Survivor of Hamas captivity Eliya Cohen launched strong criticism on Monday against the producers of the anti-IDF film NAZA, Yuval Avraham and Rachel Szor, after it won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival. Cohen accused the two of spreading lies against the State of Israel and IDF soldiers, and called for a public protest against them.
"Wow, I'm angry at levels that can't be imagined. For two days already I've been itching because of this couple of retards who flew to Venice to get a prize for the promotional film they made about the State of Israel," Cohen wrote.
"And I don't get how these two people can return from Venice to the State of Israel tomorrow and walk around Dizengoff Center and Yehuda Halevi Street and eat in restaurants here," he added. Cohen clarified that he recognizes the producers' right to expression and therefore any protest against them must remain within the confines of the law.
"I understand that there is the law and we live in a free and democratic country and everyone deserves to say what they want, but we as a nation, not as a state, as a nation, can not allow this to pass by unanswered," he said. "We need to take to the streets, hang posters of them, and spread pictures of them through every medium so that when they walk on the street, they're allowed to walk here, we won't do anything that's against the law, but when they walk on the street they will feel ashamed."
Cohen also mentioned the soldiers who fought to free him from captivity: "In this country they (Avraham and Szor) can not go and humiliate my brethren and my friends and the people who fought every day to bring me home and who fight every day so our families could live here, and they'll go and spread lies... and what will we do? We'll let it go?"
Later, he took an even harder stance against the producers: "They need to walk on the street and people need to spit on them. It makes no sense. The blood of our friends, the blood of the diaspora Jews, is on their hands."
Cohen claimed that the claims against Israel could also have consequences on Israelis and Jews abroad: "Tomorrow, anyone, like me or you who leaves to Europe, leaves to Belgium, if he speaks in Hebrew, they'll spit on him, they'll hit him, and they'll curse him, that that's totally because of these crazy people, who spread these terrible lies."
Cohen concluded by asking his followers for ideas on how to act against the producers: "We really have to do something. So anyone who has an idea, send me a message. I'm in on doing anything, if it's hanging posters on the street, if it's jumping on roofs, or hanging signs with them, I'm in."