Fabulous and deeply moving If there were only one foreign country I could visit in the remainder of my life, it would be Israel. I've always wanted to see Israel but have never found the right opportunity. I hope I get to soon. No country fires my imagination more.
"Our Boys" has only intensified my desire to visit. The series has already stirred massive controversy and resentment, so much so that the directors have received veiled threats from Jews for their supposed anti-Israeli bias in telling the story. Having never been intimately familiar with the events depicted, I can't comment authoritatively on the accuracy of the cinematic narrative. What I can say is, after watching the whole thing, I was left with a more - not less - positive image of the Israeli state than before.
As an attorney, I recognize a developed legal system when I see one. The courtroom, lawyers, procedure, questioning, testimony - all are recognizable to anyone trained and practiced in the legal culture of the Judeo-Christian world. And this culture is the backdrop against which all the emotion of this story, the sadness of the bereaved Arab family, and the passions of everyone concerned are set. The result is multi-dimensional - and absolutely brilliant. The acting is first-rate, even by youngsters. The actor occupying the lead role for most of the series until the legal proceedings get under way in the last few episodes has the uncanny ability to act with only his eyes. He is a stoic Shin Bet investigator, quiet and driven, and you can't take your eyes off him when he is on screen. It is a masterful performance. The performance by the actor playing the father of the murdered Palestinian Arab boy is likewise beautifully nuanced.
For those of us who have lived in Muslim-majority countries, the contrast of the Muslim sense of justice to its Jewish counterpart is very effectively portrayed. Most Westerners should identify with the Jewish sense over the Islamic one. For example, the demand by the parents of the murdered Arab boy (Mohammed Abu Khdeir) that the family homes of the three Jewish murderers be demolished does not comport with Western sensibilities. It is a disproportionate and unrelated punishment under Western law, especially when the three culprits are already serving life terms in prison. But it does feel familiar in a Muslim setting. After all, murderers in Muslim-majority countries are often given very lenient sentences, especially when they prove able to compensate the family of the deceased monetarily or materially with "blood money." In places like Turkey and Pakistan, those found guilty of honor killing - the murder of a relative for "dishonoring" the family - are often subject to what Westerners would consider light sentences, or the authorities turn a blind eye altogether. No such leniency for premeditated murder exists in Western countries-or Israel. "Our Boys" makes that clear.
When one looks for the cast list here on IMDB or elsewhere online, one finds that most members are not identified. This is a shame, and probably borne of the fact that both the producers and actors took a risk. The Jewish backlash against "Our Boys" is already visible in high profile, and perhaps the information publicized about the series reflects a sense that recrimination and retribution from angry Jews could ensue. Yet there is only one controversial aspect to the narrative, and that is in onscreen text at the end providing facts about the episode and describing the Israeli presence in the West Bank as "occupation" in the context of what anti-Israeli activists have used Mohammed Abu Khdeir as a mascot to protest against.
Read the wrong way, "Israeli occupation" could be interpreted as endorsement of the idea that Israel is "occupying" another "country." Yet the West Bank is not a country: the so-called "Palestinian Authority" has no vote in the United Nations, and not because of any pro-Israeli bias in the UN. In reality, the Arab-Israeli peace process remains unsettled internationally, with the "two-state solution" being only one scenario envisioned. Furthermore, although Jewish settlements in the West Bank inconvenience an international order of nation-states with clear, recognized borders, it is far from clear that "Palestinian" should refer to an Arab nationality that is "under occupation" by foreigners. It should not. The most accurate term for an Arab in the West Bank is probably "Palestinian Arab," because there are also "Palestinian Christians" and "Palestinian Jews," and thus no justification for allowing Muslims to monopolize the term "Palestinian." So it was a minor disappointment to see the term "Israeli occupation" on screen. Even if such a phrase was only intended to refer to something certain people imagine to be a legitimate target of protest, it could be misconstrued by viewers.
It is to be hoped that this series leads to more productions highlighting the multi-layered, sophisticated and ultimately fascinating society in the State of Israel. I for one would also like to see a dramatization of the stories of the three Jewish teens - Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frankel - whom the terrorist organization Hamas abducted and murdered, and who are at the center of "Our Boys" when the series begins. Their stories, and those of their families, are surely every bit as moving and sad as the story of Mohammed Abu Khdeir.