'Munich'

I've seen Spielberg's just-released movie. Color me: disturbed.

And I've reviewed a book that tells a version of that story:
"Striking Back."

Everything about the massacre of Jewish athletes and coaches at the 1972 Olympics is disturbing. As I wrote in my review:

The Germans were unprepared to deal with terrorists. They ordered the Olympics to continue. They devised an unworkable plan to kidnap the terrorist leader. The sole criterion for their rescue team was that a volunteer could fire a gun. And their final effort to save the Israelis pitted five exhausted, untrained marksmen against eight terrorists. Every Jew died.

I encourage you to see the Spielberg film, not only because it's a stellar work, but because it raises important questions about how we deal with terrorism--and with one another. Without giving much of the story away, let me suggest a few discussion questions:

1) We don't see the climax of the massacre until the end of the movie, when it is intercut with an intense scene between Avram, the leader of the Israeli avengers, and his wife. It's hard to call that a "love scene"--in his head, he's seeing the massacre. What's the point of this intercut scene? What is Avram feeling? What is Spielberg's point here?

2) Avram's mother says no price is too high. Now that Israel exists, "we have a place." During the film, an Arab who Avram befriends talks lovingly of "home." Can two peoples share one home?

3) The last shot of the film is of the New York skyline. Why? What's Spielberg "saying" here?