Last week Claire and I found (via Netflix instant download) a film which we had watched over 30 years ago. We had found it extremely moving and inspiring then but, with the new waves of anti-Semitic fervor that are sweeping our world and with the mainstream media and even the Obama administration embracing the most insipid and injudicious anti-Israeli attitudes, I think it's a perfect time to watch "Raid on Entebbe" again.Originally aired as a TV event, "Raid on Entebbe" still works very effectively as a feature film because of the incredible talents assembled. Barry Beckerman wrote the script, Irvin Kershner directed the film. And a cast of award-winning veteran actors (many of them now gone) bring the incredible story alive: Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Horst Buchholz, Yaphet Kotto, Sylvia Sidney, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Robert Loggia, Stephen Macht, James Woods and more.
The film follows pretty accurately the military operation staged by Israeli commandos after an Air France flight was hijacked in July 1976 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The plane carried about 100 Jewish passengers who were kept hostage but the terrorists promised to start killing them unless Israel and other countries freed dozens of criminals. Israel chose a rescue operation instead of surrendering to the terrorists' demands.
And that, of course, is the primary reason the film will still inspire you and your family; namely, the true account of Israeli daring it portrays. For the remarkably bold raid into Uganda to save lives, national honor and the future security of its people had to overcome not only murdering terrorists and the wickedness of Ugandan butcher Idi Amin, it did so in the most difficult of political circumstances.
It's certainly time to register your protest of the administration's mistreatment of the nation of Israel. And here are a couple of news stories that detail Team Obama's recent errors in that regard. (1, 2, 3)
But I'm betting that you'll find fresh inspiration to write those letters by watching "Raid on Entebbe." And then...pass the word on.
