Reflection Paper On The Film

Troy Welbeck

Instructor Name

Culture

18 November 2019

Reflective Essay: The Mystery of the Jews

We simply cannot deny the fact that the Jewish people carry a history that is full of difficulties but at the same time, it is very fascinating. We cannot write any chapter in history without the mention of this resilient race. This race has survived several persecutions, like the massacre of the Rhine valley (04:54) and the famous Holocaust under Nazi Germany (05:02). Giving a testimonial to this resilience, the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy has written in 1908 that the Jews have been persecuted by all races during different periods in time, yet they continue to flourish (18:33). It has also fascinated the historians of the world as the Jews have contributed to several key fields in the world. They have contributed to developing the current economic system, building international policies, shaping the current media outlook and influencing general lifestyle and opinion. This is admitted by many well-known world leaders like David Lloyd George (05:55) that anti-Semitism has always been there in world history. This is, more or less, the subject of this documentary “The Mystery of the Jews”, which solely tries to tell the story of the Jewish side.

In the first half of the documentary, a tribute is paid to the resilience of the Jews, citing that all the civilizations of the ancient world, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and the Romans have disappeared but the Jews have still endured (04:35). This practice continues throughout the documentary. Another fact that this documentary has tried to justify is the creation of the state of Israel, which is portrayed as the divine safe land for the Jews throughout the Documentary. This is done by citing the historic connections with the Prophets Abraham and Moses. The Abraham teachings themselves are used to portray that the divine teachings of God are the main reason that Judaism is so resilient and have suffered the tests of time.

The explanation of the misery and achievements of the Jews is cited through several references of famous writers and politicians throughout the documentary. One must admit that most of them are true, like the fact that since the inception of the Nobel prize, the Jews have managed to win one-fifth of them despite being only 0.5% of the world population (10:29). A historian, Paul Johnson also states that there are a lot more insights that the Jews have contributed to the modern world (08:30).

While this documentary has defined the Jews as the torchbearer of all the good in the world. There is also another side of this civilization that is not accurately portrayed. From the beginning of the 21st century, the Jews have killed almost ten thousand Palestinians CITATION Isr18 \l 1033 (Israel-Palestine Timeline). This is not appropriate behavior for a nation that has four millennia worth of hardship itched in its history. One would say that what they did was for their self-defense, but after their numerous victories against their neighboring Arab states, there should have emerged as the symbol of peace and hope as Paul Johnson thinks they are, rather they insisted on their role as the "Dagger in the heart of the Middle East". The nation which was under ethnic cleansing in Nazi Germany is now doing the same with the Palestinians. Also, we see the Israelites aligning with India's brutality in the Kashmir region that has been under curfew for more than a hundred days CITATION Rob19 \l 1033 (Fisk)

In short, we can conclude that this documentary is very informative and may help the Jews in clearing their names in the world, but there should be no doubt that the Jews have skidded over the dark parts of their recent history where they are the oppressors, not the sufferers. The documentary should have been more critical rather than the story that only sell the view that the Jews are the single best nation of the world that has done nothing but good in the world, whereas the others have not only persecuted them but failed to value their achievements as a nation.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Fisk, Robert. "Israel is playing a big role in India’s escalating conflict with Pakistan." Independent UK (2019). https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/israel-india-pakistan-conflict-balakot-arms-trade-jaish-e-mohammed-a8800076.html.

"Israel-Palestine Timeline." Statistical Charts. 2018. Electronic Document.

The Mystery of the Jews. Dir. Ashley Lazarus. Perf. Ashley Lazarus David Greenberg. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time+continue=987&v=j6k1jHAYtbI&feature=emb+logo.