Protocols of Zion (film)
Encyclopedia
The Protocols of Zion is a 2005 documentary film
by Jewish filmmaker Marc Levin
about a resurgence of antisemitism in the United States
in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks
. Armed with his camera and appearing on screen along with his subjects, Levin engages in a free-for-all dialogue with Arab Americans, Black nationalists
, evangelists, White nationalists
, Kabbalist
rabbi
s, Holocaust survivors, and Frank Weltner, the founder of Jew Watch
web site.
Levin's film draws its inspiration from an encounter he had in a New York
taxi not long after 9/11, in which his driver, an Egyptian immigrant, made the claim that the Jews
had been warned not to go to work at the World Trade Center
on the day of the attack. He then said that "it's all written in the book," referring to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
, a 1903 book purporting to disclose the Jews' master plan to rule the world. Discredited as a hoax
by The Times
of London
in 1921, The Protocols provided a crucial influence on Hitler's world views, and had fuelled hatred, violence, and ultimately genocide
attempts through the first half of the twentieth century. Ads for the film show two stacks of books, visibly entitled Protocols of Zion, with smoke billowing out of the top portion of the left-hand stack. This looks much like actual pictures of the World Trade Center as the fire raged through it. The movie was made in 2005, 4 years after WTC attack.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Jewish filmmaker Marc Levin
Marc Levin
Marc Levin is an independent film producer and director. He is best known for his Brick City TV series, which won the 2010 Peabody award and was nominated for an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking and his dramatic feature film, SLAM, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance...
about a resurgence of antisemitism in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. Armed with his camera and appearing on screen along with his subjects, Levin engages in a free-for-all dialogue with Arab Americans, Black nationalists
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
, evangelists, White nationalists
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
, Kabbalist
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s, Holocaust survivors, and Frank Weltner, the founder of Jew Watch
Jew Watch
Jew Watch is an antisemitic website that promotes Holocaust denial, and makes many negative claims about Jews, which include allegations of a conspiracy that Jews control the media and banking industries, and accusations of Jewish involvement in terrorist groups...
web site.
Levin's film draws its inspiration from an encounter he had in a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
taxi not long after 9/11, in which his driver, an Egyptian immigrant, made the claim that the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
had been warned not to go to work at the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
on the day of the attack. He then said that "it's all written in the book," referring to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fraudulent, antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for achieving global domination. It was first published in Russia in 1903, translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the twentieth century...
, a 1903 book purporting to disclose the Jews' master plan to rule the world. Discredited as a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1921, The Protocols provided a crucial influence on Hitler's world views, and had fuelled hatred, violence, and ultimately genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
attempts through the first half of the twentieth century. Ads for the film show two stacks of books, visibly entitled Protocols of Zion, with smoke billowing out of the top portion of the left-hand stack. This looks much like actual pictures of the World Trade Center as the fire raged through it. The movie was made in 2005, 4 years after WTC attack.
Reactions
The film received fair to good reviews from American film critics. The most common negative criticism was that although it elicited strong emotions, the film lacked focus. The film had an extremely limited theatrical release (four theaters at its widest) and grossed $178,875 domestically.See also
- Antisemitism
- Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
- New antisemitism
- Pierre-André TaguieffPierre-André TaguieffPierre-André Taguieff is a philosopher and director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in an Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris laboratory, the CEVIPOF...
(interviewed in the film)