Product: One Day in September [VHS] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Slightly Unbalanced
Having read the previously submitted reviews, I think that ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER's one significant flaw is its cursory portrayal of Palestinian grievances. The highly-trained Black September commandos had definite motivations behind the decisions they made. Jamal Al-Gashey is given a very brief moment at the beginning to describe the experiences of his youth in a refugee camp, after his family had been forcibly expelled from land the Israelis wanted to annex. When analyzing the acts of the Palestinians, it is important to remember what led them to conduct terrioristic acts. In 1967, the combined forces of the Syrians, Jordanians, Egyptians, & Palestinians were defeated in battle by the Israelis (the Six Day War) and the West Bank and Gaza Strip occupied. After this war, unarmed Palstinian protestors were routinely shot down by Israeli security forces. Not having the advanced weaponry of Israel and seeing peaceful protest mowed down in a hail of gunfire, the Palestinians turned to terrorism as their only viable option. They struck at the 1972 Munich Olympics because of the high publicity. Their Israeli victims were not merely athletes, but also reserve soldiers, per Israel's requirement that every Israeli serve in the military (Orthodox Israelis excepted). What happened at Munich was horrible, and it shouldn't have occurred. It is vital, however, to understand the motivations of both sides and know why they made the decisions they did.