brothers and arms

Back in high school, some of my favorite parts of my World History classes were those touching on the creation of Israel, post-World War II. Specifically, and this may be understandable for an adolescent male, the parts that dealt with how Israel's leaders kept a young country together in its first 25 years. Considering the age-old enmity between them and the Arabs, and now being geographically situated in their midst, it wouldn't be long to for conflict to erupt. Yeah, ok, I was a fan of the Israeli military exploits and achievements (hey, don't blame me if the books were slanted in favor of one - reality is a better judge, and who won in all those wars, anyway?).

For all the numerical superiority of the Arabs, the landlocked Israelis have bested them time and again (in 5 major wars), well at least in open conflict. For other wars of attrition and back-and-forth vengeance, I still give a slight edge to them, despite the high body count and publicity of suicide bombing perpetrated by the Arabs/Palestines. This is actually detrimental to the Palestine cause, as the world condemns such acts, while if the Israeli Mossad takes out a high-ranking officer via a spectacular car bomb or discreet hit, no one really raises a fuss. I am impressed with the Israeli military tenet of hitting back harder and causing more damage after they're hit by their enemies.

This mantra is in full display in Steven Spielberg's current Oscar contender Munich, which centers around the then-covert Israeli response to the massacre of their athletes in the 1972 Olympics in Germany (based on George Jonas' book Vengeance, with some artistic license thrown in). Though the killings were exacerbated by the incompetence of the German police, the event shocked the world and Israel still let the games continue. Privately, the victims' families reached an accord with the German government years later. And not surprisingly, the major planners of the massacre were not left unpunished - Mossad agents tracked them down all over Europe and managed to exact revenge on them, even if it took years.

As always with Spielberg, he gives his films a heart - the centerpiece of which is Avner (rising star Eric Bana), a child of a Mossad hero, Golda Meir's favorite bodyguard, and soon-to-be family man. Avner loves his country as much as the next guy, and he demonstrates this with lots of blind faith to kill their enemies on just their say-so. But over time, he begins to question their goals and accomplishments, and if ever they made a difference. He finds that his own personal goal of having the peace of a home - whether its country or family - is similar to the dreams of the other side. He slips into paranoia as his teammates fall by the wayside, and this fear even becomes more palpable when he holds his wife and child in his arms.

Pundits are taking to calling Spielberg as being in a "serious mode" nowadays, but with good reason - he has crafted a gem of movie that doesn't judge. You know where his loyalties lie, but he keeps an open mind whether the Israeli response did accomplish anything, save replacing a vicious terrorist with a more vicious one. He coaxes a powerful performance from Bana, and notable supporting roles are provided by Geoffrey Rush, Ciaran Hinds, and Daniel Craig (feeling James Bond-ish, as he should). The last time he directed something that left me in pins and needles was probably Jurassic Park in '93 (raptors in kitchen). Or maybe the final climactic battle in Saving Private Ryan.

The idea of peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs is not far-fetched, but both sides and the rest of the world haven't done a good job of making it a reality. In Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears, I liked his wishful thinking: having the neutral Swiss Guards (protectors of the Vatican) to keep the peace in a divided Jerusalem. Maybe I won't even see this in my lifetime. I hope my children will.

The world has changed a lot since 1947, and since 1972. We have managed to stabilize our world to a relative state of peace that's worth keeping. But walking past the World Trade Center area - whose reconstruction aptly mirrors this spirit - it is a reminder that this peace is almost always a fragile one.