Video: Defamation
Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, "What is anti-Semitism today?" Does it remain a dangerous and immediate threat? Or is it a scare tactic used by right-wing Zionists to discredit their critics?
Speaking with an array of people from across the political spectrum (including the head of the Anti-Defamation League and its fiercest critic, author Norman Finkelstein) and traveling to places like Auschwitz (alongside Israeli school kids) and Brooklyn (to explore reports of violence against Jews), Shamir discovers the realities of anti-Semitism today.
His findings are shocking, enlightening and - surprisingly - often wryly funny.
Among those he interviews are Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, who is adamant that anti-Semitism is rife and must be exposed; while Norman Finkelstein, author of "The Holocaust Industry: The Exploitation of Jewish Suffering," claims that anti-Semitism is being used for political gain.
Opinions differ and tempers flare but Shamir's directness and wry humour, as shown in his other films including "Checkpoint," "5 Days and Flipping Out," elevate the mood as he tackles extremely difficult questions.
