"Waltz With Bashir" is the name of a new Israeli animated documentary showing Israeli responsibility for the notorious 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The Israeli movie, which was produced by Ari Folman's Film, is the first-ever cartoon movie touching upon what happened in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, the Independent says. A small group of Israelis knew that the Israeli army helped in imposing siege on Beirut to give the Lebanese militias the chance to slaughter the Palestinians, as they were responsible for assassinating Lebanese president Bachir Gemayel, the newspaper also says. The movie aroused considerable controversy in Israel, especially with regard to the responsibility of Ariel Sharon, who was defense minister at the time, for the massacre of between 700 and 3000 victims. Many people confirm that the Israeli soldiers "did not know" that their siege of Lebanon and shooting were nothing but a "pretext" for carrying out the massacre, the newspaper says. The movie also shows that the Israeli public opinion "practiced its pressures" for a period of time to launch investigations into what had happened in Sabra and Shatila. However, even if those investigations resulted in Sharon's giving up his post as defense minister, they did not prevent him from becoming Israeli prime minister in 2001 and 2003. The movie "required viewing" for those aged 16 and 17 (close to their mandatory military service), for army reservists in their thirties and for mothers of soldiers. But not everyone is happy about the film being screened abroad. "The Israeli audience knows the atrocities were committed by Lebanese Christian militiamen and can sort out how much responsibility is ours and how much is theirs. Foreign audiences will be blaming Israel for everything and this could reinforce that." The movie calls for re-launching investigations in this crime at the Israeli and Lebanese levels, especially as Lebanon has not made real efforts to know who committed this massacre.
