Steven Spielberg should be commended for his most recent film, the gripping "Munich." As we live in a world that is still very much held hostage to the type of insidious terror that underpins much of "Munich," the film and its message are especially poignant. The worst consequence of terrorism is that it spawns a seemingly endless cycle of violence between the perpetrators who initiate the violence and those who seek to bring them to justice. The cycle is not only destructive to the innocents targeted by the terror, but also to those who attempt to stop it. Sometimes, the "good guys" must use troubling and morally dubious methods in order to stop their opponents. Sometimes, fire can only be fought with fire. As Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir says in the film, at times a civilization must compromise its own values in order to survive.
Especially significant is the heavy heart with which the decision is made to assassinate the terrorists in the film. That being said, the greatest achievement of "Munich" is that it demonstrates that within this world of terror and spy-versus -spy, there are gradations of good and evil. The Black September terrorists who murdered innocent Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games cannot and should not be lumped together with the Israeli Mossad agents who hunt them, despite the fact that they are both part of the vicious terror cycle.
The Black September terrorists unleashed wanton acts of murder against simple athletes, "non-politicals," while the acts of the Israeli Mossad agents were retaliatory in nature and targeted the very individuals who masterminded the brutal murders. At the end of the day, even if the Israeli reprisals do not eliminate the terrorists -- or even if they give rise to new ones -- it is still terrorism they are striking against. There is a big difference between someone who kills unarmed athletes in an Olympic Village and someone who must carry out the dirty business of eliminating those responsible. Violence, while horrible and undesirable, is sometimes unavoidable. But to be sure, there are pronounced differences among those who indulge in it.
In the film, the Israeli team of assassins is led by a man named Avner, who is a metaphor for the people of Israel. Avner agrees to lead the mission because of his love for Israel, despite the fact that he understands the death that will ensue. In doing so, he explains that he will lead the mission, but he will not celebrate the deaths that he will cause.
Avner and his team travel throughout Europe, hunting down the men responsible for planning the murders at the Munich Olympics. However, as their death toll rises, the Israeli assassins begin to question themselves and to suffer from deep psychological wounds. Killing is not an easy thing for a human being with a soul to do, even when it is justified. As such, the toll of repeated assassinations weighs heavily on the Israelis in "Munich." They wonder whether, by carrying out the targeted assassinations, they have reduced themselves to nothing more than the very terrorists they are charged with assassinating. The inner turmoil of Avner and teammates is what separates them from the people they kill. It is the source of the gradation mentioned earlier. Avner and his men do not kill by choice and they do not obtain joy from it. They do not like their work, but they forge on nonetheless because they see it as necessary to protect their homeland -- "a place for Jews on this Earth" -- and their loved ones there. The cycle of terror and reprisal ultimately spares no one -- not even the righteous.
"Munich" is an especially important film in light of the recent developments in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip heralds a new era in the Middle East, one in which the cycle of violence so vividly portrayed in "Munich" could possibly be brought to an end. Indeed, one cannot help but reflect on the depicted encounter in the stairwell in the "safe house" between Avner and the Palestinian leader, Ali. While each remained resolute in his position, at least they were talking, not shooting.
If nothing else, "Munich" serves as an incentive to those who are in the position to work toward peace. The film seems to cry out that an agreement must be reached in order to put an end to the violence. As the Israelis and Palestinians draw closer than ever, in terms of actual concessions made, to achieving a settlement, "Munich" serves as a visceral reminder of the conflict at its worst, and the necessity to move forward in the peace process.
