Quick update on this for those who are curious. I did attend the film this morning, "The Silent Refugees," or "The Silent Exodus" as I wrote it down from the screen when viewing the film (still a bit of a work in progress, perhaps?). I took my dad with me, as I did when I went to see Dore Gold, only this time, the event actually happened. I'm not going to do an exhaustive post on this one like I have the last couple of events I attended as it is frankly a crap-load of work to take all those notes and transfer them to a blog post, and I'm not sure how interesting/useful people really find it. In this case, you can read-up on the Jewish refugees from Arab lands pretty easily (you can start here), and you can read Bat Ye'or's books and essays easily yourself. Start at her web site Dhimmitude.org.

Today's event was again sponsored by the Middle East Forum. The film was shown on a rented screen at the West Newton Cinema. Attendance was fairly good, although I couldn't give you a number. The movie was done by a French filmmaker named Pierre Rehov who was described as someone becoming so dismayed by the resurgence of antisemitism in France, he decided to do something to bring out the other side of the story. So, all is not lost in France these days.

His first effort is this film, "Les Refugees Du Silence." The film features lots of old film footage and interviews, including Bat Ye'or, and her husband, David Littman, who represents the NGO, World Union for Progressive Judaism, at the UN (A representative for a pro-Israel, pro-Jewish NGO at the UN? My hat is off to him.), both of whom were in attendance and took questions at the conclusion of the film.

The history is good, and the old film footage is interesting. The personal testimonials by those who themselves were refugees (Bat Ye'or is a refugee from Egypt) is powerful. Unlike Honest Reporting's film, Relentless, this film comes across as much more of a historical document, with its personal stories much more difficult to debate (which is not to say I didn't like Relentless, but see my entry on the subject for discussion of that issue).

Like Relentless, this is a film that needs to be shown to a wider audience, and unlike that other film it stands a far smaller risk of alienating the viewer. Hopefully someone will buy the rights to the film and allow it to be distributed widely. As Mr. Littman explained, the issue of the Jewish refugees is one that Israel and the world Jewish Community have failed to publicize. One reason is, of course, that Israel took in these refugess. It's part of the Israel success story, so there's never been a need to push it. Further, in the past, even Israel didn't want to make an issue of it, prefering more subtle tactics in the UN and hoping not to needlessly antagonize the large Arab/Muslim UN contingent - sounds strange, I know. But at this late date, as the issue of Palestinian refugees continues to drag on and on as a weapon to bludgeon Israel, the time seems ripe to push back. There seems to me to be no question at all that it is long past time to begin screaming about this issue. It is powerful stuff, and frankly extremely useful diplomatically.

It was noted that the film has been selected to be shown at a French film festival on human rights, as well as at the UN itself. All good news.

As I mentioned, Ye'or and Littman answered questions following the film. They are a physically incongruous pair. Ye'or is a dimminuative little lady - think Dr. Ruth with a different accent - and husband Littman is 6' 5" easy. They interrupt and coach each other regularly like old married couples do, and they patiently stood and answered questions until the time ran out at 11am.

Tommorow, Bat Ye'or will be speaking at Brandeis University. As with today, I do intend to be there. Here's the info for anyone else who may be interested:

See you there if you attend.