To live with terror
Description
In the 1990's, two terrorist attacks occurred in Buenos Aires against the Jewish community. Both faded quickly from the memory of the international community. There was only a lacklustre investigation by the Argentine government. Only the tenacity of surviving family members pressing for justice is finally bringing to light a conspiracy of international proportion. The attack occurred in 1992 when a car bomb struck the Israeli consulate, killing 29 people. David Goldman, an American, was among the dead. His father Ralph has been pressing Argentine President Menem for a thorough investigation. Menem, a Syrian by birth, had close ties to the Arab world, although he had been courting American favor. Two years later, in July of 1994, a Jewish center, AMIA, was struck by a truck bomb. Eighty-five people perished. President Menem never visited the site. The police conducted an inept investigation, leaving the remains of the truck unattended for a month. The truck was finally traced to a car thief with Nazi ties who was taped accepting a bribe from the presiding judge of the AMIA case. The film makes clear the layers of official corruption as well as the pervasive anti-semitism in Argentina, a country that hosted Nazis fleeing Europe after the war. There is evidence that Hezbollah had a hand in the devastating attacks. A trial against the alleged local Argentine policemen has just begun that may take another year. The trial is already submerged in controversy. The filmmaker was courageous in his tireless pursuit of truth. Gary Sick of Columbia University; Bruce Hoffman, Dir. of the Rand Corporation; and Martin Kramer of Tel Aviv University offer their assessment of where responsibility might lie. The film has special resonance in America after the events of 9/11.
Runtime
57 min
Creator
Vriens, Ton
Subjects
Geography
Genre
Date of Publication
1996
Database
Alexander Street
Direct Link
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