Jonah, yes, “truth is always a defense” for any filmmaker handling a

sensitive historical topic. But with this film there’s a little black

ice on the road to truth. As I posted here in July, the film’s sourcing is questionable at best. This NYT piece, also from July, quotes several Israeli intelligence experts as dubious about the stereotype of the “guilt-ridden Mossad hit man.”

Why is this all so important? Because for most Americans, Hollywood

frames the Jewish experience. The Holocaust especially has been

brought to the forefront of public consciousness because of movies,

including Mr. Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List.” Now Spielberg, a

prominent Hollywood Jew who has always been noticeably quiet about his

support for Israel, makes a film that seems to draw moral equivalency

between terrorist killers and those who kill terrorists. If the film

continues to propagate the innaccurate but popular notion that the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “tragic standoff” as Spielberg

himself calls it, where neither side has a right to the moral high

ground, then “Munich” will do grave disservice to the “truth.”