THE HUMAN FACTOR | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Dror Moreh (12A, 106 mins)
A thorough examination of the mechanics of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations brokered by the United States over the past three decades, given further tragic weight by recent events in the region. Using stock footage and talking heads, director Dror Moreh pieces together the ups and downs of the quest for peace: the moments when it was within reach, only for hopes to be dashed.
The political gameplaying is relayed by American negotiators of the time, Dennis Ross, Daniel Kirtzer and Aaron Miller amongst them, candidly reflecting on their diplomatic pasts as hope and frustration battle for supremacy. It starts in the early 90s, when a peace deal seemed possible between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, brokered by newly elected President Bill Clinton. Rabin’s assassination in 1995, though, meant peace was in doubt once more. The bullish antics of subsequent Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu derailed the process for a time, but his successor Ehud Barak offered hope. Clinton arranged a big meet for Arafat and Barak at Camp David in the dying year of his Presidency in the hope that he could leave a lasting legacy of peace in the Middle East; unfortunately, we all know how that turned out.
The fascinating ins and outs of the politics are detailed: everything from making sure Arafat avoided kissing Rabin on their first meeting to make sure Rabin didn’t lose face, to Clinton writing on a notepad to “focus on the job”, while at a summit in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The toll of the near misses weighs heavily on these negotiators, each haunted by the outcome: hindsight giving their actions a better degree of clarity but no real way out.
There are no happy endings here, faults lying on every side. Stereotypical images of Israelis and Palestinians have become entrenched, with the US now a seemingly powerless mediator, missing all the nuance of the ongoing conflict. And all the time the human tragedy continues. Fascinating but heartbreaking.
Released in cinemas on Fri 21 May
words KEIRON SELF