FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Lemon Tree 

There is a lack of empathy these days and instead of empathy there is a WE against THEM. A lack of empathy for the victims of the terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October on the one hand and a lack of compassion for the civilian victims of the war in Gaza, led by Netanyahu's right-wing extremist government on the other. Only cinema can help! Films like Lemon Tree, which modernises the story of King Ahab from the Old Testament. Ahab covets his neighbour's vineyard. In this case, however, Ahab is the Minister of Defence of Israel, who moves into a house near a lemon grove. The lemons are the only source of income for a widow from Palestine. For security reasons, Ahab claims, the lemon trees are to be cut down. Unlike him, however, his wife sympathises with the widow. A parable of the daily insults, injustices and injuries that agents of Israel inflict on their neighbours from Palestine. An opportunity for us to feel what we at best read in the serious press and at worst on social media.