Tantura

Israel

In the late 1990s, a graduate student conducted research into an alleged massacre at Tantura. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain. Israelis insist that the massacre never happened, while Palestinians view it as a hell that can't be forgotten. 

In this astute documentary, Israeli Director Alon Schwarz re-explores this, one of the most memorable massacres in 1948. He revisits vanished records and re-interviews ex-soldiers, now in their 90s, who recall unsettling acts of war while disquietly pausing at points they either don't remember or won't speak of.

His controversial and heated film shatters the silence of self-preservation among the Israeli community in regard to what happened during the massacre and how they protected it from exposure throughout the years, shaping and affecting the history of many generations.

Speaker: Dr Kholoud Al-Ajarma.

Kholoud is a Palestinian academic at the University of Edinburgh, an award winning photographer, filmmaker and human rights advocate.

The Director interviewed by The Times of Israel

Review by Ilan Pappe in Middle East Eye