The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit is hard at work producing a film meant to counter allegations raised in the 2002 documentary film "Jenin, Jenin." The 2002 film was a Palestinian account of events during an April 2002 Israeli operation in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin, during Operation Defensive Shield. The film currently in production aims to "tell the true story of the battle waged by the IDF." News of the film emerged on Friday when IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai spoke at a panel on the topic of the "lawyer during wartime" during a law conference in Eilat. He said the film would be used for internal purposes and shown mainly to Israeli soldiers. The film "Jenin, Jenin," directed by Israeli Arab actor Mohammed Bakri, became the subject of court action when Bakri and the cinemas that screened the film were sued by five IDF reserve soldiers for defamation. The petitioners sought compensation of 2.5 million shekels ($690,000), arguing that they had been depicted in the film as war criminals. Both the District Court and Supreme Court ruled that the film, which contains no footage of the fighting but only interviews with Palestinians, had made false allegations. The court ultimately dismissed the case, ruling that while the film did in fact slander Israeli soldiers, the five who had initiated the court action were not personally defamed and had no case.
