Wendy R. Williams talks with Marc Levin, the director of Protocols of Zion Monday October 17, 2005 Regency Hotel Shining a Flashlight on Hatred

The New York Cool Review of the Documentary:
Reviewed by Wendy R. Williams

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a hoax, a one-hundred-year-old book about the Jewish plot to dominate the world which was purportedly written by Czar Alexander’s secret police. But like all evil, it had an afterlife, fueled by the internet and disseminated by word of mouth. Until very recently, Protocols was sold at Wall Mart and it still can be purchased at Amazon.com (along with many other books that debunk the myth).

Marc Levin was inspired to make his documentary film, Protocols of Zion, after an Egyptian cab driver told him that no Jews had died in the World Trade Center; that all four thousand (where did that number come from?) had received a warning to stay home from work that day. When Levin questioned the cab driver, the driver told him that this was all part of a plot that was outlined in the “book,” the book being The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

So, with his father (Al Levin) in tow, Levin plunged into the fray - interviewing: Christian Evangelicals; Aryan Skinheads (in a suit and rep tie); the publisher of the Jew Watch website; Black nationalists; and Palestinians. With a charming conversational style (similar to Michael Moore), he went everywhere - including prison yards and the Arab stronhold of Patterson New Jersey. And surprisingly, everyone talked to him. And they talked about the book, whether they had read it or not (many of the zealots who liberally quoted the “book” did not seem to have actually read it).

But Levin does not stop there; his documentary is definitely an all inclusive. He throws in Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ, old Nazi propaganda films and an Egyptian Television and Hezbollah TV’s mini series based on the Protocols in which the “Elders” are portrayed as blood thirsty vampires, eager for the blood of young Christians. He even films himself standing in a Los Angeles hotel room, trying unsuccessfully to get some of the “Jewish leaders” of Hollywood (Larry David, Aaron Spelling, and Rob Reiner) to meet with him and be interviewed for his documentary.

The documentary ends up being an informative but charming mishmash, with a little something for everyone. While the film does not have follow a strong through-line to debunk the Protocols (any thinking person should be able to do that without outside help), it does tell the story about how a little evil can go a long way and how “the pen can be mightier than the sword.” And hopefully, it also tells a story about how a little film can have an afterlife - debunking a myth.

Marc Levin

The Interview:

Wendy: My first question is about the war. In the film you are seen participating in a peace march. How do you feel about the war and specifically about President Bush?

Marc: Well, I am obviously against Saddam Hussein, but we were sold a lie by President Bush. It is one of the great tragedies, President Bush had an opportunity after 9/11 to unite the country and he blew it. But now that we are there, I don’t know what to do about the war.

(On Muslim fanatics) There are fanatics of all faiths who think that they have a divine conduit to God and that hate is holy and violence is sacred.

But how do we fight fanaticism? Through our culture – culture matters – it is the battle for the minds. Our culture is a weapon that needs to be marshaled.

Wendy: In your documentary, you cover the subject of whether the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus. My father was a Methodist Minister (a Union Seminary educated Methodist minister) and I was always taught that the Romans killed Jesus, not the Jews. A literal reading of the Bible reveals that the Romans actually killed Jesus after the Jews delivered him to them. But Jesus was also a Jew. And look at all the horrid things that have been done by Christians to Christians. Joan of Arc was burned by Christians and Sir Thomas More was beheaded by Christians and that is just to get started. Why is it so important to you to distance the Jews from the death of Christ?

Marc: If Jesus had been killed under Jewish law, he would have been stoned. And there has been a long history of hatred of the Jews because of the death of Christ. Until the 1960’s and Vatican II- Catholics did blame the Jews for their “Deicide.” You should read the book, “Constantine’s Sword” by James Carroll. I have a question, have more people been saved by God or killed in the name of God?

(Back to the war) Jews are not responsible for what is happening right now. President George Bush may have some neo-con Jews on staff but the Bush family represents oil and the interests of the Saudi Royal Family. And that is the reason we have no national gas tax.

At the end of my film, I tell the real secret of a Jewish Elder. My father and I go visit my grandfather’s grave. On the tombstone there is a definition of God - Go Do Good. And that is the real secret of the Jewish Elders and how to make your own life mean something.

Many thanks to Marc Levin for agreeing to talk to New York Cool…..and if you want to continue the conversation, log onto http://thinkfilm.blogs.com/protocols_of_zion/