Israeli envoy slams Lapid for criticising 'The Kashmir Files' at IFFI
says no justification for such statements
New Delhi (PTI): A day after Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid criticised Hindi film 'The Kashmir Files' at IFFI, the country's envoy to India Naor Gilon on Tuesday slammed him, saying he should be "ashamed" as he had "abused in the worst way" the Indian invitation to him to chair the panel of judges at the film festival.
Gilon's remarks, in an open letter to Lapid, came after the jury head of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) described 'The Kashmir Files' as "propaganda" and "vulgar".
In his speech at the closing ceremony of IFFI 2022, Lapid said on Monday that he was "disturbed and shocked" to see the film being screened at the film festival.
In the open letter put out in a series of tweets, Gilon said Lapid should be "ashamed" and gave reasons for it.
"In Indian culture they say that a guest is like God. You (Lapid) have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you."
"As a son of a holocaust survivor, I was extremely hurt to see reactions in India to you that are doubting Schindler's List, the Holocaust and worse. I unequivocally condemn such statements. There is no justification. It does show the sensitivity of the Kashmir issue here," he said.
The envoy said Indian friends brought Fauda co-creators Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff in order to celebrate the love in India towards the Israeli series and Israel.
"I suspect that this maybe also one of the reasons they invited you as an Israeli and me as the ambassador of Israel," Gilon said.
"I understand your need in retrospect to 'justify' your behaviour but I can't understand why you told (Israeli) Ynet news afterwards that the minister and I said on stage that there is similarity between our countries because 'we fight a similar enemy and reside in a bad neighbourhood'," Gilon said in his open letter to Lapid.
"We did speak about the similarities and closeness between our countries. The minister spoke about his visits to Israel, it being a Hi-Tech nation and the potential of combining this with the film industry. I spoke about the fact that we grew up watching Indian films," the envoy said.
Gilon also said that Israelis should be humble when India, with such a great film culture, is consuming Israeli content.
"I'm no film expert but I do know that it's insensitive and presumptuous to speak about historic events before deeply studying them and which are an open wound in India because many of the involved are still around and still paying a price," the envoy said alluding to Lapid's criticism of The Kashmir Files.
Citing an interview to Ynet by Lapid, Gilon said the connection the filmmaker makes between his criticism of The Kashmir Files and his dislike to what is happening in Israeli politics was quite evident.
"My suggestion. As you vocally did in the past, feel free to use the liberty to sound your criticism of what you dislike in Israel but no need to reflect your frustration on other countries. I'm not sure that you have enough factual basis to make such comparisons," he said.
"You will go back to Israel thinking that you are bold and 'made a statement'. We, the representatives of Israel, would stay here. You should see our DM boxes following your 'bravery' and what implications it may have on the team under my responsibility," Gilon said.
The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you've inflicted, Gilon said to Lapid.
"As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship," the Israeli envoy said.
He said he did not write the letter in Hebrew because he wanted Indians to be able to understand.
In his remarks at the closing ceremony of IFFI, Lapid had said, "All of us were disturbed and shocked by the movie 'The Kashmir Files'. It felt to us like a propaganda and vulgar movie that was inappropriate for an artistic and competitive section of such a prestigious film festival."
"I feel comfortable to openly share this feeling with you since the spirit of the festival can truly accept critical discussion which is essential for art and life", Lapid had said.
'The Kashmir Files', which was released in theatres on March 11, was part of the Indian Panorama Section at IFFI and was screened on November 22.
It stars Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi among others.
Former Israeli envoy to India Daniel Carmon also slammed Lapid's remarks.
The "unfortunate comment" by Lapid reflects his own and only his own views and total lack of basic sensitivity or knowledge of what he talked about, Carmon said.
Ambassador Gilon's excellent open letter this morning to Lapid speaks for all of us and reflects our true feelings, he said.
"As the Ambassador said-the friendship between the people & the states of India & Israel is very strong and will survive the damage the film maker has inflicted," Carmon tweeted.
"He (Lapid) definitely should apologize for his revolting personal remarks on historical facts without any sensitivity, not really knowing what he was talking about.I strongly urge our many friends in India not to be drawn by one person's remarks to doubting the facts about the Holocaust," Carmon said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Heavy rain, hailstorms lash parts of Uttarakhand; all districts put on high alert
Dehradun (PTI): Heavy rain and hailstorms accompanied by strong winds lashed several districts of Uttarakhand on Sunday morning, prompting the state administration to put all district authorities on high alert.
The sudden change in weather caused uprooted trees to block roads and disrupted power supply at various locations.
Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman chaired a review meeting with district officials to assess the situation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast light to moderate rain and thunderstorms at most places across all districts for Monday and Tuesday. Snowfall is expected in regions situated at altitudes of 4,000 metres and above.
An 'orange alert' remains in place for Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar. These districts are likely to witness isolated heavy rain, hailstorms, and intense to very intense spells of rain accompanied by gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph, the IMD said.
The weather office predicted that maximum temperatures across the state are likely to fall by 3-5 degrees Celsius over the next three to four days. During the past 24 hours, maximum temperatures remained "markedly below normal" in the plains and ranged from "markedly" to "appreciably" below normal in the hilly regions.
Dehradun experienced dark, overcast skies early Sunday, creating night-like conditions during morning hours. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius, 5.3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal average.
For the state capital, the forecast predicts a partly to generally cloudy sky with a high of 31 degrees Celsius and a low of 19 degrees Celsius.
Significant rainfall was recorded across the state after 8.30 am on Sunday, with Jollygrant receiving 21.6 mm and Mohakampur recording 19.8 mm. Other areas, including Mukteshwar (15.0 mm), Mussoorie (13.4 mm), and Pithoragarh (8.5 mm), also saw measurable precipitation.
Secretary Suman directed officials to clear blocked roads on priority to ensure public convenience. Specific instructions were issued regarding the Char Dham Yatra, ordering that helicopter services must operate strictly according to weather conditions to ensure pilgrims' safety.
Isolated places in the remaining hilly districts are also expected to experience thunderstorms with lightning and intense rain spells.
