[News] From Exodus to Marvel: A Brief History of Hollywood’s Justification of Israeli War Crimes

[Anti-Imperialist News]

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/09/27/from-exodus-to-marvel-a-brief-history-of-hollywoods-justification-of-israeli-war-crimes/>
>From Exodus to Marvel: A Brief History of Hollywood’s Justification of
Israeli War Crimes
Ramzy Baroud - September 27, 2022
------------------------------

The introduction of an Israeli Mossad agent as the latest Marvel movie
character crosses the line, even by Hollywood’s poor moral standards.
However, the Israeli superhero, Sabra, must be understood within the
rational progression of the Israelification of Hollywood, a phenomenon that
is surprisingly new.

Sabra is a relatively old character, dating
<https://www.arabnews.com/node/2160921/lifestyle> back to a Marvel comic,
the *Incredible Hulk*, in 1980. On September 10, however, it was announced
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220912-marvel-film-to-feature-israeli-superhero-sabra/>
that the Israeli character will be included in an upcoming Marvel
film, ‘*Captain
America: New World Order*’.

Expectedly, many pro-Palestine activists in the United States and around
the world fumed. It is one thing to introduce an ordinary Israeli
character, with the mere aim of normalizing Israel, an unrepenting
apartheid state, in the eyes of Marvel’s impressionable young audiences;
but it is far more sinister to normalize a state intelligence agency, the
Mossad, known
<https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/22/rise-kill-first-secret-history-israel-targeted-assassinations-ronen-bergman-review-mossad>
for its numerous bloody assassinations, sabotage and torture.

By adding Sabra to its cast of superheroes, Marvel Studios has shown its
complete disregard for the massive campaign by millions of fans around the
world who, in 2017, protested
<https://www.france24.com/en/20170617-wonder-woman-kindles-controversy-arab-world>
the inclusion of a former Israeli soldier, Gal Gadot, as Marvel’s *Wonder
Woman*. Gadot is a vocal supporter
<https://variety.com/2021/film/news/gal-gadot-israel-palestine-wonder-woman-1234971511/>
of the Israeli government and military.

In response to the news, many rightly highlighted Hollywood’s inherent
bias, starting in the 1960’s movie, *Exodus*, by Otto Preminger, with Paul
Newman as the lead actor, which provided pseudo-historical justification
for the colonization of Palestine by the Zionists. Ever since, Israel has
been elevated, celebrated and included in an ever-positive context by
Hollywood, while Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians continue to be vilified
<https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Reel-Bad-Arabs-Transcript.pdf>.

Although Israel was represented in a positive light by Hollywood
filmmakers, the Israelis themselves were quite marginal in the content
creation process. Until recently, the Israel construct was mostly built on
behalf of Israel, not by Israel itself. “Things began to change in 1997,”
wrote
<https://momentmag.com/the-epic-battle-in-hollywood-over-the-holy-land/>
Brian <https://momentmag.com/author/brian-schaefer/> Schaefer in ‘Moment
Magazine’. It was then that the L.A. Federation’s Entertainment Division
and the Jewish Agency launched the project, the ‘Master Class’, which, “for
nearly 15 years … brought countless actors, directors, producers, agents,
managers and top studio and network executives to Israel, introducing many
of them to the country for the first time, and taught Israelis how to pitch
their projects.”

The indoctrination of American actors and filmmakers through these visits
and the introduction of many Israeli actors and filmmakers to Hollywood
paid dividends, leading to a major change of narrative on Israel. Instead
of simply communicating Israel to American and international audiences
using references to historical victimization, positive association or even
humor, Israelis began to make their case through Hollywood directly. And,
unlike the haphazardness of past messages – good Israel, bad Arabs – the
new messages are far more sophisticated, tailored around specific ideas,
and designed with full awareness of the politics of each era.

Steven Spielberg’s movie <https://www.mymovies.it/film/2005/munich/>,
*Munich* (2005), was released within the cultural context of the US
invasion of Iraq as part of Washington’s so-called ‘war on terror
<https://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/research/topic-guides/global-war-terror>’,
where human rights were violated on a global scale. *Munich* was a
selective ‘historical’ account of the supposedly difficult choices
<https://www.britannica.com/topic/Operation-Wrath-of-God> that Israel,
namely the Mossad, had to make to fight its own ‘war on terror’. That was
the era when Tel Aviv tirelessly underscored its affinity to Washington,
now that both countries are purportedly victims of ‘Islamic extremists’.

Unlike *Munich*, the widely popular TV series *Homeland* was not just
another pro-Israel American argument that justifies Israeli wars and
violence. The series itself, one of the most racist, islamophobic
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/homeland-is-the-most-bigoted-show-on-television/>
shows on television, was entirely modeled after the Israeli show *HaTufim –
‘Prisoners of War*’ or ‘*Abductees*’. The writer and director of the
Israeli show, Gideon Raff, has been included
<https://jewishcurrents.org/how-hollywood-wrote-the-story-of-israel> in the
American version of the show, serving as an executive producer.

The change in the ownership of the narrative may seem superficial – as
pro-Israel Holywood propaganda is being replaced by organic Israeli
propaganda. However, this is not the case.

The pro-Israel agenda of the past – the romanticization that followed the
creation of Israel in 1948 –  did not last long. The Israeli defeat
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39960461> of Arab armies in
1967 – thanks to the massive US military support
<https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-us-policy-israeli-palestinian-conflict>
of Tel Aviv – replaced the image of nascent, vulnerable Israel with that of
the brave Israeli army, capable of defeating several militaries at once. It
was then that Israeli soldiers toured US colleges and schools talking about
their heroism on the battlefield. The Israeli invasion
<https://www.jstor.org/stable/2538330> of Lebanon and the subsequent
massacres
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/16/sabra-and-shatila-massacre-40-years-on-explainer>,
like that of Sabra and Shatila, forced a rethink.

Throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, Israel largely existed in Hollywood as a
comic relief, from shows like *Friends*, *Frasier* and, more recently, the *Big
Bang Theory*. References to Israel were often followed by a laugh – a
clever, and effective way of linking Israel with positive, happy
associations.

The ‘war on terror’, starting in 2001, coupled with the creation of the
‘Master Class’ project, allowed Israel to return to the Hollywood universe,
not as an occasional reference, but as a staple, with Israeli shows, or
joint US-Israeli productions, defining a whole new genre: making difficult
choices to fight terrorism and ultimately save the world.

The exploitation of Israeli women on Magazine covers – for example, Maxim
<https://www.maxim.com/tag/hot-israeli-army-girls/> – was a whole different
shady business, catering to a different audience. The half-naked Israeli
army girls have succeeded, in the minds of many, in justifying war through
sexual imagery. This genre became particularly popular following the bloody
Israeli wars on Gaza, which killed thousands.

Israel’s growing influence on the Marvel movies is a combination of all of
these elements: the sexualization of the supposedly strong, empowered
woman, the normalization of those who carry out Israeli crimes – Gadot, the
soldier, Sabra, the Mossad agent – and the direct injection of Israeli
priorities as part of everyday American reality.

Yet, there is a silver lining. For decades, Israel has hidden behind false,
romanticized historical notions, making its case to the US and other
western public, often indirectly. The wars on Gaza, the exponential growth
of the Palestinian boycott movement and the proliferation of social media
have, however, forced Israel out of hiding.

The new Hollywood Israel is now a warrior, often forced to make difficult
moral choices, but it is, like its American counterpart, ultimately a force
for good. Whether Israel will succeed in maintaining this image will depend
on several factors, including the pro-Palestinian communities’ ability to
counter such falsehood and hasbara.

*Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He
is the author of five books. His latest is “**These Chains Will Be Broken*
<https://www.amazon.com/These-Chains-Will-Broken-Palestinian/dp/1949762092>*:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity
Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the
Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU).
His website is **www.ramzybaroud.net* <http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>
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