Photo credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar
Video credit: Janet Donovan
“I want to welcome you to tonight’s screening of Incitement which we’re really proud to co-host with The Woodrow Wilson Center,” said CEO of The Motion Picture Association Ambassador Charles Rivkin at a private showing in downtown Washington, DC. “As most of you know, it retells the tragic assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and tells the story from the point of view of the assailant. It takes an uncompromising and inevitably political perspective. This is a movie and subject with many perspectives, powerful emotions, and as you’ll see, deep complexities.”
The screening was followed by a panel discussion with moderator Jane Harman, former US Representative for California’s 36th congressional district and now President and CEO of The Wilson Center; former Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson for near Eastern Affairs and also the US Ambassador to Egypt and Pakistan. “I had the pleasure of working with Anne when I was Assistant Secretary of State. Anne is a strong champion of economic policy around the world. We traveled together to Algeria and Tunisia. She is one of America’s finest Ambassadors. “Harman and Patterson were joined by director and his co-writer on the film Ron Leshem. “Its reception both at home and abroad and their perspectives on a whole bunch of other matters is going to make for a very fascinating evening.”
Jane Harman, Yaron Zilberman, Ron Leshem, Ambassador Anne Patterson
Edited excerpts from the panel discussion:
On whether things would have been different if Rabin had not been assassinated:
“Basically there’s no other way to see history – that the killer and shooter killed the peace process. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t killed Rabin, but I’m sure that he killed the peace process. From both sides we’ve been struggling with this all of 20 years. The main thing that happened is it’s much deeper than just going through the ride. It’s losing, I think, it’s losing the ability to feel compassion towards the other. And it doesn’t only influence the way we look at the Palestinians or they’re looking at us, it influenced the way we’re treating one another. Just looking around and seeing how people are on the one hand tolerant but also losing, totally losing the ability to feel compassion towards the other. That, that is my biggest fear. It’s, it’s much more than political issues.” Ron Leshem
Yaron Zilberman and Ron Leshem
On radicalization:
“As someone who has studied the issue of radicalization and the long story of the US role in the middle East and, who has cared always about the state of Israel forging a path to true security and peace with its neighbors, including the Palestinians, it is just an amazing movie and I thank you both for writing it” Jane Harman
The Panel:
The Official Trailer:
