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To Live with Terror: The Unsolved Attacks in Buenos Aires cover image

To Live with Terror: The Unsolved Attacks in Buenos Aires 2002

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Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016; 202-808-4980
Produced by Ton Vriens
Directed by Ton Vriens
VHS, color, 52 min.



College
International Relations, Human Rights, Jewish Studies, South American Studies

Date Entered: 11/09/2018

Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

This video is an examination of two terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires in the 1990's against the Jewish community. Between 1976-1983, over 30,000 Argentinians disappeared and were killed by military and police actions, mostly in the Jewish community. Argentina has always been a haven for Nazis from World War II, as well as a hotbed for extremists from the Arab world. On March 17, 1992, a car bomb went off in front of the Israeli consulate in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people. An American, David Goldman, was among the dead. Part of the video details how David's father, Ralph, has been pressing the Argentinian president for a thorough investigation of the bombing, but the president, a Syrian by birth, has close ties to the Arab world and has not brought to justice anyone at this time.

The second event, on July 18, 1994, was the truck bombing of a Jewish center, AMIA, in which the entire building collapsed and 85 people died. Again, the Argentinian president has been slow to conduct an investigation. The film examines the complex ties between the Argentinian president, the Arab world, and American involvement with the Argentinian government. What is apparent is that the Argentinian government is rife with corruption, that anti-Semitic feelings are strong in Argentina, and that these bombings are of special significance given the 9/11 World Trade Center event.

To Live With Terror has won a number of awards, including screenings at the New York Jewish Film Festival (2002), Seattle Jewish Film Festival (2002), and Toronto Jewish Film Festival (2002). It is well written and full of emotion, but the film makes it difficult to follow all of the lines of involvement and guilt involved in these bombings. The final point is that no justice has been done for the victims or survivors of these tragedies, and that the survivors continue to live in a world of hate and fear.