Protocols of Zion

BLOG #6 - CONSPIRACY

In the last few days we have seen a new wave of talk of conspiracy, Jews, Zionists, and Israel. First the President of Iran publicly exhorts his followers, saying that Israel, “Must be wiped off the Map.” That same evening Iranian TV runs a special documentary on “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” claiming it reveals the true Zionist plot for world domination.

The next day in Washington, D.C. Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, is indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case. Shortly after, the web is full of new postings claiming Libby was the leader of the real “Elders of Zion,” the Jewish neo-con conspiracy that controls US foreign policy.

Wait a second, Scooter Libby – no he can’t be Jewish – a Scooter who went to Andover and Yale – impossible - he has all the hallmarks of WASP breeding – but they say he’s a Jew. I search the web and can find no detailed biography that will shed more light on his religious upbringing or faith. He certainly was at the center of the influential policy makers, where the Jewish neo-cons like Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, and others joined with the Christian evangelicals like President Bush and Condi Rice. Cheney and Rumsfeld? – Well a few days earlier, Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, described how foreign policy was “hijacked” by the Cheney-Rumsfeld “cabal.”

Don’t tell me Cheney or Rumsfeld are Jewish. Ok “cabal” does have roots in the word “Cabala” the Jewish mystic tradition but here you have one of the real insiders accusing these two of being the true masterminds conspiring to seize control of US foreign policy from the State Department, the CIA, and the US Congress.

Are they also members of Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove, the Bilderberg Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission? Or even the more medieval secret societies like the Masons, the Illuminati, the Rosicrucian Order, the Knights Templar, Opus Dei?

I’m sure someone’s working on answering these questions and connecting all the dots. No one can deny that some Jewish neo-cons have long pushed for US military action to get rid of Saddam and set off a kind of democratic dominos in the Arab world. Some have accused them of putting Israel’s interests before the US’s and starting a so called “Jewish War.”

But what about the Bush-Baker-Saudi oil connection? Or the fact that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world? And what happened to all the talk of the oil and gas pipeline through Afghanistan? What about the Cheney-Rumsfeld military industrial connection to Halliburton and the Carlyle Group? What about George Bush’s oedipal obsession to best his father, and finish the war his dad couldn’t? What about the Christian evangelical impulse to take on a new crusade against the Muslim jihadists? What about Karl Rove’s plan for Bush to run for re-election as a war president? And, of course, what about 9/11 and Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction? There are myriad factors that led America to war and without recognizing and integrating them into a cohesive whole, we’re struggling to see the big picture with blinders on.

Let’s all take a step back and take a deep breath together – oh no, it’s a conspiracy. To conspire means literally to breathe together. Inhale deeply and you begin to smell the plots percolating. Since 9/11, conspiracy theories have proliferated. Go to Google and you'll get links to thousands of sites with theories ranging from the WTC came down because of an inside demolition job, to the Pentagon was struck by a missile, to hijack leader Mohammed Atta is still alive, to it was a CIA Mossad operation.

“The Jews did it” has a familiar ring. For millennia it’s been the standby, go to, all-purpose, time proven, universal default - blame it on the Jews. Some claim it is the original conspiracy. The Jews did what? Whatever’s bad. They killed the living God, Christ the Messiah, so they were punished and persecuted for centuries. They also became the “usual suspects” for all sorts of lesser offenses, from plagues to wars.

After 9/11 many asked, “Who benefited?” and then answered “American global capitalists, and the Israelis.” Then they point to a few anecdotes that have reinforced speculation about an Israeli connection. The Israeli shipping company Zim Navigational allegedly moved out of the WTC right before 9/11. Reportedly two workers of the Israeli company Odigo received text messages warning of an attack on the WTC two hours before. In New Jersey, 5 Israelis were seen photographing and allegedly celebrating as the Twin Towers collapsed.

I talked to witnesses who saw the 5 Israelis and the NJ police officer who stopped their van. They were taken into custody, questioned and held for 10 weeks. They were eventually cleared by the FBI of any involvement in 9/11 and deported back to Israeli on immigration violations. On Israeli TV, they claimed they were merely taking pictures of a historic event. I included this sequence in the movie because I wanted to show how a real incident that raised legitimate questions could quickly mutate into so called “evidence” that the Israelis were behind the attack and not Al Qaeda. There were even some claiming the 5 Israelis were controlling the planes by remote control from New Jersey.

I believe the 9/11 attack was a terrorist conspiracy planned by Osama Bin Laden, as he bragged on video tape, and carried out by his Al Qaeda operatives. I believe the evidence is overwhelming. But I’m willing to acknowledge that there are many unanswered questions surrounding 9/11 and that like the JFK assassination, we will be discussing and debating what really happened for years to come.

So I encourage independent investigators to uncover and expose. But beware. Getting lost in all the misinformation and disinformation and arguing this theory versus that can end up being a diversion in itself. It’s easy to get lost in the ever spiraling vortex of facts which can atomize and fracture into factoids leading deeper and deeper down a tunnel with no light at the end – this is the proverbial conspiracy black hole.

Tracking the contours of hidden power can be intoxicating and addictive – it provides an exciting narrative to string many disparate ideas and incidents and characters together - it can be used to buttress one’s beliefs and challenge others and, like religion, it can be preached with conviction and self righteousness. We all want explanations we can understand. But when we embrace certitude and lose the mystery we are in danger of losing a lot more.

I prefer approaching the world of conspiracy more like an investigative art form. Check out the drawings of the artist Mark Lombardi.
(http://www.pierogi2000.com/flatfile/lombardi.html)
They look like sea charts or constellations, or even the sub atomic chain reactions in a nuclear bubble chamber. They chart the overlapping and competing flow of influence and money through convoluted political and corporate connections creating a kind of architecture of covert knowledge. Maybe this is what conspiracies really look like. They are maps of the unseen nexus between the political, corporate, and criminal powers.

But it’s not a picture of the umbrella man on the grassy knoll or the cartoon-like general from the Pentagon calling someone at the CIA who calls the cops in Dallas. Or the Protocols with 12 Elders of Zion in a graveyard or cave somewhere deliberating, “Monday we start the bank run, Tuesday the depression, Wednesday the assassination, Thursday the coup and Friday the war ...”

Conspiracy freaks endow the ruling elite with superhuman powers – like comic superheroes – when the truth is these folks screw up and spend much of their time and energy covering up their mistakes. The “Wizard of Oz” is much closer to the truth. Pull back the curtain and you see a fumbling charlatan grabbing levers, pushing buttons and scrambling to avoid detection. It’s like the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 or Baghdad today. The operation is so ill conceived and mishandled that it crashes and everyone has to cover up how it happened in the first place. The cover up is the conspiracy.

You want to tell me the US government planned 9/11 to justify its war on terror and the invasion of Iraq? I hear you and say “NO!” Even if they wanted to, they are incapable. They might have exploited this tragedy for their own political ends, but there’s no way they pulled off such a premeditated plot. There’s ample evidence of intelligence failures and incompetence. If there’s a conspiracy it’s more likely to be to cover up any warnings they ignored or miscalculations they made that could have prevented the attack.

On a historical level you could say, yes, there are US fingerprints on the 9/11 tragedy, in the sense that we helped create the Afghan Mujahadeen and gave them the money, arms and training they needed to fight the Soviets, never figuring they’d turn all that expertise in killing and terrorizing against us. Yes, at one time Osama, the Taliban and Saddam all worked with us. Blowback is the unintended consequences of covert ops, it’s the payback. In that sense one could argue that 9/11 was blowback.

And if there is a grand universal conspiracy, it is simply the conspiracy of all elites to cover up the truth. That is the constant through history and the very nature of power. In that sense all who doubt and question the official story are right on. Don’t believe the government or the mainstream media. Don’t believe the hype. But as you search for the truth don’t go back to the recycled garbage of the middle ages or the propaganda of the Czar or the Nazis.

So let’s all breathe together and envision something bold and empowering. Don’t close your eyes. Open them. The truth should not set us back, it should set us free.

Keep it open.

Marc

Marc Levin at Lincoln Center Screening with Martin Peretz.

BLOG 4 - THE NEO-CONS ARE COMING

Last night we had a preview screening at Lincoln Center with a panel
moderated by Richard Pena, the Director of the Film Society of Lincoln
Center. The panelists were Alan Brinkley, Professor of American History at
Columbia University, Stuart Klawans, film critic for The Nation, and Martin
Peretz, Editor in Chief of the New Republic.

I joined the panel and quickly realized it was something of a critical gang
bang – one after another came the litany of criticism and complaints – no
intellectual rigor – scattershot – too personal and in your face – but then
Martin Peretz went for the jugular intimating that the film was not good for
Jews.

Peretz got personal, “The most shocking thing actually that I felt, the most shocking image to me was in your father’s house the photograph of the picture of Che and I think the picture of Che has distorted your view of the world. ”

He went on to suggest that I had basically produced the Jew hatred in the film that I had to ”go to a prison, a Patterson street corner to get any resonance of the Protocols of Zion, any resonance and the resonance was really pathetic." He insisted it was a totally inaccurate picture of what’s happening.

Excuse me Marty, I wanted to do a gonzo film without talking heads, experts,
academics, and pundits like you. If it bothers you, well it bothers me that
you didn’t bother to check out my body of work with street gangs, mobsters,
CIA operators, anti abortion terrorists, prisoners, drug dealers, religious
zealots, and extremists of all stripes. Then you might have had a better
understanding of my approach.

I didn’t need to go out and stage these encounters – they were right there
on my street corner.

Or for that matter right at this computer keyboard. Just type Jew into
Google – guess what the second listing is? Jew Watch, created by another
one of those marginal, don’t waste your time on freaks. It’s only the
largest anti-Semitic web site available to millions – so why talk to the
man who runs it? As you repeated over and over Marty, they are fringe freaks
and irrelevant, certainly not worth screen time in any reputable and
intellectually rigorous documentary. “Why talk to some bums on a street
corner in Paterson?” Hey Marty didn’t you read the 9/11 report? Turns out
over half the hijackers spent some time in Paterson, N.J.

Didn’t we learn anything from 9/11? For Martin Peretz and his Neo Con
comrades 9/11 was the perfect justification for their long dreamed of
invasion of Iraq. Saddam Hussein was certainly a despot and killer.
Unfortunately, the US government helped him through much of the 80s.
Although he and Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack and ultimately
had no weapons of mass destruction, these mighty minds helped justify Bush’s
shock and awe war. But it hasn't seemed to work out as they promised.
Maybe they were listening to the wrong extremists and marginal characters,
like Chalabi.

Meanwhile, extremists in Spain, Bali, Israel, Egypt and London showed the
real nature of the threat we face. Today a small cell of extremists can
hijack history. With weapons of mass destruction now available to fanatics
and with information technology capable of spreading their hate message to
millions – it is absolutely essential to understand their thinking. What
is America’s greatest failure in this so-called “war on terror?” It’s our
lack of intelligence – our inability to penetrate these extremists cells,
and most important to get into the head of these fanatics.

So Marty keep defending the ill-conceived war in Iraq and ignoring the
homegrown extremists most likely to aid, support and possibly commit the
next terror attack.

Thankfully the audience was not shy about showing their distaste for
Peretz’s elitist world view. While the other panelists expressed
reservations about the film, especially the gonzo style and man on the
street exchanges, they were more circumspect and reserved. Peretz wanted to
flex his brawny brain and challenged the entire premise of the film. At
one point he suggested that America has nothing to worry about from
extremists and religious fanatics since there has been virtually no violence
committed by them, except for some anti abortion bombings and killings. Sure
Paul Hill and James Kopp shot and killed abortion doctors but what about
Eric Rudolph who also bombed the Atlanta Olympics, and the white power group,
the Order, which killed Jewish radio DJ Alan Berg, and Buford Furrow shooting
up the LA North Valley Jewish Community Center, and what about Timothy
McVeigh who was in touch with the Christian Identity leaders days before the
Oklahoma bombing? And recently Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, and the arrest
this summer of an alleged terrorist sleeper cell in Torrance, CA.

I challenged Marty, saying some of his comments reminded me of those of
young Jewish intellects in Germany in the late 20’s who dismissed Hitler as
a harmless crackpot and his Nazi followers as nothing more than street
hooligans – a few years later they were being shipped to death camps - I'm
not saying the brownshirts are coming now - but given the tragic history,
preemptive engagement seemed like a sensible strategy to me.

Maybe we can show the film in Baghdad, Marty, to the anti-American Islamic
extremists and street people we’ve empowered. If only you Neo-Cons had
listened to the wisdom of the street instead of the slick hustlers who took
our tax dollars and promised a quick and easy victory. Now look at the
mess we're in and ask yourself, "Who is really giving us Jews a bad name?"

BLOG 3 – WORDS MATTER

When Mr. Mohammad ruminated at the HBO screening about the word “Semites”, he seemed to be suggesting that Jews had somehow co-opted the phrase “Anti-Semite” excluding Arabs and Africans.

From what I’ve read the term SEMITIC was first coined by a German linguist
at the end of the 18th century to describe the languages spoken by the
wandering tribes who settled in the heart of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley in
Mesopotamia in the late second millennium B.C. Later, SEMITE came to refer
to these people. Both terms derive from the name of Noah’s son Shem, who
was said to be the ancestor of the Assyrians, Arameans, Israelites, and
Arabs.

The word "anti-Semitic" has a different history.

A German political agitator, Wilhelm Marr, used the phrase to mean Jew-hatred
or Judenhass, in his book "The Way to Victory of Germanicism over Judaism" in
1879. Marr's book became very popular, and in the same year he founded the
"League of Anti-Semites" ("Antisemiten-Liga"), the first German organization
committed specifically to combatting the alleged threat to Germany posed by
the Jews, and advocating their forced removal from the country.

If you want to try and redefine “anti-Semitism” so it includes other Semites, good luck. But don’t blame the Jews for stopping you. For over a hundred years it has been the Jew Haters who have made it exclusive by describing themselves as “Anti Semites.”

The HBO discussion certainly highlighted the power of words and different
people’s sensitivity to how they are used. It led me to do some further
research. If a Semite is someone descended from Shem, the eldest son of
Noah, then what is a Hebrew?

A HEBREW is someone descended from Heber (or, "Eber"), one of the
great-grandsons of Shem. Six generations after Heber, Abraham was born to
this line, so Abraham was both a Hebrew and a Semite, born of the line of
Heber and Shem.

Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the servant of Abraham’s wife,
Sarah. Arabs consider themselves to be descendants of Ishmael, so they
could be both Semitic and Hebrews. (Jews, Christians, and Muslims all
consider themselves to be children of Abraham.) In her old age Sarah
miraculously gave Abraham a son, Isaac. Isaac had a son, Jacob, whose name
was later changed to "Israel," meaning "to prevail.” He fathered 12 sons.
His sons and their descendants (12 tribes) are called Israelites. One of
Jacob-Israel's children was Judah (Hebrew - Yehudah). His descendants were
called Yehudim ("Judahites") from which comes the modern shortened form,
Jew.

Finally there is the charged word, “Zionism,” which comes from the word
“Zion.” The origin of the word Zion is obscure. It is one of the stranger
words in the Hebrew language, meaning at one and the same time, both a place and an idea. Even the place identified as Zion has changed with time. Originally identified with a Jebusite (Canaanite) citadel, conquered by David, it eventually became a concept referring to the entire homeland and
spiritual capital. In Psalm 137 the exiles in Babylon at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. weep as they “remember Zion.” Over two millennium later, those words still had extraordinary power as demonstrated by the reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who used them in the song “By the Rivers of
Babylon.”

One of the Moslem women at the screening was upset at Rabbi Cooper for using the term “Islamicist” to refer to Moslem terrorists. She asked for an apology. Some felt the Rabbi offered a half-hearted apology, others praised him for taking part in the panel as an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi.

What is the appropriate term to refer to militant Moslems who condone
terrorism? President Bush used Islamo-fascist in his most recent speech.
Others use “Jihadist.” Another person pointed out that even the words
“fundamentalist” or “true believer” were inappropriate in the discussion
since there are fundamentalists and true believers who are peaceful.

This was an important discussion and would not have taken place if we had
not been open to all kinds of people coming to the screening. If we can’t
have this dialogue here in New York City, how do we ever expect the Sunnis
and the Shiites and the Kurds to work things out in Iraq?

New York City symbolizes the creative chaos and mix of all humanity. On
these streets you realize we’re all related and we’re a mix of all the
peoples and cultures that have come before. While racial purists preach inbreeding and de-evolution, science has demonstrated that evolution depends on gene mixing. The very idea of a universal divinity resides in the mystery of the human mix.

The great irony of so many zealots is that they are all really the same.
The all believe they alone have the key to divine direction. Whatever faith
they preach, they really all share separatism, exclusivism, and inerrancy as
the basic tenets of their belief system. These are the ingredients of holy
hate and sacred violence. I wish they could all be put on an island to
compete in a real life game of Survivor. Let the world witness whose side
God is really on.

Remember the words of St. Augustine, “If you can comprehend it, it is not
God.”

BLOG 2 - PROVE IT – Oct. 10

The leader of the JDO did show up at the screening the next evening at the Jewish Historical Society. Surprisingly, he said he liked the film. But when he went into his harangue about why I shouldn’t meet with Jew haters like Shabazz, the audience quickly tired of the bombast and asked him to ask a question and sit down. He was harmless, more buffoon than brown shirt. He huffed and he puffed and he blew himself down.

Afterwards I related my version of the HBO screening to some of the crowd. One young man asked, “Where’s the follow up headline, “SHABAZZ RECONSIDERS REMARKS AFTER ZION SCREENING” He added, “You have to run with this so everywhere Shabazz goes from now to the Million More March he is asked, ”Did you change you mind about no Jews dying on 9-11 after seeing the film “Protocols of Zion?”

Another guest chimed in “You couldn’t have asked for more. Your film just got one of the most vicious anti-semites to rethink one of his most inflammatory accusations. This is a significant retreat and you guys should be all over it.”

Some of the press that was at the HBO screening did report on the event.
Paul Austerlitz from the Forward wrote in “The Shmooze” column:

“Orthodox Jews hobnobbing with members of the Nation of Islam? Palestinian activists breaking bread with Israelis? Could these be images straight out of Eden? Far from it. The scene instead was a wine-and-cheese reception held last week at HBO's New York headquarters in connection the upcoming documentary "Protocols of Zion."

Then he went on to discuss the highly charged Q&A.

“The question-and-answer session was more contentious, with the "questions" running more toward rambling rants. One questioner went on at great length about how Jews are not the only Semites and how Arabs and Africans are excluded by the term "antisemitism"; another was incensed by the presence of Kahanist extremists in the film, and a third, a member of the Nation of Islam smelling a new conspiracy in HBO's promotion of the film, demanded to know how much the cable channel had paid for "Protocols." Images of a "Jerry Springer"-esque chair-throwing brawl may have danced through some onlookers' minds, but cooler heads prevailed. And the forces of peace, triumphant for the day, then moved on to the coffee and cake.”

Brad Tytel in the NY Observer, observed:

“Mr Shabazz is a tall and imposing man; after the panel, in his dark suit and glasses, he spoke firmly, but with impeccable politeness: “I think it has been an education,” but “we need a deeper analysis than merely saying that the Jewish community is hated because they’re Jewish. There are legitimate grievances by black people and by Arab people about what has been done to them by members of the European Jewish community.”

“OK., so far we’re talking. And the Protocols pamphlet? “I have no idea,” said Mr. Shabazz, “whether it is true or false.” Eric Toure Muhammad, executive director of the Black African Holocaust Council, also voiced his suspicions, “I have no proof,” he said, “that it’s a fabrication. I’m not here to say that I believe in it. However, it is uncanny how so many similarities in terms of what we see in the world today fit those protocols.” O.K., less constructive.

And what about the bizarre and persistent rumor that no Jews died in the World Trade Center? Here Professor Leonard Jeffries stepped in. A smaller, older man with a mustache and kufi hat, Dr. Jeffries was famously demoted from his chairmanship of the CUNY black-studies department. “That’s not even a question to respond to,” he insisted. Pressed by an intrepid AP reporter, Dr. Jeffries stood firm. “Well, they’re gonna twist it, whatever we say. That’s a crap question.” But Mr. Shabbazz shrugged off this advice, talking over Dr. Jeffries. “I don’t know,” he said, “I don’t know, I don’t have enough research on that.”

I don’t know what kind of evidence they are looking for. When we were shooting the film we went to the medical examiners office to find out how many Jews died on 9-11. We were told that the NY Medical Examiner does not identify deceased by their religion. But as the lead investigator Shiya Ribowski passionately pointed out, “Hundreds of Jews died on 9-11. I know I identified their remains. I worked with their families and attended their funerals.”

Anyone who doubts this fact should simply go to one of the many lists of the dead and read the names for themselves. (http://www.september11victims.com/september11Victims/victims_list.htm) It is impossible to know for certain a person’s religious affiliation simply by their name or even profile. There are also obviously families of mixed religious background. My estimate is that some 300-500 Jews perished in the World Trade Center.

Then there’s the canard that the Jews were warned not to go to work on 9-11. Wouldn’t the head of the Port Authority, Neil Levin, be one of the first warned. He died in the WTC along with many of the Jewish employees at the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Obviously none of them were warned either.

As for the abundant evidence that the “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is not only a fraud but a plagiarized forgery I suggest the doubters simply consult the historic record. As far back as 1921, Philip Graves of the London Times revealed The Protocols to be a fraud, showing it to be based on a French satire aimed at Napoleon III. The 1864 book by Maurice Joly's was "Les Dialogues aux Enfers" or “The Dialogue in Hell between Montesquieu and Machiavelli,” In a series of side-by-side extracts printed in the Times, Graves demonstrated that the forgers took long portions of the original text and simply replaced "France" with "Zion" and "The Emperor" with "We the Jews."

In 1929 even Henri Ford, who popularized the Protocols in the United States, was forced to admit they were not real and he apologized for publishing them in his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent.

In 1935 there was actually a trial in Switzerland where two Swiss Nazis were charged with circulating the Protocols. They claimed they were real. The Judge ruled against them and said:

“I hope that one day there will come a time when no one will any longer comprehend how in the year 1935 almost a dozen fully sensible and reasonable men could for fourteen days torment their brains before a court of Berne over the authenticity or lack of authenticity of these so-called Protocols . . .that, for all the harm they have already caused and may yet cause, are nothing but ridiculous nonsense.”

In 1993, a Russian court ruled that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an antisemitic forgery -- "the first such verdict in the land where the fraud originated 90 years ago." *

So lets forget about recycling czarist and nazi garbage and lets have a real debate on real issues. If you want to discuss the Arab Israeli conflict, US foreign policy, and even Jewish power and influence – fine – but lets get the Big Lie off the table. The Protocols are a fraud, one historian called them “the literary hoax of the century.” Trying to connect their gothic propaganda and comic book conspiracy theories to 9-11 is delusional. How can anyone honestly believe that “no Jews died in the WTC on 9-11.” The fact is hundreds of Jews died! May they rest in peace with all the other innocent victims of that tragic day.

Blessing to all for a peaceful and healthy new year,
Shana tova
marc

*For anyone interested in the most contemporary and original expose of the Protocols, I suggest Will Eisner’s, “The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” We filmed with Eisner, considered to be the godfather of the graphic novel, while he was illustrating the book. He passed away last January. The scene didn’t make it into the final cut of the film but will hopefully be included in the dvd extras.

Marc Levin speaks with Malik Zulu Shabazz at HBO's screening of "Protocols of Zion."

protocols blog #1

PROTOCOLS BLOG
By Marc Levin
Sept 29, 2005

Hello Blogosphere:

CONTROVERSY! That's where we start. When I began the film “Protocols of Zion” I knew I was heading into explosive terrain. The film is provocative. I want all kinds of people to see it and discuss it. So I wasn't totally surprised when Lloyd Grove did a piece this Tuesday (Sept. 27th) in his Lowdown column in the NY Daily News headlined, “Zion' Guest List May be Inviting Trouble.” Grove broke the story that we had invited Malik Zulu Shabazz, Chairman of the New Black Panther Party and Co-Convener of the upcoming Million More March, to the HBO premiere screening and that Shabazz had accepted the invitation and was coming.

As soon as the story hit the papers the shit hit the fan. ThinkFilm and HBO were concerned about the possibility that the screening would degenerate into a shouting match or violent incident. Some in the Jewish community were upset that we invited Shabazz.

When we started organizing this event, I was asked to invite people who were in the film. There is a scene we shot in Trenton State Prison with a group of inmates. Some of them were members of the Nation of Islam. Obviously they were not able to come, although we are trying to arrange a screening in this maximum security prison. They work with a community activist, Emmanuel Avraham, who runs The Life Skills program, which helps ex-cons and gang members re-enter society. They asked him if they could invite some members of the Nationalist Movement to the screening. He relayed the request and I said OK.

I didn't really give it much thought until he called me a few days later and gave me some of the names he was in touch with. He told me Malik Shabazz was interested in seeing the film.

The ADL and others have identified Shabazz as a rabid anti-semite who has said, “If 3,000 people perished in the World Trade Center attacks and the Jewish population is 10%, you show me records of 300 Jewish people dying in the World Trade Center… We're daring anyone to dispute its truth. They got their people out.” (July 3, 2003)

That's the rumor I heard only days after 9-11 and it was really the inciting incident for the film. I was ready to take up Shabazz's dare and set the record straight: HUNDREDS OF JEWS DIED ON 9-11!

At the same time I certainly felt some solidarity with the purported goals of the Million More March, especially after the Katrina disaster. I have spent a good part of the last two decades making films about the war at home, the drug war, the gang wars, the prison wars, the race war…. So I was curious to see for myself what Mr. Shabazz had to say and how he would react to my film, “Protocols of Zion.”

I was under no illusion that he was going to have a conversion experience. He wasn't invited to be on the panel. He and his associates were simply invited to see the film and then join in the question and answer session after the panel discussion. My simple hope was that because the Million More March was 3 weeks away, this might be an opportune moment to modify the tone of some of the exchanges between the more militant African American community and the Jews.

There was certainly some tension in the air at the HBO cocktail reception before the screening. Shabazz and his entourage of about 10 people, entered a little before seven. We were introduced, exchanged some polite remarks and then he and his associates entered the theatre. The screening was packed and when I made my opening comments my eyes marveled at the true diversity of the crowd.

Afterwards David D'Arcy of NPR moderated a panel discussion with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, (Simon Wiesenthal Center) David Van Biema, (Time Magazine Editor of Religious Affairs), and Mehdi Elieffi, (Arab American community leader) And then there was a spirited but civil and thoughtful Q&A. Mr. Shabazz raised questions about who the real semites were and the treatment of the Palestinians. Mr. Muhammad asked about HBO's involvement in the production and my attempts to interview Minister Farrakahn. He also felt that the film did not necessarily disprove the Protocols. The exchanges were intense, heartfelt and respectful.

As the evening ended and most of the crowd exited to the dessert reception, Shabazz held court in the theatre with some of the press. A young Asian American woman from the AP asked Shabazz, "Do you still believe no Jews died on 9-11?" He looked at her while two of his security men stepped forward and informed her the interview was over. "Wait a second," she said, "I want to know if you still believe no Jews died on 9-11 after seeing the
movie?" "That's a trick question," one of his attaches objected. She was not going to be put off, "C'mon that's the whole point of the movie, that's how it starts and ends. This is no trick question. You are on the record as saying the Jews were warned and got out. Do you now believe Jews died on 9-11?" Shabazz leaned forward and said, "Honestly, right now I don't know."

Not a retraction but a move in the right direction - as they were leaving Shabazz said to me, "Thank you for inviting us. I know we have some serious differences. But I learned some things tonight and I hope we can find a
forum to continue the dialogue." I said, "I hope the Million More March succeeds in putting the spotlight back on the war at home. And I also hope we can find a way to continue the dialogue."

Then one of the other men he came with, Eric Ture Muhammad, approached and shook my hand and said, "I came up all the way from Alabama with mixed emotions.
But the moment I saw that picture of Che Guevera in your father's home my heart opened. The father son story in the film spoke to me and reminded me of my relationship with my father, Stokley Carmichael." (One of the original Black Panthers of the sixties who popularized the slogan, “Black Power.”)

In the end there was no ugly scene and there were no conversions - just a few moments of human interaction and a small step forward in a dialogue that is long overdue.

Meanwhile at tonight's screening at the Center For Jewish History (15 West 16th St at 7:30pm) I will be hearing more from the JDO (Jewish Defense Organization) - they are upset with me for letting the New Black Panthers and the Nation Of Islam come to the HBO screening. Their phone message, "You're a pathetic self-hating Jew licking the boots of the Black Nazis! Shame on you!"

It comes from all directions and now with this blog we enter the wild world of the web. Hopefully, I can give you some sense of what the journey is like over the next few months. The film opens on Oct. 21 in New York and LA and then rolls out across the US and Canada.

protocols of zion launch

team protocols,

check out today's NY Daily News - friends and colleagues want to know if I'm ready to face off with Mallik Zuluu Shabazz - I'm ready - bring it on

avanti
marc

Despite all the evidence, millions around the world continue to blame the Jews for 9/11. This belief is a modern-day incarnation of the infamous “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the century-old forgery that some people claimed to be the Jews’ master plan to rule the world. Filmmaker Marc Levin sets out to understand why “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” has been revived, and to challenge one of the most persistent, insidious conspiracy theories of all time. In the course of his explosive journey, Levin finds himself delving into the heart of hate, facing those who would traffic in bigotry, all in the name of God.

At a volatile juncture in world events, PROTOCOLS OF ZION is the personal odyssey of veteran filmmaker Marc Levin (“SLAM”). As a Jew and a New Yorker living and working not far from the site of the World Trade Center, Levin grapples with one of the central issues facing the world today: religious intolerance and hate.

Propelled by the racist tract, which has revived for a new generation that is looking for someone to blame, Levin takes to the streets in PROTOCOLS OF ZION, engaging in a free-for-all dialogue with Arab-Americans, Black nationalists, Christian evangelicals, Aryan skinheads, Kabbalist rabbis, Holocaust deniers and survivors, and parading peaceniks.

A veteran documentarian and secular humanist, Levin approaches his subject with a healthy skepticism. For the first time, he reveals himself on camera: vulnerable, exploratory, argumentative, edgy, compassionate, outraged and ultimately entirely human in his journey to understand and to challenge those who would promulgate hate, knowingly or otherwise.

Levin’s filmmaking journey takes place against an increasingly volatile backdrop: U.S. troops march on Iraq, Arab television stations broadcast a dramatization of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir claims the Jews rule the world by proxy, Mel Gibson releases “The Passion of the Christ” and violence reignites between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Every bit as disturbing and unruly as the subject itself, Levin’s PROTOCOLS OF ZION drives straight to the heart of the hate that animates all religious fanaticism and zealotry.