Bethlehem; Starring Tsahi Halevi and Shadi Mar'i. Directed by Yuval Adler. In Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles.
Do Palestinians and Israelis ever agree on anything? Sometimes they do. For they've both recently made films on young Palestinians who have links to Israeli intelligence agents.
'Bethlehem' directed by Yuval Adler an Israeli, isn't a love story like 'Omar' that was directed by a Palestinian. Yet like 'Omar' this film doesn't have a happy ending.
In 'Bethlehem' the young Sanfur (Shadi Mar'i) is in constant contact with Razi (Tsahi Halevi) an Israeli agent. Yet Sanfur has a brother Ibrahim who is a terrorist, at least according to the Israelis. The Arabs would call him ' A freedom fighter'.
"You want to search my underwear too?" Sanfur snaps at an Israeli soldier. And a freedom fighter/terrorist says after Ibrahim is captured, "We will turn Tel Aviv into a big graveyard."
No Israeli or Arab film I've seen has caught so well the terrible hostilities that erupt between Israeli and Palestinian and between Palestinians and Palestinians as 'Bethlehem' does. Armed men pop up everywhere, all of them ready to kill and be killed. A wonderful scene in a hospital where a wounded Razi plays backgammon with an older Palestinian, tells us graphically what happens to Palestinian informants.
Yet here I think director Adler goes overboard and weights the film in favour of Israel. Nor is this the only time when the film seems stacked against the Palestinians.
Still, perhaps this is the only fair viewpoint of many Israeli citizens .
In any case Sanfur does get his revenge. "Don't ever call me again," Sanfur tells Razi over the phone. Yet the two do get together one last time with tragic results.
Maybe one day Israelis and Palestinians will live together in peace and harmony. Yet as 'Bethlehem' shows, as did 'Omar', that day may be a long way off.
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