

to make up, and she said no.

- I'm always wrong and she's always right.

- But wait, do I ever forget anything in the past?

- Never, never. - Never.

- Suzanne'll tell me 20 years ago

what I did wrong. - Absolutely.

- If we have an argument now,

but "20 years you did this."

I said, "But, Suzanne, it was 20 years ago."

- Wait a minute, but do you know why?

Because he has not stood up

and taken responsibility for that behavior.

- [Voiceover] The guilt trip she's giving you,

does it help?

- No!

- [Voiceover] So maybe the guilt trip were giving them

is not the right solution.

Maybe we should, like, give them some slack,

and say, "Okay, let's be friends."

Not forget the past, but kind of be a little bit more,

you know, a little--

- Moderate.

You know something? - Guilt.

- We happen, I happen to agree.

- The guilt of the father should not be visited

on the guilt of, on the sons,

and it's true, of course, it's true.

- I agree with it.

- It's true, you have to--

- You cannot let it go down,

but you can't keep playing on it

as heavily as some people do.

It's gotta be moderate.

- [Voiceover] But the ADL is one of the people

who plays quite heavily.

- No, no, we're moderate.

- No, ADL plays heavily.

There is not a speech.

- [Voiceover] I'm filming.

- There is not a speech--

- They're filming here, now be careful.

- I'm not talkin' to 'em, I'm not talkin' to 'em.

What is he, what are you, the Mossad or something?

(laughing)

- [Voiceover] We're a democracy, we're free democracy.

(speaker's voice drops too low to hear)

- Shut that off.

(whispering) I'm not as fiery.

I was fortunate, I was--

- [Voiceover] I'll be following this up with you (whispers).

- I'm not as passion, I'm passionate, believe me,

but not quite as much, okay?

- [Woman in background] Harvey, we have to go.

- [Voiceover] I could understand Abe's sensitivity

to the Holocaust, being a survivor.

And was moved by the support he received

from the ADL mission members.

But the film I wanted to make

is about anti-Semitism today,

and I decided to explore on my own

an incident I had read about in the papers.

In Moscow, a man with a knife had entered a synagogue

and had started stabbing people.

The incident was recorded on the security cameras.

(unsettling orchestral music)

The stabbing was a shocking reminder

of what anti-Semitism can be.

I thought I should speak with the members of the synagogue,

to see how they felt about their own safety.

- [Voiceover] I didn't understand.

How can these religious Jews,

who go to the synagogue every day,

and are such easy targets for anti-Semites,

don't seem so concerned about their personal safety.

I decided to ask the local Rabbi in Kiev about it.

- The truth is that for some reason

secular Jews are more worried about anti-Semitism

than religious Jews, if you noticed.

It's not that way,

it's just that on their agenda of being Jewish,

anti-Semitism is not part of being Jewish

for an orthodox Jew.

Part of being Jewish is not fighting anti-Semitism.

Part of being Jewish is practicing Judaism.

There's no mitzvah in the Torah

when you practice Judaism to fight anti-Semitism.

At the same time, fighting anti-Semitism

is something that's important for the Jewish people,

for Jewish communities throughout the world,

and, very often, people that are not practicing,

like you say, that's where they find their thing.

So they'll express their Jewish identity in the way

that they'll be fighting anti-Semitism,

thereby helping the community

in its fight of anti-Semitism.

- [Voiceover] The Rabbi said that it is actually

an issue of identity.

- No, no, don't say anything.

- [Voiceover] I wanted to know if Suzanne and Harvey Prince

would agree with his theory.

- Yeah, I mean you can't film this because, you know.

- I do think that the ADL helps to reinforce

our Jewish identity,

because we're not Orthodox,

and we don't have a religious Jewish life.

The ADL provides a forum to be Jewish.

I mean, it certainly is 99.9% Jewish,

and it gives us an opportunity

to explore being Jewish, to look at Jewish issues,

and it does reinforce our Jewish identity.

- [Voiceover] Babi Yar, in the suburbs of Kiev,

is a mass grave, in which 33,771 Jews

were shot after digging their own grave

over the course of just two days in September, 1941.

(mournful orchestral music)

- I think the worst thing for me, standing here,

is that it could happen today.

- [Suzanne] Oh God, yes. - I agree.

- I can see people being marched out of Kiev...

and shot.

- [Suzanne] Marilyn, I need to--

- By some, some people who would decide

that's the thing to do. - [Man in back] That's right.

- Maybe they do it to gays, maybe they do it to--

- That's why we have to support Israel.

Israel's our insurance policy.

(Foxman speaking Hebrew)

(crowd speaking Hebrew)

- [Suzanne] If it was a question of the continuing existence

of Israel, would you move to Israel?

- [Marilyn] Yes, in a minute. - To help?

- [Suzanne] Good for you, I tend the same way.

- In a minute.

'Cause as far as I'm concerned,

without Israel there isn't a safe Jew in the world.

That's the way I feel.

- I agree.

I agree.

- So you have two people who'll immediately move to Israel

if you have a problem.

If Israel needs, you have two people right there.

- I'd join the army.

They wouldn't take an old lady,

but I would be there. - [Suzanne] Why not?

- I'd roll bandages, I don't know.

- He's asking a question, the journalist.

- [Voiceover] Does that mean that you're more loyal

to Israel then?

- No, of course not.

- [Suzanne] That's right.

- Of course not.

- [Voiceover] How do they coexist, these two emotions?

- How do I like what?

- How these two notions coexist?

the fact that--

- Easy.

You love your children, you love your husband.

You love your friends equally.

- [Plaid man] Do you love your children

more than you love your husband?

- Of course not.

- Sometimes.

- But you might, you might die for your children

before you would die for your husband.

- It's like the question then,

if you were in a lifeboat--

- [Voiceover] Is Israel the husband or the kids?

- I'm sorry.

- Israel is the husband or the kids?

- [Man in plaid hat] The kids. - The kids.

- The kids.

- Yeah. - The kids.

- Israel is not a child

anymore. - Love for Israel

is love for a child.

It's a love for a child,

different than a love for a husband.

- True.

- There's nothing like, really, a love for a child.

- [Suzanne] It's a much more protective love.

- Right.

- No, no, it's a much more, um (sigh).

- [Voiceover] According to the ADL mission members,

Israel is a child which needs their support.

But it's also their insurance policy

in case something terrible should ever happen again.

But at this particular moment,

this insurance policy was busy being a teenager,

making its way to Majdanek concentration camp near Lublin.

(clapping and singing in foreign language)

- [Voiceover] This was my first time in Majdanek as well,

and I could relate to the way the kids felt.

The horrors were almost impossible to digest,

but the kids just couldn't accept the fact

that they wouldn't become emotional

after all the preparation they'd been through.

- [Voiceover] It occurred to me, that after seeing

the almost incomprehensible horrors

my people have suffered,

other people's suffering might seem

less significant somehow.

I wondered if any of the kids felt this way, too.

- [Voiceover] Nofar was not the only one

thinking about the Israeli, Palestinian conflict

in relation to anti-Semitism.

Professor Norman Finkelstein,

a Jewish academic from DePaul Univeristy in Chicago,

has written a book called "The Holocaust Industry,"

in which he accuses parts of the Jewish establishment

of making cynical political use of the Holocaust.

- Dr. Finkelstein, you have some visitors.

- Whenever Israel faces a public relations debacle

or comes out under pressure

to resolve the Israel, Palestine conflict,

they start up this extravaganza

called the new anti-Semitism.

As it's usually understood, anti-Semitism means

an irrational hatred of Jews,

born simply of the fact that they are Jewish,

but that's not what's going on here.

It's a hostility born of the fact

that the state which claims to represent them

is engaged in quite brutal violence.

I'm sure lots of people I meet

have this, what you say, deep,

you know, deep down inside,

they have this kind of queasy feeling about Jews.

I'm sure that's true.

But did it have any real substantial repurcussions

on me in life?

The answer is just no.

There's a kind

of a pathological narcissism,

navel contemplation,

when you are the richest, wealthiest,

most successful ethnic group in the United States,

you've got the world on a platter,

and you sit around and you're talking about anti-Semitism.

It's just kind of shameful, I think.

- [Voiceover] At the time I first interviewed Finkelstein,

I didn't realize what a controversial figure he was

in the eyes of the Jewish establishment.

Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors,

has been labeled a self-hating Jew,

a Holocaust denier, and a madman.

I had interview stopped at the very mention of his name.

- I know if you Google Norman Finkelstein

and Holocaust denier,

nowadays you'll get about 10,000 websites.

Well, if I'm a Holocaust denier,

if I'm a Holocaust denier,

I would have to be certifiably insane.

I would have to be clinically insane.

Because, given who my parents were,

for me to be denying the Nazi Holocaust,

I'd have to be clinically insane.

So you have to judge for yourself.

You may disagree with me,

but is it your impression that I'm clinically insane?

Now, if you think I'm not,

then you have to wonder

why are those 10,000 websites saying that?

- [Voiceover] Recently there's this talk

about the new anti-Semitism,

which is very related to Israel.

And I've been heard it from Jews outside of Israel,

saying that Israel is the cause,

that anti-Semitism is now,

that we are suffering from anti-Semitism.

- Well, I would say that is nonsense.

That comes from insecure Jews.

I think people use Israel as an excuse

to rationalize and legitimize,

because in many places of the world,

anti-Semitism is not acceptable,

it's not polite, it's not proper,

but if you can camouflage it,

if you can find a platform of a news event,

of a political discourse,

then you use it, and we find,

every time there is conflict in the Middle East

between Israel and somebody else,

the level of anti-Semitism spikes, why?

Because the anti-Semites come out of their woodwork

and now they can express themselves in their anti-Semitism

in what they consider

a legitimate licensed way.

- [Voiceover] Strangely enough, Foxman and Finkelstein

agreed on one thing,

which is that most anti-Semitic incidents nowadays

fall under the category of new anti-Semitism.

The difference is, that Foxman says

that anti-Semites found a new target called Israel,

to which they could express their anti-Semitism.

While Finkelstein believes that saying that

is a cynical misuse of the term "anti-Semitism."

But attacks on the ADL

seem to be coming from all directions.

- So today in America, there are two professors

who are saying that Jews...

are more loyal to Israel than to America.

- [Voiceover] Who are they?

- Mearsheimer and Walt.

See this is what Pat.

Mearsheimer and Walt.

- [Voiceover] Sceimen?

- Mearsheimer. - Mearsheimer is one of them?

- And Walt.

- [Voiceover] Steve Walt and John Mearsheimer

are two academics from the universities

of Harvard and Chicago

who wrote a book called "The Israeli Lobby."

They claim that there is a lobby in the US

whose role is to support Israeli policy,

even if this policy goes against

the interests of the US.

The role of the ADL in this lobby

is to silence those who criticize Israeli policy,

saying they're actually anti-Semites in disguise.

Walt and Mearsheimer were invited to Israel

by Gush Shalom, a left-wing Israeli organization,

whose head is Uri Avnery,

a former parliament member and a peace activist.

- I was very happy that they accepted our invitation

and agreed to come here.

Actually, we were a little bit afraid in the beginning

that there may be some difficulty to get them into Israel,

especially after what happened

to Professor Norman Finkelstein,

who had been arrested and kept in prison actually

and then deported.

- Steve and I have traveled all over the United States,

and we've traveled all over Europe,

talking about the lobby.

I have honestly been struck by how little evidence

we've come across of anti-Semitism.

This is not to say that we don't run into lots of people

who are critical of Israeli policy,

and shake their head at what the Israelis are doing.

- Abe, I asked them if they get--

- [Voiceover] Abe Foxman's spokesman Arieh O'Sullivan

was the last person I expected to see at the event.

What was he doing here?

- Look, Abe, they mentioned the ADL a couple of times

in their talks, and like I told you,

they were false, these things.

I went up to Walt but he was surrounded by people.

I said, "Listen, I'm from ADL.

"I'm Arieh O'Sullivan and those two things you said

"about the ADL are incorrect."

It got a lot of interest from the foreign press.

I don't know about the Israeli media, though.

Was the Israeli media here?

- [Voiceover] I don't know if the whole world

was shaken by Walt and Mearsheimer's book,

but the Jewish establishment certainly was.

- Why do two such

established, credentialed,

respected

academics engage

in such a shoddy piece of work

on what subject?

- [Voiceover] At the annual ADL convention,

the "Israeli Lobby" book was the center of attention.

In the Foreign Office in Israel,

there was a three day convention

dealing mostly with the issues raised in the book

"The Israeli Lobby."

Never before, had the question of whether anti-Semitism

and anti-Zionism are the same thing seemed so important.

Experts and speakers from all over the world

said the same thing, that those who attack Israel

are doing so simply because

they're anti-Semites in disguise.

- We thought people who would hate us,

who would be our enemies,

would be thugs and lunatics yelling "kike,"

and instead they're soft-spoken college professors

explaining to us how we have the apartheid state.

We were unprepared.

So let this conference draw a line in the sand,

if you're an enemy of the Jewish people,

then we will fight you with all our might

for ourselves and for our children

and for our children's children.

Who would we be if we did not?

And we will prevail.

(applause)

- [Voiceover] After three days, something happened

which was more or less the equivalent

of the bomb being thrown into the room.

- If you came down from space,

you would think, having looked at this conference,

that there was absolutely no problem

in the West Bank or in Gaza.

One element of the reason why so many people

around the world are angry with Israel

is because of the continuing settlement and occupation

of Palestinian land, and because Israel,

which has state power, has not done enough

to end the occupation.

One of the reasons.

Such an occupation cannot be sustained

without racism, without violence,

and without humiliation against the people

who are occupied.

Thank you.

- I don't get it, I just don't get it.

Unless you were ironic.

Listen, David, we appreciate your work.

We invited you to speak,

but what you did today

was a kind of preaching about looking for human rights

that we don't have.

This is more or less what you said.

- There are problems with human rights in the territories.

- What do you say?

- No, I chose to say something which has not yet been said

by everybody.

It's very simple. - Just for the provocation?

- No, not for the provocation.

Because Palestine was not mentioned.

- It was mentioned all over.

- Not once, maybe by Gill.

- It was mentioned all over. - It was mentioned yesterday

as Palestine is the anti-nation.

Palestine is the one unique nation

which doesn't have the right to exist.

It was mentioned. - No, no one said that.

No one said that.

- Gerstenfeld said it.

Palestine is the anti-nation. - No one said it.

- What do ya think that means?

And where do you think that terminology comes from?

The anti-nation.

- What you are saying is

that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism

are two different things.

- They are two different things.

- No, sometimes they are the same thing.

- And it's kind of ironic, really,

that I was seen by some people

as a sort of wild-eyed radical,

because where I come from,

I'm denounced as a right-wing, neocon,

Israeli supporting, anti-Palestinian racist.

- [Voiceover] What does it say about this conference then?

- Well, it says about this conference

that there was some hard right-wingers there.

There you go. (laughs)

Nobody in this conference was balanced.

Not one.

- I don't think so.

- [Voiceover] Speaking with David Hirsch

made me realize that it is very difficult

to represent any other approach in the Jewish world.

Those who try to say anything different

are being silenced.

- And Dina has a go at me for not being balanced.

- You are not balanced at all.

- [Blond man] You were not explicit enough (drowned out).

- [Voiceover] Hirsch was right, the occupation

as a possible reason for justified criticism

was not mentioned.

Many Jewish people see anti-Semitism

as a force of nature.

It has always been there, and we'll always be there.

It will just take on different shapes and forms.

I find this difficult to accept.

- This is a conference about people around the world

blaming Jews as the worst human rights violators

on the planet.

And the people who support Israel

are now under attack as supporting

the colonialist apartheid state of Israel.

This is a warrant for attack on Jewish people.

- It is internationally recognized that anti-Zionism

is sometimes anti-Semitism.

- [Voiceover] As an Israeli, this is the only thing

that gives me hope, to differentiate these two.

- Why?

- [Voiceover] Because otherwise, there is no hope.

Otherwise this is a doomed--

- But this is closing your eyes.

- [Voiceover] This is doomed. - You're right.

- [Voiceover] Fatalistic approach.

- But you're closing your eyes.

- [Voiceover] Which leave us no hope at all.

- No, but you see what he's doing, he's doing exactly.

He has the problem of the left, and here's the problem,

here's the problem, you, you, this analysis,

this is just like the wife who's beaten by her husband,

who goes to the psychiatrist and she says,

"It must be something I did,

"because if it's not something I did,

"then it's hopeless, then he's a madman."

Well you need to find something you did

to cause the hatred against you, but guess what?

It's nothing that you did,

and it's too bad you are in chaos

and the world is dangerous

and Islamism, funded by the Saudis,

is teaching gazillions of people around the world

that you are evil before you came to Israel.

So this is your problem, you're exactly right,

and you don't want that to be true.

- [Voiceover] Maybe they're right.

Maybe I'm just naive.

Maybe all those people who criticize Israel

really are anti-Semites in disguise.

I'm heading to Chicago to speak with John Mearscheimer,

co-author of "the Israeli Lobby."

I hope to have the courage to ask him

if he's really an anti-Semite in disguise.

Did you, like, kind of like took a few minutes

to question yourself when you're being blamed

as being anti-Semite?

Like, did you try to think about it like, you know?

Between yourself and yourself.

I don't know if you have this expression.

Within yourself, did you take a moment to think

maybe some of it was influenced by something,

which is, you know, could be interpreted as anti-Semitism?

- No, because I'm not anti-Semitic

and I never had any doubt

that I wasn't anti-Semitic,

and I just didn't see any need to do this.

My arguments are not in any way, shape, or form

hostile to Jews, or hostile to the state of Israel,

and, in fact, Steve Walt and I

go to great lengths in the books,

in the book, and in the article,

to make the case that we think the lobby's policies

are not in Israel's interest or in America's interest.

And we believe that the policies that we're pushing

and the arguments that we're making

are better for Israel and better for the United States.

Now, one can disagree with that.

But those arguments that we're making

are not anti-Semitic and we're not anti-Semites.

Course it's almost impossible to prove

that you're not an anti-Semite,

which is one reason that this charge is so effective.

How does one say, "I'm not anti-Semitic,"

and convince people who say you are?

- [Voiceover] My best friend is a.

- Right, that's what you end up saying.

That my best friends are Jews,

and some of my best friends are Jews,

and, of course, this is not a very convincing argument.

In fact, it's an argument that's almost guaranteed to lose.

There's no question that anti-Semitism

has been a poisonous

and potent phenomenon

over time, and there's no question that someone like

Abe Foxman, who grew up as an infant and a young boy

in Europe during the Holocaust,

is gonna be affected by that history of anti-Semitism.

- [Voiceover] They say that eventually it's bad for Israel,

as well, not only for the United States,

but this policy eventually will be bad for Israel as well.

- But that's not their goddamn business.

Who the hell asked them to decide what's good for you?

Who are they?

Who are they, who come to a judgment

what will provide safety and security for you?

Keep it in mind, that's not their business.

Look, I have an obsession in this place

with one thing which I have.

We need to find a way.

- [Voiceover] The latest battle Abe Foxman

had taken upon himself,

against the anti-Semitic Polish dolls

made me realize that his devotion to Israel

is only part of the overall picture.

- Traditional Jew.

I would say, even, stereotypic Jew,

holding a bag of money and a zloty.

It's a good luck charm to buy.

People, if they go into a new house or business,

because the Jews are so good with money.

It is disgusting.

It is disgusting.

And now, in the economic crisis,

you wanna know how serious Jews and money is?

Jews are money.

Is that what you want?

- [Voiceover] If somebody's good with money,

it's not a bad thing to--

- You know, you know what?

We're in Auschwitz.

Those are the things that paved the stones

to lead to Auschwitz,

because if Jews have money

and you can get rid of the Jews,

you can get their money.

What kind of a good thing is that?

- [Voiceover] Foxman is like a very sensitive radar

for Jewish issues.

The memory of the Holocaust is always in the background,

like a warning sign of what can happen

if things are not dealt with at the right time.

- I'm gonna ask you a question.

Look over here, do you see a holocaust coming?

It's crazy.

There's so much hunger, so much starvation in the world,

so many people are suffering,

and you want me to get excited about

some idiot painting a swastika somewhere?

- [Voiceover] Finkelstein lost his job at the university

because of what he claims was pressure

from the Israeli lobby.

Then he was denied entry to Israel

because he was, as the authorities described,

a security hazard, which being Jewish himself,

is probably unprecedented.

Finkelstein reminds me of the Biblical prophets of doom

who are always being pelted with stones

for saying things nobody wanted to hear.

One of the major kind of

claims I hear from people like the ADL

or, you know, other Jewish people is that,

how come always people picking up on Israel?

How come there are so much unjustice

in other parts of the world and nobody speaks about.

What is the reason for that?

- Listen, I open the radio, I hear non-stop about Sudan.

I hear non-stop about Tibet.

I hear non-stop about Darfur.

I hear a lot.

The only place I hear excuses made for is Israel.

That's the place where I hear excuses.

And we do have to remember it is

the oldest occupation in the world.

I mean, 40 years really is enough.

It's older than you.

It's older than you.

The occupation.

Doesn't that kind of stun you?

The irony is that the Nazi Holocaust

has now become the main ideological weapon

for launching wars of aggression.

Every time you wanna launch a war of aggression,

drag in the Nazi Holocaust.

It's the suffering then used

as another pretext or excuse...

to humiliate, degrade, and torture the Palestinians.

That's the problem.

The suffering comes as a package.

It then comes.

Here is a suffering, now we blow up your house.

Here is a suffering, now we take your land.

Here is a suffering, now we drop artillery shells,

or shoot artillery shells at your villages.

It's a package deal with Israel and its American supporters.

It's not just suffering.

It's suffering which is then wrapped in a club.

And the club is then used

to break the skulls of the Palestinians.

That's the problem.

It's not being used to educate people.

It's not being used to enlighten people.

It's not being used to make people more moral.

- [Voiceover] It can be.

- But it's not!

It's not, that's the whole point!

Of course it can be, but it isn't.

It's the best thing that will ever happen to Israel

if they get rid of these American Jews

who are warmongers from Martha's Vineyard.

And they're warmongers from the Hamptons.

And they're warmongers from Beverly Hills.

And they're warmongers from Miami.

It's been a disaster for Israel.

It's the best thing if they can ever get rid

of this American Jewry.

It's a curse.

- [Voiceover] For Finkelstein, Foxman is the main enemy.

(laughing)

You see, that's why you're not going to get

people's attention, you know, from things like that.

- [Finkelstein] Some people laugh.

- [Voiceover] You comparing Foxman to Hitler,

that's kind of, eh--

- It's an insult to Hitler.

Hitler at least didn't do it for money.

- [Voiceover] Finkelstein took his own trauma

as a son of Holocaust survivors to the opposite extreme.

When I asked him if he had any sympathy

for the Israeli victims,

as well as for the Palestinians,

he compared Israeli casualties

to the German casualties in World War II.

- You know, you're funny, I have to tell you,

you're funny.

- [Voiceover] Why is that? - You come from a society

in which everyone calls everyone a Nazi, right?

They called Rabin a Nazi,

Ben-Gurion called Jabotinsky a Nazi.

Jabotinsky called Ben-Gurion a Nazi.

Begin called Ben-Gurion a Nazi.

They all said, each of them said, one is worse than Hitler.

That's the whole language of how your society.

It's also the language I grew up with.

You know, everything in my house.

The food? Worse than Auschwitz.

The clothes? Worse than,

that's the house you grew up in.

And all of a sudden, you get so pious when I go like that.

Your whole society is like that.

Why was Rabin?

You don't remember when they made Rabin with the SS

before he was shot?

And then you all of a sudden get so pious.

- [Voiceover] I just think about how people--

- Because of what?

Because of Abe Foxman?

We have to be pious with Abe Foxman?

A hoodlum and a thug.

- [Voiceover] I'm just tryin' to say, to think,

how other people will perceive it,

you know, for myself, you know,

you can go and do it all day long.

- I did it with you, you're an Israeli, you understand.

- [Voiceover] Yeah, but it's on film, it's on film, other

people will see it afterwards.

- Then take it out!

That's why you're an editor.

- [Voiceover] No, that's obviously, you know,

should stay in the film, that's--

- Fine, you think I care?

You think I care?

- [Voiceover] So you like the neighborhood?

- Very much.

Look at the breeze.

- [Voiceover] the last time I was with Foxman

was in Auschwitz.

The Israeli Army sends its officers

on a Poland trip similar to the one

the kids are going through.

This year, for the first time ever,

an ADL mission became an integral part

of the Israeli Defense Force mission.

Marching next to Foxman is the Deputy Chief of Staff,

the second in command of the Israeli Army.

On Foxman's left, is the Israeli Ambassador to Poland.

(marching drill in foreign language)

- This is the biggest cemetery--

- In the world.

- In the world.

It's not the Jewish cemetery,

but it's the biggest

cemetery ever. - Cemetery ever, yeah.

- 1,500,000 Jews.

- But they're 3,000,000.

- Yeah, but this place was worst.

(students speak in foreign language)

(chanting in Hebrew)

(girl weeps)

(sobbing)

(weeping)

(weeping)

(crying)

(weeping)

- I've walked, I've walked this road before.

Full of despair, full of anguish.

To walk and feel the strength behind you

of a 150 officers of all the levels

of the Israeli Army.

I walked with pride.

I walked with hope.

I hoped with strength.

(pensive orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] My filming was coming to an end.

As I looked at the sleeping kids,

I thought that putting so much emphasis on the past,

as horrific as it has been, is holding us back.

(soft orchestral music)

Maybe it's about time to live in the present

and look to the future.

(gentle orchestral music)

(soft pop song in foreign language)