Yes, both interesting and disheartening.

Last night I attended a talk given by an filmmaker who's worked for over a decade within the Israel Defense Forces. His subject: "Israel in the Media; a question of Balance." I will leave the gentleman's name out of this description for the time being since my reaction is not 100% positive.

First the interesting stuff: Colonel X showed several minutes of film footage that I, as a blogger in this age where evidence of "fauxtography" is so in demand, was salivating to get my hands on -- think of the hits! We saw footage of Palestinian Arabs being instructed on how to pose for the cameras, an elderly woman being told to take up a more agonized pose next to some rubble, an old man sweeping up dust and admitting that the collapsed house he was standing next to wasn't his, and people being offered money for allowing pictures to be taken of themselves and their homes -- real juicy stuff demonstrating how the sausage is made...stuff that should be getting a much wider play.

Another very interesting point that he made was this: In feature film making, the ratio of raw footage shot (rushes) to what actually makes it on screen is around, say, 10:1. That is, for every 10 minutes of raw footage, about 1 minute makes it on screen. For documentary film making, this ratio of rushes to final cut jumps to say 150:1. In news film, this ratio skyrockets to 450 or more:1. Think of the manipulations that kind of editorial discretion allows for. Think of how micro-managed your access to the truth really is.

Col. X also lamented how difficult it has been to get the military minds of the IDF to understand how important the images they are unwitting players in are. Take, for instance, the scene of IDF troops up against a mob of stone-throwing youths. Col. X advises the Generals to bring along a fire engine with water canon -- this is crowd control, after all -- so that the press doesn't come away with images solely of fully-armed soldiers facing stone-throwing "youths." "Are you crazy?" the Generals say, "There are snipers behind those youths taking pot-shots at our guys, and you want that we should bring a water gun? We're the IDF, we have to look strong." Of course that's not the point. It doesn't matter if there's even water in the cannon...the snipers don't show up on video.

Likewise, the use of rubber bullets. The IDF often uses rubber bullets for sub-lethal crowd control, the trouble is, it looks the same as live ammo on camera. Suggestion: Give the guns that are firing rubber ammo some obvious distinguishing characteristic -- paint them blue or something. The Generals: "Are you crazy? Are you trying to make fools of us? We're the IDF, we don't run around with bright blue guns!" On and on...

That's the interesting...now the disheartening.

For all that Col. X's heart is in the right place, he still doesn't get it. Where to begin with this? Things started to get a bit "dodgy" during the question and answer session. It's not that there were any hostile questions, quite the opposite, and I can't tell you the questions and the answers specifically as the session was more of a conversation. Let me just give you a few impressions.

Col. X repeatedly stepped out from behind the podium and the microphone when he wanted to give an "I feel your pain (or, more to the point, an "I feel the Palestinians' pain") moment. He seemed stuck in that mind-set that says that if Israelis would just show how sensitive they really are, this would help turn world public opinion in their favor. The truth is, the other side takes this as nothing more than weakness and a chance to go for more. They take every mea culpa, not as a credit to Israeli humanity, but as an admission of Israeli guilt.

It's good to show honest concern for the genuine pain of all sides, but there is a level at which you overdo it and stop looking out for your own health. Col. X, and many others like him appear to be over that line.

Col. X referred at one point to the Al Durah case which readers should be well familiar with. He does not support efforts to expose the falsity of those images. "Yes, I know about the BU professor" and others..."Why re-open that wound?" quoth he. "We may not have killed that boy, but we certainly have killed others, I've seen it..so there is a sort of truth here..." It's a paraphrase, but I kid you not. The other side couldn't have made their point better.

The Colonel seems to have forgotten that Al Dura is already an open wound, that he played in the background as Daniel Pearl's throat was cut...THAT'S re-opening the wound. His image plays out in poetry, on billboards, on TV news, in terrorist videos...all for a lie. If there were other kids killed, and it really happened, and the issue comes up, FINE, tell the truth about it and do what needs to be done. Israel should never be afraid of the truth, but the only balm for this wound is to be honest about each case. It is astounding that a professional with images should be so cavalier about this.

And worse, by not sticking up for themselves, the Israelis leave all of their supporters hanging out to dry. For instance, in the first Al Dura decision, the French court repeatedly points to the reticence of Israeli authorities in protesting the veracity of the images as a reason why Karsenty must have been over the line in his accusations against France 2:

The Lord helps those who help themselves. Israelis who won't argue their own case give those of us who know they have a good case to argue nothing to go on. This is truly infuriating.

Col. X in several instances mentioned the fact that Israel is now planning on uprooting 250,000 more citizens -- this time from the West Bank. Again, this was in the context of showing how much Israel is willing to sacrifice, how much credit they deserve. But will the meek of the earth like Col. X be ready to demand this credit? No, and they won't get it. It will be on to the next demand, have no doubt.

Look, before we go any further, let me stipulate for the court that I am not one of those "right wing ideologues" who sit from afar and demand maximal demands on the part of Israelis, encouraging them in wars or in sacrifices for which I bear no risk. If I thought uprooting 250,000 Israelis would bring true and lasting peace on earth and goodwill toward Man forever, I'd strap on my jackboots and drive the bulldozer through the synagogues myself -- and before you get too excited, if I thought that pushing all the Arabs out of the West Bank and constructing an iron wall on the opposite side of the Jordan River would achieve the same thing, I'd be for that too. The fact is, I don't believe a good case can be made for either.

But if you're going to be the kind of guy that is in favor of uprooting 250,000 people, you damn well better be the type of guy who's willing to scream for the credit you deserve, to demand the truth and the honesty you've been lacking in all cases. If you're not that kind of guy, you're the last person I'd want offering sacrifices.

I believe my position is the position of tens of millions of Americans who support Israel, not on absolutist religious grounds (I am not religious), but on practical grounds that simply translated say, "Israel is on the whole righteous and right, and stands on the front line of the war of the civilized against the uncivilized." It's not an easy place to be. When visiting the US Congress in 2003, Tony Blair said:

Any American could give any Israeli the same speech. Destiny and circumstance have placed Israel on the front line of an enormous battle, and this is one that doesn't always require guns to fight! Sometimes it just requires standing up for yourself, which in this case, happens to mean standing up for truth and honesty. Who could ask for a more righteous fight?

But we can do nothing for Israelis who won't help themselves. Some of us are going to finally figure out we have better things to do. We can't give respect to people who won't respect themselves.

Colonel X had a lot of good insights to share, and he would be a great guy to funnel information out to those of us in the alternative media who are dedicated to getting the truth out on his behalf. But please, less shirt-rending next time. His hesitations show why those of us out here have so much trouble getting even the most well-meaning of Israel's advocates to do the right thing on their own behalf.