1. They stand there, barking.
Twenty-six dogs.Copy !req
2. I see their mean faces.
They've come to kill.Copy !req
3. And they tell my boss Bertold:Copy !req
4. "Give us Boaz Rein or we'll eat
your customers. In one minute."Copy !req
5. - Twenty-six dogs?
- Exactly.Copy !req
6. How do you know
there are 26 and not 30?Copy !req
7. I'm coming to that.Copy !req
8. - Well?
- Well what?Copy !req
9. - Do you check it out?
- What do you think happens?Copy !req
10. - I wake up.
- At that point every time?Copy !req
11. Exactly. It always stops there.Copy !req
12. - Since when?
- Two and a half years.Copy !req
13. - And you call me now? At this hour?
- Asshole.Copy !req
14. Don't call me an asshole.Copy !req
15. This dream is coming
from somewhere.Copy !req
16. - I haven't told you everything.
- Like what?Copy !req
17. You know, in Lebanon...Copy !req
18. What about Lebanon?Copy !req
19. At the start of the war,
we went into Lebanese villages...Copy !req
20. to search for wanted Palestinians.Copy !req
21. Yeah, and...?Copy !req
22. When someone enters a village,
the dogs smell and bark to alert.Copy !req
23. Everyone wakes up
and the fugitives take off.Copy !req
24. Someone had to liquidate them.
Otherwise our men would have died.Copy !req
25. But why you?Copy !req
26. They knew I couldn't shoot a person.
They told me:Copy !req
27. "Go ahead and shoot the dogs."Copy !req
28. Twenty-six dogs,
I remember every single one.Copy !req
29. Every face, every wound, the look
in their eyes. Twenty-six dogs.Copy !req
30. How long before they started
appearing in your dreams?Copy !req
31. Twenty years.Copy !req
32. - Have you tried anything?
- Like what?Copy !req
33. Therapy, a psychiatrist,
shiatsu, anything.Copy !req
34. No, nothing. I called you.Copy !req
35. I'm just a filmmaker.Copy !req
36. Can't films be therapeutic?Copy !req
37. You've dealt with all the issues
in your films, right?Copy !req
38. But nothing like this.Copy !req
39. No flashbacks from Lebanon?Copy !req
40. No. Not really.Copy !req
41. Are you sure?Copy !req
42. No.Copy !req
43. - Beirut, Sabra and Shatila?
- What about that?Copy !req
44. You were only 100 yards away
from the massacre.Copy !req
45. More like 200 or 300 yards.Copy !req
46. The truth is
that's not stored in my system.Copy !req
47. No flashbacks or dreams?
You never think about it?Copy !req
48. No, no.Copy !req
49. No.Copy !req
50. You'll be okay, huh?Copy !req
51. - You think so?
- Sure.Copy !req
52. - You're sure?
- Yes. I'll think of something.Copy !req
53. - Sure?
- Sure.Copy !req
54. The meeting with Boaz
took place in winter, 2006.Copy !req
55. That night,
for the first time in 20 years...Copy !req
56. I had a flashback
of the war in Lebanon.Copy !req
57. Not just Lebanon, West Beirut.
Not just Beirut...Copy !req
58. but the massacre at the
Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.Copy !req
59. What's wrong?
It's 6:30 in the morning.Copy !req
60. We all have friends
who are lawyers, doctors, therapists.Copy !req
61. Sometimes that friendship
costs them.Copy !req
62. But you wouldn't
wake your lawyer friend at 6:30.Copy !req
63. My lawyer is
10 times cheaper than you.Copy !req
64. I just don't understand.Copy !req
65. Why Boaz's dream with the dogs?Copy !req
66. Why that to jog my memory?
It has nothing to do with me.Copy !req
67. Memory is fascinating.Copy !req
68. Take this psychological experiment.Copy !req
69. A group of people were shown
10 various childhood images.Copy !req
70. Nine were really from their childhood
and one was fake:Copy !req
71. Their portrait was pasted
into a fairground they never visited.Copy !req
72. Eighty percent
recognized themselves.Copy !req
73. They recognized the fake photo
as real!Copy !req
74. Twenty percent couldn't remember.Copy !req
75. The researchers asked them again.Copy !req
76. The second time, the others said
that they remembered the image.Copy !req
77. "Such a wonderful day at the park
with my parents."Copy !req
78. They remembered
a completely fabricated experience.Copy !req
79. Memory is dynamic. It's alive.Copy !req
80. If some details are missing...Copy !req
81. memory fills the holes
with things that never happened.Copy !req
82. So my vision of the massacre
is like the fake photo?Copy !req
83. It never happened?
I invented it? It's not real?Copy !req
84. I don't know.
Who was there with you?Copy !req
85. Carmi was there.
You know him from school.Copy !req
86. And someone else I don't recognize.Copy !req
87. - So go ask Carmi what he remembers.
- He's in Holland.Copy !req
88. He's lived there for 20 years.Copy !req
89. Go to Holland and ask him,
if it bothers you.Copy !req
90. Isn't that dangerous?Copy !req
91. Maybe I'll discover things
I don't want to know about myself.Copy !req
92. Not at all.Copy !req
93. You'll discover important things
that you want to know.Copy !req
94. We don't go places
where we really don't want to.Copy !req
95. A human mechanism prevents us
from entering dark places.Copy !req
96. Memory takes us
where we need to go.Copy !req
97. See all that?Copy !req
98. Yes.Copy !req
99. It's all mine.Copy !req
100. All of it?Copy !req
101. From those trees to the river.Copy !req
102. - It all belongs to you?
- Yes, and the house.Copy !req
103. It's about 10 acres.Copy !req
104. - All that just from selling falafel?
- Just from falafel.Copy !req
105. - Wow.
- Come and see.Copy !req
106. - How much falafel did you sell?
- Three years was enough.Copy !req
107. In the early '90s,
I had a small stand in Utrecht.Copy !req
108. Health food was in fashion,
the Middle East too.Copy !req
109. Falafel is both healthy
and Middle Eastern.Copy !req
110. Everyone thought you'd become
a nuclear physicist.Copy !req
111. Who did?Copy !req
112. I don't know. Your family,
my family, our school friends.Copy !req
113. They thought that by the age of 40,
you'd be nominated for a Nobel Prize.Copy !req
114. By 20, that future was over.Copy !req
115. Cold?Copy !req
116. - Cold? I'm freezing.
- Let's go inside.Copy !req
117. We have to walk all that way?Copy !req
118. It's funny you've showed up now.Copy !req
119. - Why?
- When you called...Copy !req
120. I had just gone out with
my son Thomas. He's 7.Copy !req
121. He was playing with a toy gun
and started asking questions:Copy !req
122. "What did you do in the army?
Ever shoot anyone?"Copy !req
123. - Did you?
- I don't know.Copy !req
124. Let's go inside and warm up.Copy !req
125. Would you mind if I sketch
you and your son playing in the snow?Copy !req
126. No.Copy !req
127. Not at all. Draw as much as you like.Copy !req
128. I'll fetch him.Copy !req
129. It's fine as long as you draw,
but don't film.Copy !req
130. As strange as it sounds,
we were transported to war...Copy !req
131. on a little Love Boat leased
by the army or God knows what.Copy !req
132. They wanted to mislead the enemy
and launch a surprise attack.Copy !req
133. What do you mean, a "Love Boat"?
With Jacuzzis and bars?Copy !req
134. - All of that?
- That's how I imagined it.Copy !req
135. I later found out it was
just an old commando boat.Copy !req
136. For 18, you seemed pretty bright
to me. I never took you for a fighter.Copy !req
137. Frankly, it was important to me
for a pretty practical reason.Copy !req
138. I felt like everyone else
was screwing like rabbits...Copy !req
139. and that I was the only...
How can I put it?Copy !req
140. The only nerd
good at chess and math...Copy !req
141. but with masculinity problems.
So I had to prove to everyone...Copy !req
142. that I was the best fighter
and some big hero.Copy !req
143. Did you succeed?Copy !req
144. Yes, surprisingly enough.Copy !req
145. I felt that I was strong and capable.Copy !req
146. Then the war started and they
put us on that damned Love Boat.Copy !req
147. - Then I...
- You what?Copy !req
148. I puked like a pig. I wondered
what the enemy would think.Copy !req
149. I finally collapsed on deck
and fell asleep.Copy !req
150. I sleep when I'm scared.Copy !req
151. To this day,
I escape into sleep and hallucinate.Copy !req
152. Unconscious on the deck...Copy !req
153. dreaming a woman would come...Copy !req
154. and take me for the first time...Copy !req
155. I saw my best friends
go up in flames before my eyes.Copy !req
156. - Where?
- On the boat.Copy !req
157. I woke up just before we docked.
It's dawn, and we're in a city.Copy !req
158. - Which city?
- How should I know?Copy !req
159. Sidon, I think.Copy !req
160. Out of pure fear and anxiety,
we start shooting like lunatics.Copy !req
161. - At whom?
- How do I know?Copy !req
162. Then an old Mercedes drives up.Copy !req
163. Everyone fires at it like crazy.Copy !req
164. Two years of training,
and the fear...Copy !req
165. the uncontrollable fear...Copy !req
166. Then the silence.
The terrible silence of death.Copy !req
167. At daybreak...Copy !req
168. we could see our destruction...Copy !req
169. without knowing where we were.Copy !req
170. Lying in the car...Copy !req
171. What was in the car?Copy !req
172. The bodies of a whole family.Copy !req
173. Why did you come here?Copy !req
174. Me? I...Copy !req
175. I lost my memory.Copy !req
176. - In an accident?
- What?Copy !req
177. - Did you have an accident?
- What do you mean?Copy !req
178. In a car or at work?Copy !req
179. No, I didn't have an accident.Copy !req
180. I just can't remember anything
about the Lebanon War.Copy !req
181. Just one image in my mind.Copy !req
182. Somehow you're in it.Copy !req
183. What image?Copy !req
184. Were you there too?Copy !req
185. It's hard to say.Copy !req
186. What do you mean?
Were you there?Copy !req
187. It's hard to say.Copy !req
188. I don't remember anything
about the massacre.Copy !req
189. But you were in Beirut
when the massacre took place.Copy !req
190. Yes, I remember being there.Copy !req
191. I'll never forget
us marching into Beirut.Copy !req
192. But the massacre...
How did you say it?Copy !req
193. That's not stored in my system.Copy !req
194. - Right.
- Massacre...Copy !req
195. Then it happened in a taxi
to Amsterdam Airport.Copy !req
196. Suddenly, all the memories
came back.Copy !req
197. Not a hallucination,
nor my subconscious.Copy !req
198. The first day of the war. Barely 19,
I haven't even started shaving.Copy !req
199. We're driving down a road.
Orchards on one side...Copy !req
200. the sea on the other.
We're shooting everywhere...Copy !req
201. at everything, until nightfall.Copy !req
202. That evening, when we stopped,
an officer tells me:Copy !req
203. "Load up the dead and wounded.Copy !req
204. Go and dump them."Copy !req
205. "Dump?"Copy !req
206. "Yes, dump."Copy !req
207. "Where?"Copy !req
208. "How should I know?
Out there, near that bright light.Copy !req
209. That's where they're dumped."Copy !req
210. So I drive all the way back.Copy !req
211. I had never seen an open wound
or any kind of bleeding before.Copy !req
212. Now I was in command of a tank...Copy !req
213. full of the dead and wounded,
looking for a bright light, salvation.Copy !req
214. What should we do?
Why don't you tell us what to do?Copy !req
215. - Shoot.
- At who?Copy !req
216. How do I know? Just shoot.Copy !req
217. - Isn't it better to pray?
- Then pray and shoot.Copy !req
218. Finally we see the helicopter lights.
Like halos.Copy !req
219. As we get closer to the light, we see
dead and wounded everywhere.Copy !req
220. We unload mechanically,
as if we're not even present.Copy !req
221. Then we turn around and drive off.Copy !req
222. On the first day of the war...Copy !req
223. I transported
the dead and wounded...Copy !req
224. from tanks on the coast road.Copy !req
225. I'm looking for people
who were with me.Copy !req
226. Could your men
have been among them?Copy !req
227. It sounds logical.
We were in the coastal area.Copy !req
228. In the western sector. It's possible.Copy !req
229. Do you recognize me here?Copy !req
230. No.Copy !req
231. I don't recognize myself either.Copy !req
232. Crossing the border at Rosh Hanikra
felt like an excursion.Copy !req
233. We took photos...Copy !req
234. we told jokes.Copy !req
235. We had time to fool around
before going into action.Copy !req
236. Good morning, LebanonCopy !req
237. Good morning, LebanonCopy !req
238. Too much pain to carry onCopy !req
239. Good morning, LebanonCopy !req
240. The landscape was beautiful,
trees all around.Copy !req
241. A few scattered houses.
A really idyllic pastoral scene.Copy !req
242. The slow drive allowed us
to enjoy the scenery.Copy !req
243. May your dreams come trueCopy !req
244. May your nightmares passCopy !req
245. Your existence
Is a blessing, LebanonCopy !req
246. In a tank, you always feel really safe.Copy !req
247. A tank is a very massive
enclosed vehicle.Copy !req
248. Inside the tank...Copy !req
249. we were protected.Copy !req
250. You are torn to piecesCopy !req
251. You bleed to death in my armsCopy !req
252. You bleed to death in my armsCopy !req
253. You are the love of my lifeCopy !req
254. Oh, my short, short lifeCopy !req
255. Tear me to piecesCopy !req
256. I'm bleedingCopy !req
257. Suddenly our commander
stopped responding. We lost contact.Copy !req
258. - Was he beside you?
- Yes.Copy !req
259. I saw his head slumped forward.Copy !req
260. I went down inside and saw blood,
blood in the tank.Copy !req
261. The blood was coming from his neck.Copy !req
262. You were next in command?Copy !req
263. Yes, I was.Copy !req
264. But I didn't react immediately.Copy !req
265. We just stayed in the tank
without even thinking of firing back.Copy !req
266. Two minutes later,
there was an explosion.Copy !req
267. Everyone tried to escape
from the tank hysterically...Copy !req
268. without weapons or anything.Copy !req
269. Those who stayed inside
were killed in the tank.Copy !req
270. I ran as fast as I could...Copy !req
271. in zigzags towards the sea.Copy !req
272. My only thought:Copy !req
273. "It's over. I'm done for.Copy !req
274. They'll be here any minute.
All I can do is wait for the end."Copy !req
275. I saw the building from which they
were shooting, and the commander.Copy !req
276. I hoped he'd get closer.Copy !req
277. I don't know why,
but he started to retreat.Copy !req
278. I felt abandoned by our forces.Copy !req
279. I imagined how my mother
would react.Copy !req
280. We're very close.
I was always like her right hand.Copy !req
281. I'm the only one
who helps out at home.Copy !req
282. Like the first-born son.Copy !req
283. I took a peek.
I saw them chatting, smoking.Copy !req
284. I wondered why...Copy !req
285. they didn't notice me.Copy !req
286. I peeked a few more times.
I realized that they probably thought...Copy !req
287. that everyone was killed
in the attack.Copy !req
288. I decided to wait until dark.Copy !req
289. I had a good place to hide.Copy !req
290. I don't know why, but I decided...Copy !req
291. to crawl out to the sea.Copy !req
292. I didn't want to stay close to shore,
so I swam quite far out.Copy !req
293. When I felt I was far out enough,
I started swimming south.Copy !req
294. How was the sea?Copy !req
295. Really calm, no waves.Copy !req
296. I felt calm and at peace.
Just me and the sea.Copy !req
297. I felt safe because the sea
was calm and peaceful.Copy !req
298. But I was still really afraid...Copy !req
299. that my strength would fail
and I'd drown.Copy !req
300. Or maybe someone might spot me
and shoot at me, kill me.Copy !req
301. While swimming through
this peaceful water...Copy !req
302. I suddenly heard a loud noise.Copy !req
303. I felt the water pulsating.Copy !req
304. I felt the turbulent water
enveloping me.Copy !req
305. My body shook with fear.Copy !req
306. I saw lights in the distance
and I headed in that direction.Copy !req
307. They might be Israeli forces.Copy !req
308. I kept swimming,
but felt my strength was dwindling.Copy !req
309. I could barely move my limbs.Copy !req
310. Sometimes I simply
let the water carry me along.Copy !req
311. I eventually reached shore
and started walking.Copy !req
312. I heard voices speaking Hebrew
on the two-way radio.Copy !req
313. I knew...Copy !req
314. that I had to get to them
despite my exhaustion.Copy !req
315. To my amazement, it was
the regiment that had abandoned me.Copy !req
316. After I got back to my regiment...Copy !req
317. I felt like...Copy !req
318. Like it was me who had
abandoned my comrades.Copy !req
319. I always felt
that they regarded me like...Copy !req
320. Like someone who didn't help
rescue his friends.Copy !req
321. As if I had fled the battlefield
just to save my own skin.Copy !req
322. I sometimes felt very uneasy.Copy !req
323. I broke off contact
with the families of the dead.Copy !req
324. At first I visited their graves,
but then I just stopped.Copy !req
325. I wanted to forget.
I didn't want to relive those moments.Copy !req
326. - Visiting the graves, you felt...
- Guilty.Copy !req
327. I felt guilty standing at their graves.Copy !req
328. As if I didn't do enough.Copy !req
329. I didn't do enough.Copy !req
330. I wasn't the hero type who carries
weapons and saves everyone's life.Copy !req
331. That's not me. I'm not the type.Copy !req
332. I bombed Sidon todayCopy !req
333. Amid the clouds of smoke at dawnCopy !req
334. I almost went home in a coffinCopy !req
335. I bombed Sidon todayCopy !req
336. One month after Ronny Dayag
swam back home safely...Copy !req
337. the army took the beach
from which he had fled.Copy !req
338. They told us we'd soon attack Beirut
and that we'd all die.Copy !req
339. But on the beach,
we didn't think much about death.Copy !req
340. I had a hut of banana leaves.Copy !req
341. Thinking back...Copy !req
342. the smell of patchouli oil
still makes me nauseous.Copy !req
343. It was really popular in the '80s.
For my roommate Frenkel...Copy !req
344. patchouli was not just a fragrance,
it was a way of life.Copy !req
345. Patchouli. How do you use it?Copy !req
346. Show me.Copy !req
347. You sprinkle a drop on your hand,
like this.Copy !req
348. This way...Copy !req
349. your comrades
always know you're there.Copy !req
350. I remember my men telling me:Copy !req
351. "Frenkel, you walk too fast.
Like a rabbit."Copy !req
352. So what do you do? Patchouli.Copy !req
353. In the dark, at night...
They couldn't miss me.Copy !req
354. The scent is really strong,
even out in the field.Copy !req
355. I still use it.Copy !req
356. I bombed Beirut todayCopy !req
357. I bombed Beirut every dayCopy !req
358. If I came close to death
I couldn't sayCopy !req
359. I bombed Beirut every dayCopy !req
360. At the pull of a triggerCopy !req
361. We can send strangers
Straight to hellCopy !req
362. Sure, we kill some innocent
Along the wayCopy !req
363. If I came close to death
I couldn't sayCopy !req
364. I bombed Beirut every dayCopy !req
365. Our daily routine was this:Copy !req
366. Get up in the morning...Copy !req
367. prepare breakfast
on those frying pans...Copy !req
368. potted beef and eggs.Copy !req
369. - On the beach.
- On the beach.Copy !req
370. Take a quick swim...Copy !req
371. back into uniform,
then go after some terrorists.Copy !req
372. Someone yelled, "Frenkel!"Copy !req
373. I noticed a boy holding an RPG.Copy !req
374. A kid.Copy !req
375. Frenkel, was I there too?Copy !req
376. Sure. From training camp,
you were with me wherever I went.Copy !req
377. - Even there?
- Yes, there too.Copy !req
378. Good to know.
Of course I was there.Copy !req
379. Is it possible that I can't remember
such a dramatic event?Copy !req
380. We call them dissociative events.Copy !req
381. It's when a person is in a situation
but feels outside it.Copy !req
382. I was once visited by a young man,
an amateur photographer.Copy !req
383. I asked him in 1983, "How did you
survive through that grueling war?"Copy !req
384. He replied, "It was quite easy.
I regarded it as a long day trip."Copy !req
385. He told himself,
"Wow, what great scenes:Copy !req
386. Shooting, artillery,
wounded people, screaming..."Copy !req
387. He looked at everything
as if through an imaginary camera.Copy !req
388. Then something happened:Copy !req
389. His camera broke.Copy !req
390. He said that the situation
turned traumatic for him...Copy !req
391. when they arrived in the vicinity
of the stables in Beirut.Copy !req
392. The Hippodrome.Copy !req
393. He saw a huge number
of carcasses...Copy !req
394. of slaughtered Arabian horses.Copy !req
395. "It broke my heart," he said.
"What had those horses done...Copy !req
396. to deserve such suffering?"Copy !req
397. He couldn't handle seeing
those dead and wounded horses.Copy !req
398. He had used a mechanism
to remain outside events...Copy !req
399. as if watching the war on film
instead of participating.Copy !req
400. This protected him.Copy !req
401. Once pulled into the events,
he could no longer deny reality.Copy !req
402. Horror surrounded him
and he freaked out.Copy !req
403. You told me earlier that you can't
remember being in the orchard...Copy !req
404. where the boy with the RPG was.Copy !req
405. Can you remember other things?
Like going home...Copy !req
406. chatting with friends,
events from that time...Copy !req
407. something that maybe
reminds you of that time?Copy !req
408. - Yes, in detail.
- For example?Copy !req
409. I can remember perfectly
every furlough.Copy !req
410. I remember when I was about 10,
there was a war going on.Copy !req
411. And everything came to a halt.
All the fathers were at the front.Copy !req
412. All children sat with their mothers,
closed up indoors...Copy !req
413. behind closed blinds in the dark.Copy !req
414. Just waiting for a plane
to drop a bomb and kill them all.Copy !req
415. No one even dreamed
of going outside.Copy !req
416. When I went home from Lebanon
for the first time in six weeks...Copy !req
417. I saw that life
was carrying on normally.Copy !req
418. My goal on leave
was to get back my girlfriend, Yaeli.Copy !req
419. She had dumped me the night before
all of this started.Copy !req
420. Remember how?
Add some Sprite.Copy !req
421. Ready?Copy !req
422. Bottoms up!Copy !req
423. The memories are coming back.Copy !req
424. I met people who served with me.
I almost have the full picture.Copy !req
425. - At which point?
- The first day of the war...Copy !req
426. the siege on Beirut.Copy !req
427. You remember that
Yaeli dumped you a week before?Copy !req
428. How do you know?Copy !req
429. Didn't you know that
I was in love with her for years?Copy !req
430. No, I didn't know that.Copy !req
431. It's true.Copy !req
432. What's wrong?
That was 20 years ago.Copy !req
433. It's okay. I'm not angry.Copy !req
434. At least you had your home,
your family.Copy !req
435. What home? What family?Copy !req
436. You have no idea.Copy !req
437. My father...Copy !req
438. To comfort me,
he told me that in his war...Copy !req
439. World War Il...Copy !req
440. Russian soldiers in Stalingrad...Copy !req
441. were given 48 hours' leave
only after one year on the front.Copy !req
442. They got on a train,
arrived home at the station...Copy !req
443. kissed their girlfriends
on the platform...Copy !req
444. then had to get back on board
to head back to the front.Copy !req
445. Understand?Copy !req
446. He thought it would comfort me.
In fact, he was right.Copy !req
447. After only 24 hours,
I was called back to duty.Copy !req
448. Back then, a new trend started:
car bombs.Copy !req
449. Still popular today.Copy !req
450. They're a blast.Copy !req
451. A real blast.Copy !req
452. So I arrive at this villa
on the outskirts of Beirut.Copy !req
453. Everything is made of gold.Copy !req
454. Fancy sinks, marble,
gold fixtures and all that stuff.Copy !req
455. An officer sits in front of the TV.
He doesn't look at me.Copy !req
456. He keeps repeating:Copy !req
457. Fast forward.Copy !req
458. Fast forward.Copy !req
459. THE PLUMBER COMES 2Copy !req
460. - I'm here to check your plumbing.
- Down here.Copy !req
461. - Have you seen my tool?
- Which tool?Copy !req
462. The big, long one.Copy !req
463. Your pipes are so deep.Copy !req
464. Fast forward.Copy !req
465. Stop.Copy !req
466. Hello.
Is that your red Mercedes outside?Copy !req
467. I'm busy servicing a customer.Copy !req
468. He changes the tape and says:Copy !req
469. We received a tip-off
about a red Mercedes.Copy !req
470. - It's coming to blow up your men.
- So?Copy !req
471. Blow it up first.Copy !req
472. - Every red Mercedes?
- Are you an idiot?Copy !req
473. Did the Mercedes come?Copy !req
474. We waited all night
for the exploding Mercedes...Copy !req
475. for this impending disaster.Copy !req
476. Then, in the middle of the night,
the phone rang.Copy !req
477. Bashir is dead.Copy !req
478. - Which Bashir?
- Bashir Gemayel...Copy !req
479. the elected president of Lebanon.Copy !req
480. A brother, an ally, a Christian.
Murdered.Copy !req
481. Wake everyone up.
You'll be in Beirut in two hours.Copy !req
482. I don't remember much
about the flight to Beirut...Copy !req
483. except that I was having
obsessive thoughts about death...Copy !req
484. because my girlfriend Yaeli
had dumped me the week before.Copy !req
485. Death would be my revenge.Copy !req
486. She would be ridden with guilt...Copy !req
487. for the rest of her life.Copy !req
488. While fantasizing about my death...Copy !req
489. we approach Beirut.Copy !req
490. A city with hotels, beaches...Copy !req
491. and people scurrying about.Copy !req
492. We land at the international airport.Copy !req
493. Our Hercules army helicopter lands
next to jets from Air France, TWA...Copy !req
494. and British Airways.Copy !req
495. I was excited
like I was going on a trip abroad...Copy !req
496. excited all over.Copy !req
497. At some point I simply take off...Copy !req
498. and walk into the terminal.Copy !req
499. It felt as if I was on a leisure trip...Copy !req
500. a sort of hallucination.Copy !req
501. Like standing in a terminal...Copy !req
502. waiting to choose my destination.Copy !req
503. Before that '80s departures board...Copy !req
504. the choice is all mine.Copy !req
505. I see the 14:10 to London...Copy !req
506. the 15:20 to Paris...Copy !req
507. the 16:00 to New York.Copy !req
508. I wander through the terminal
and see the duty-free shops:Copy !req
509. Jewelry, tobacco...Copy !req
510. alcohol.Copy !req
511. While I'm still on this trip,
I suddenly realize what's going on.Copy !req
512. Through the window I see...Copy !req
513. that all the TWA and Air France
planes are just bombed-out shells.Copy !req
514. And the shops are empty.Copy !req
515. They've long since been looted.Copy !req
516. And the schedule board
hasn't changed for months.Copy !req
517. Then I start to hear sounds, voices.Copy !req
518. I hear shelling in the city
and the bombing by the air force.Copy !req
519. Slowly I begin to realize
where I am...Copy !req
520. and I am afraid
of what will happen next.Copy !req
521. We start walking
from the airport to the city.Copy !req
522. Tall high-rise hotels
hover above us.Copy !req
523. The sea is at our side.Copy !req
524. We walk along a promenade
towards a large junction.Copy !req
525. Then we come under sniper fire
from the upper floors of a hotel.Copy !req
526. We can't see where it's coming from
or who is shooting.Copy !req
527. A wounded soldier was lying at the
junction, but we couldn't get to him.Copy !req
528. We were scared to death.Copy !req
529. Then, in the middle of this hell...Copy !req
530. that TV correspondent
Ron Ben-Yishai suddenly shows up.Copy !req
531. He's walking upright,
dodging bullets like Superman.Copy !req
532. Strolling along as if nothing's wrong,
while bullets whiz past him.Copy !req
533. In front of him, a terrified cameraman
crawls forward.Copy !req
534. Trembling with fear,
he can't see beyond his helmet.Copy !req
535. It was a large junction.Copy !req
536. One lane led directly
into Hamra Street...Copy !req
537. to the West Beirut district of Hamra.Copy !req
538. I remember the sizzling sound,
a sort of hissing noise...Copy !req
539. They were firing masses of RPGs,
and it sounded...Copy !req
540. like a Native American
arrow-shooting range.Copy !req
541. Before an RPG explodes,
it makes this hissing noise.Copy !req
542. You don't hear an explosion...Copy !req
543. but just this hissing,
then the walls shattering.Copy !req
544. During all this,
civilians are seen on balconies:Copy !req
545. Women, children...Copy !req
546. and old people are watching
as if it were a film.Copy !req
547. They are shooting at us
from all directions.Copy !req
548. And we can't get across.Copy !req
549. Throughout my military service,
I was a MAG shooter.Copy !req
550. During my officer's training, I thought:Copy !req
551. "You've used a MAG for so long,
why not try something else?"Copy !req
552. So they gave me a Galil.Copy !req
553. And while they're shooting at us
from all directions...Copy !req
554. I realize that I can't shoot
with the Galil like I could before.Copy !req
555. I missed the good old MAG
that I was familiar with.Copy !req
556. So I say to Erez,
"Erez, do me a favor.Copy !req
557. Give me your MAG.
I won't make it across with the Galil.Copy !req
558. Give me your MAG
and we'll cross the street.Copy !req
559. I'll shoot better."Copy !req
560. He says, "Frenkel, are you nuts?Copy !req
561. They're attacking us!
Stop babbling and shoot!"Copy !req
562. I finally realize that I must...Copy !req
563. take drastic steps.
I grab him and say:Copy !req
564. "Listen, Erez, give me the MAG,
or I'll take it by force."Copy !req
565. Whether an eternity
or just a minute...Copy !req
566. there was Frenkel at the junction...Copy !req
567. with bullets flying past him
in every direction.Copy !req
568. Instead of crossing the junction...Copy !req
569. I saw him dancing, as if in a trance.Copy !req
570. He cursed the shooters.
Like he wanted to stay there forever.Copy !req
571. As if he wanted to show off
his waltz amid the gunfire...Copy !req
572. with the posters of Bashir
above his head.Copy !req
573. And Bashir's followers...Copy !req
574. preparing their big revenge
just 200 yards away:Copy !req
575. The Sabra and Shatila massacre.Copy !req
576. I'm starting to remember.Copy !req
577. I've met people, I've heard stories.Copy !req
578. Stories about myself.Copy !req
579. I didn't want to believe them.Copy !req
580. So what can't you remember?Copy !req
581. The day of the massacre.
I can remember everything else.Copy !req
582. I don't understand
why people were so surprised...Copy !req
583. that the Phalangists
carried out the massacre.Copy !req
584. I knew all along
how ruthless they were.Copy !req
585. During the storming of Beirut,
we were in the slaughterhouse.Copy !req
586. - Where?
- The slaughterhouse, that junkyard...Copy !req
587. where they took the Palestinians,
interrogated them, and executed them.Copy !req
588. It was like being on an LSD trip.Copy !req
589. They carried body parts
of murdered Palestinians...Copy !req
590. preserved in jars of formaldehyde.Copy !req
591. They had fingers, eyeballs,
anything you wanted.Copy !req
592. And always pictures of Bashir.Copy !req
593. Bashir pendants, Bashir watches,
Bashir this, Bashir that.Copy !req
594. Bashir was to them
what David Bowie was to me.Copy !req
595. A star, an idol, a prince, admirable.Copy !req
596. I think they even felt
an eroticism for him.Copy !req
597. Totally erotic.Copy !req
598. Their idol was about to become king.
We were the ones to crown him.Copy !req
599. The next day he was murdered.Copy !req
600. It was obvious they'd avenge his death
in some perverse way.Copy !req
601. It was as if their wife
had been murdered.Copy !req
602. This was about family honor,
which runs deep.Copy !req
603. Why did you come back?Copy !req
604. I'm still having these hallucinations
about the massacre on the beach.Copy !req
605. And you're there with me.Copy !req
606. You're crazy.Copy !req
607. You're obsessed.Copy !req
608. Beach? What are you talking about?
Who was on the beach that night?Copy !req
609. What beach?Copy !req
610. I've reached a dead end.Copy !req
611. I can't find anyone
who was with me at the massacre.Copy !req
612. No one who was with me...Copy !req
613. has any solid memories
of the days of the massacre.Copy !req
614. I only have this one vision.Copy !req
615. And Carmi, the only person in my
vision, denies being there with me.Copy !req
616. - It's still real.
- It's a vision.Copy !req
617. - But it's yours. Shall I explain?
- Yes.Copy !req
618. What does the sea symbolize
in dreams? Fear. Feelings.Copy !req
619. The massacre frightens you, makes
you uneasy. You were close to it.Copy !req
620. That doesn't help me much.Copy !req
621. Your interest in the massacre
developed long before it happened.Copy !req
622. Your interest in the massacre
stems from another massacre.Copy !req
623. Your interest in those camps
is actually about the other camps.Copy !req
624. - Were your parents in camps?
- Yes.Copy !req
625. - Auschwitz?
- Yes.Copy !req
626. So the massacre has been with you
since you were 6.Copy !req
627. You lived through the massacre
and those camps.Copy !req
628. Your only solution
is to find out what really happened...Copy !req
629. in Sabra and Shatila.
Seek out people.Copy !req
630. Find out what really happened,
ask who was there.Copy !req
631. Get details and more details.
That way...Copy !req
632. Then maybe you can find out
where you were exactly...Copy !req
633. and what role you played.Copy !req
634. On that day, we were sent
to a certain post.Copy !req
635. It was actually on a hill.
This hill...Copy !req
636. was opposite the western sector
of the refugee camp.Copy !req
637. From where I was,
I could see the settlement houses.Copy !req
638. There was occasional shooting.
We tried to locate them...Copy !req
639. and retaliate.Copy !req
640. The Christian Phalangist forces
began to arrive.Copy !req
641. In full kit,
soldiers in Israeli uniforms...Copy !req
642. took position behind tanks.Copy !req
643. I was called for a briefing.
It was in English.Copy !req
644. What was it about?Copy !req
645. They told us that the Christians...Copy !req
646. would enter the camp
and we would give them cover.Copy !req
647. Once they had purged the camps...Copy !req
648. we would seize control.Copy !req
649. - Purged of what?
- Palestinian terrorists.Copy !req
650. The next morning,
they began to bring out civilians.Copy !req
651. The civilians were led
out of the camps...Copy !req
652. in a long line.Copy !req
653. The Phalangists watched on,
constantly shouting at them...Copy !req
654. and occasionally firing into the air.Copy !req
655. There were women, old people...Copy !req
656. and children walking in a line
towards the stadium.Copy !req
657. From inside the tank, did you
wonder where they were taking them?Copy !req
658. Did you think about it?Copy !req
659. Not really,
because wherever we went...Copy !req
660. an announcement was made
upon entering a camp.Copy !req
661. Civilians were ordered out. Those
remaining were considered rebels.Copy !req
662. It seemed quite natural
to say to the residents:Copy !req
663. "If you don't want to get hurt,
then come out."Copy !req
664. On that day I drove to Docha,
a city on the coast.Copy !req
665. It had an Israel Defense Forces
landing field.Copy !req
666. On the way...Copy !req
667. many Phalangist
half-track vehicles appeared.Copy !req
668. They shouted with joy
as they headed towards the airfield.Copy !req
669. At the airfield, I met a colonel friend.Copy !req
670. He told me:Copy !req
671. "Have you heard what's happening
in the refugee camps?"Copy !req
672. He had pointed to Sabra and Shatila.Copy !req
673. "What's happening?" I asked.Copy !req
674. "I didn't witness it myself, but they
say there was a terrible massacre."Copy !req
675. Palestinians were slaughtered.
I heard they put them on trucks.Copy !req
676. I was told that crucifixes
were carved on their chests.Copy !req
677. There were wounded,
some in critical condition.Copy !req
678. They were put on trucks
and taken to an unknown destination.Copy !req
679. We saw a Phalangist soldier...Copy !req
680. taking an old man away.Copy !req
681. At some point, we heard shots.Copy !req
682. We heard shots.Copy !req
683. Then the soldier came out alone.Copy !req
684. We asked him what happened.Copy !req
685. We couldn't hear him,
but his gestures meant "boom!"Copy !req
686. We understood that he'd told the man
to kneel down before him.Copy !req
687. When he refused, he shot his knees.
When he refused again...Copy !req
688. he shot him
in the stomach and head.Copy !req
689. Didn't you ever realize...Copy !req
690. that trucks were going in empty
and coming out full?Copy !req
691. Women and children were brought out
and bulldozers went in?Copy !req
692. That maybe
a massacre is taking place?Copy !req
693. Did you wonder
why you didn't realize earlier?Copy !req
694. Yes, of course.Copy !req
695. I realized something was happening
only when my men told me.Copy !req
696. From the top of their tanks...Copy !req
697. they started shouting,
"They are shooting people!"Copy !req
698. They claim that people were lined up
against the wall and shot.Copy !req
699. So I called my commanding officer.Copy !req
700. I told him what I heard
was going on in the camps.Copy !req
701. He said, "We know about it.
It's under control. We reported it."Copy !req
702. As far as I was concerned,
the army was handling it.Copy !req
703. Where was the operations room,
the headquarters?Copy !req
704. About 100 yards away.
On top of a very tall building.Copy !req
705. - How tall?
- Tall enough to see everything.Copy !req
706. They surely had a better view
than I did.Copy !req
707. I didn't want to walk around at night,
so I drove...Copy !req
708. to my place in Baabda.
I had an apartment in Beirut.Copy !req
709. Micha Friedman was with me.
We decided to make dinner.Copy !req
710. Micha invited the guys from
the regiment of the 211th Brigade.Copy !req
711. During the meal, the regiment
commander took me aside.Copy !req
712. He said, "Ron...Copy !req
713. my men say there's a massacre
going on in the camps."Copy !req
714. He mentioned one or two incidents...Copy !req
715. saying a family was seen shot.Copy !req
716. I asked him again,
"Did you see it yourself?"Copy !req
717. "I didn't," he said,
"but my soldiers told me about it.Copy !req
718. The officers sitting here did too."
We talked about it over dinner later.Copy !req
719. As soon as they left at 11:30 p.m...Copy !req
720. I knocked back a whiskey and
phoned Defense Minister Arik Sharon.Copy !req
721. At his ranch.Copy !req
722. Arik was half asleep.Copy !req
723. I said, "I've heard
there's a massacre going on, Arik.Copy !req
724. They are slaughtering Palestinians.
We have to put a stop to it."Copy !req
725. He asked me,
"Did you see it yourself?"Copy !req
726. "No", I said, "but there are
several witnesses who saw it."Copy !req
727. "Okay," he said.Copy !req
728. "Thanks for bringing it
to my attention." That was all.Copy !req
729. You'd normally say, "I'll check it out,
I'll look into it." But no!Copy !req
730. He said, "Thanks for bringing it
to my attention. Happy New Year."Copy !req
731. Well, something along those lines.
Then back to sleep.Copy !req
732. It's amazing.
A massacre took place...Copy !req
733. it was carried out by
Christian Phalangists.Copy !req
734. All around were several circles
of our soldiers.Copy !req
735. Every circle had some information.Copy !req
736. The first one had the most.
However...Copy !req
737. the penny didn't drop.Copy !req
738. They didn't realize
they were witnessing a genocide.Copy !req
739. What circle were you in?Copy !req
740. In the second or third.Copy !req
741. What did you do?Copy !req
742. We stood on a roof
and saw the sky was lit up.Copy !req
743. - With what?
- Flares.Copy !req
744. Flares that must have helped them
do what they were doing.Copy !req
745. Did you fire the flares?Copy !req
746. Is that important?Copy !req
747. Does it make any difference
if I fired them...Copy !req
748. or if I just saw the flares
that helped people shoot others?Copy !req
749. In your state of mind at that time,
it didn't really make a difference.Copy !req
750. You can't remember the massacre
because in your opinion...Copy !req
751. the murderers and those
around them are the same circle.Copy !req
752. You felt guilty at the age of 19.Copy !req
753. Unwillingly,
you took on the role of the Nazi.Copy !req
754. You were there firing flares,
but you didn't carry out the massacre.Copy !req
755. I woke up at 5 or 5:30,
and I woke everyone up...Copy !req
756. the whole team.Copy !req
757. Then I drove to Sabra and Shatila.Copy !req
758. When I arrived there...Copy !req
759. What a mess.Copy !req
760. You know that picture
from the Warsaw ghetto?Copy !req
761. The one with the kid
holding his hands in the air?Copy !req
762. That's just how
the long line of women...Copy !req
763. old people and children looked.Copy !req
764. I thought about going to
Brigadier Amos' headquarters...Copy !req
765. but as I was leaving,
Amos suddenly turned up.Copy !req
766. He drove to the head of the convoy.Copy !req
767. His angry gestures
forced them to stop.Copy !req
768. And that was the end of it.Copy !req
769. Stop the shooting.Copy !req
770. Stop the shooting immediately.Copy !req
771. It's an order. Stop the shooting...Copy !req
772. immediately. Everybody, go home.Copy !req
773. Go home, now.Copy !req
774. The Phalangists
withdrew back up the street.Copy !req
775. The women and children
returned to the camp.Copy !req
776. - The Palestinians?
- Yes.Copy !req
777. I said to my men,
"We're going in with them.Copy !req
778. With those women and children.Copy !req
779. We'll see what happened in there."Copy !req
780. Inside the camp, we saw
a huge amount of rubble.Copy !req
781. My eye caught...Copy !req
782. a hand, a small hand.Copy !req
783. A child's hand
stuck out from the rubble.Copy !req
784. I looked a bit closer and saw curls.Copy !req
785. A head of curls covered in dust.
It was hard to make out.Copy !req
786. But it was a head,
exposed up to the nose.Copy !req
787. A hand and a head.Copy !req
788. My own daughter was the same age
as that little girl...Copy !req
789. and she had curly hair too.Copy !req
790. The Palestinians in refugee camps
have houses with courtyards.Copy !req
791. These courtyards were full
of bodies of women and children.Copy !req
792. The young men had been shot first.Copy !req
793. Then the rest of the family
was dealt with.Copy !req
794. We entered one alley,
a very narrow alley...Copy !req
795. the width of a man and a half.Copy !req
796. That alley was full...Copy !req
797. Piled up to the height
of a man's chest...Copy !req
798. with the bodies of young men.Copy !req
799. That's when I became aware
of the results of the massacre.Copy !req