Monday, March 19, 2018

7 Days in Entebbe

June 27, 1976 – An Air France plane was flying with 248 passengers from Tel Aviv, Israel to Paris, France via Athens, Greece. That plane was hijacked by 2 members of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine and 2 sympathizers from Germany. The flight was diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. Ugandan dictator at that time Idi Amin welcomed the hijackers. The hijackers had various demands including releasing of many prisoners in Israel.
 
After two days, they released all non-Jewish passengers. 94 Jewish passengers and 12 crew members remained as hostages. They were threatened with death.
 
Israel never negotiates with any hijacker. They decided to send their commandos of the Israeli Defense Forces to rescue the hostages. 100 commandos took part. On July 4, 1976, they made a daring, thrilling, and successful rescue operation. They rescued 102 of the 106 hostages. All hijackers and many Ugandan soldiers (who supported the hijackers) were killed.
 
There was only one killed on the Israeli side. It was their commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Nethanyahu. He is the older brother of the current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Nethanyahu.
 
This rescue operation was made into 3 movies so far. Victory at Entebbe (1976), Raid on Entebbe (1977), and Operation Thunderbolt (1977).
 
Now another movie about this rescue operation is released this week. It is titled “7 Days in Entebbe”.
 
I saw this movie last night. I am not reviewing this movie. I will tell my impression. It is a tale of real life cruelty and heroism. But I like the previous 3 movies much better.
 
In this movie, a sequence of dance performance is distracting and breaks the continuity. I have no idea why the Director placed this dance performance.
 
I thought I would see Israeli Commandos in action throughout the movie. But saw their action only in the last 10 minutes.
 
I was more interested to see their assault preparation than the Israeli Cabinet’s endless discussion.
 
One touching incident was when the Air France Pilot (a French citizen and a non-Jew) was released by the hijackers, he refused to go. He told the hijackers that these are his passengers and he will stay with them until they are released.
 
One more observation. In the movie, when 2 Germans speak they speak in German language. When 2 Palestinians speak they speak in Arabic. Why then the Director let the Israeli Cabinet discuss everything in English? The Israeli Cabinet always discuss subjects in their own mother tongue Hebrew and not in English. I have a possible reason. Stay tuned for the my next blog post.
 
I think the 1977 movie Raid on Entebbe was more interesting. It is available in YouTube for free. Please watch it if you want to.

25 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting. Will watch these someday.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Ash. I am sure you will like these movies.

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  2. There was only one killed on the Israeli side. It was their commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Nethanyahu. He is the older brother of the current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Nethanyahu. ....I feel that all our youngsters should go through NCC training at least, so that we can use them when need arises.

    I will watch the movie you recommended soon.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. Your suggestion is a very good one. In Israel, anyone who is 18 has to serve in the military for 2 years. In USA, people between the ages of 18 and 25 have to register to serve in the military. It is called here as "Draft".

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  3. The movie I was in is the best.
    The rest...failed the test.

    Regards,
    Charles Bronson

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    1. Thanks for your comments Charles, the fearless tough guy. It is very rarely I agree with your comments. This is one those rare moments. Your movie is the best. All your movies are the best.

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  4. I will watch Raid on Entebbe from Youtube soon. I like such movies :)

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. Please tell me your impression after viewing this movie.

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  5. You always come up with the interesting posts. I will wait eagerly for the promised next one.Meanwhile I will see the free movie in youtube.Is 7 days in Entebbe available on Netflix?

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    1. Thanks for your comments and complements Mr. KP. Please see the movie in YouTube. I am sure you will like this. Please let me know your impression. 7 days in Entebbe was released in theaters only 3 days ago. Therefore, I don't know if this is available on Netflix that soon.

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  6. Got goosebumps! My respect for our friend Israel and Israel's current PM! Thanks a lot for this post, SG. Forwarding to my hubby for further YouTube download recommendation :-D

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    1. Thanks for your comments Sindhu. Please tell me your impression after viewing this movie.

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  7. Very Interesting Story SG. I am going to definitely try hard and watch that movie even though its not the genre i like to watch.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Dee. Please tell me your impression after viewing this movie.

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  8. happy to find your very interesting blog my friend!

    i too like movies based on real life events and the incident you mentioned above is old for me and i was just 3 years old then still i loved your observation ,either i watch movies or shows through the director's point of view ,he is commander of the ship indeed

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    1. Thanks for your comments baili. And, welcome to my blog. I am glad you like those movies that are based on real life events.

      baili, please visit here as often as possible. Thanks.

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  9. i am always awed by Israel, the way Mossad works and they defend themselves.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Renu. I am also awed by them.

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  10. I grew up at a time, when hijacks were common. I have to watch this. Haven't been able to.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Pradeep. Let me know your views after watching.

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  11. Raid on Entebbe goes in mt To-Be-Watched List. Thanks for the recommendation and an interesting post!

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    1. Thanks for your comments Shilpa. Let me know your views after watching.

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  12. I didn't know about this hijack until today. I should definitely watch this movie. Have always like movies based on reality.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Shesha. Let me know your views after watching.

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