Thomas Wictor

There will be no documentary made about Operation Four Little Martyrs, the Hamas deception that took place on the Gaza Beach, July 16, 2014. I was in talks with the filmmaker Pierre Rehov, but it simply wasn’t possible for me to gather the material and raise the funds in time. Mr. Rehov had to make a decision quickly, due to another opportunity that had been presented before I was put in contact with him. He chose to go with the first project.

I’m not disappointed. For one thing, I got to speak with one of my heroes. How often does that happen?

Also, we have to face facts: Not even the Israeli press is interested in the story. James Delingpole of Breitbart London wrote about it, but he’s the only one. My theory simply won’t get any traction because I’m nobody, I see ghost cats, I’m self-admittedly mentally ill, and the whole thing seems like a hack writer’s fantasy.

Mr. Rehov was very polite and gentlemanly, but he has a reputation. He can’t risk it on just an idea. There’s no way to prove any of what I’ve written, so it’ll have to remain blog posts.

But think about how the truth is spread, one person at a time. Lots of readers contacted me, excited that Mr. Rehov had agreed to do the documentary, but what I didn’t tell you was that I was responsible for creating a presentation and raising the funds. I wasn’t able to fulfill my end of the bargain. When under stress, I fall apart. A faithful reader sends me corrections to my posts, and he worked overtime during the period I was trying to meet the deadline.

We haven’t lost anything. And you must NOT be upset with Mr. Rehov. He extended the deadline twice, but I just couldn’t get my act together. I couldn’t recruit helpers either, because we’re not playing around here. You don’t want to be involved in something that might bring you to the attention of terrorist organizations. Mr. Rehov didn’t say so, but he’s already done more than his share of risk taking.

With his French passport, Arabic features, and a digital recorder, he went into the territories (which are forbidden to Israeli citizens) posing as a French tourist and began an undercover investigation of what is really going on behind the scenes. He has thus far produced six documentaries from the “tourist attractions” he visited in the territories…

But, in France, the country that prides itself on the tripartite philosophy Liberté (liberty), Egalité (equality), et Fraternité (brotherhood), not one news channel agreed to air them. So he contrived another way to get his tapes seen. Because of France’s freedom of expression laws, newsstands have to carry publications no matter what their point of view. So Rehov created a political magazine entitled Contre Champs, and affixed a VHS copy of his documentary to each magazine. 50,000 copies have been sold of the first two issues.

His main goal? Finding a real path to peace, where two people will finally be able to live beside each other, in two free and independent States.

To reach that goal, says Rehov, the first step is to educate the media and the new generations… Since it is almost impossible for a reporter to work freely in the Territories, or to report honestly without risking his life.

Everyone who’s read about Operation Four Little Martyrs has seen how the western press refused to report honestly on Hamas, and in some cases it’s clear that individual journalists were essentially co-conspirators.

I’ve made some very incendiary accusations. What I forget is that most people aren’t like me. My life consists of writing, talking with my brother Tim, collecting old postcards, trying to tame two feral cats, watching old movies, and thinking. That’s all. This isn’t the life I wanted, but it’s the life I have, and I like it.

Mr. Rehov has gone through tough times at the hands of the French legal system, so I fully understand and support his decision to choose a project that has less potential of blowing up in his face. I can just imagine me in a French court.

“Mr. Wictor, is it true that you see ghost cats? Tell us about the young man in the bank vestibule, please.”

Did you know that I just wanted to be a novelist? Before I started writing about Pallywood, I had my little plans, but they all got derailed when my parents began dying, and I hooked up with fake book publicists. Nothing good came from either experience.

Well, due to the Pallywood posts, I get so much traffic that I’ve had to move my Website to a private server. It now has its own IP address, like Google. And I’ve definitively debunked several lies about the Israeli Defense Forces.

The IDF did not kill Mustafa Tamimi.

The IDF did not shoot Bassem Abu Rahmeh.

They lied to you about white phosphorus.

And the one that makes Israelis uncomfortable and anti-Israelis hysterical with rage: The IDF killed no civilians in Gaza.

So while I’ve accomplished a lot by writing about Pallywood, I think I’d be pretty much an albatross around the neck of anyone who wants to be taken seriously.

I’ll keep writing. Either people will keep reading, or they won’t. My life won’t change regardless.

Touch the last of what is past
Moving, silent water, feel the burst that comes
Slow and winding, flowing free
Peaceful music in its sound of distant drums
Trust the shallow virgin stream
Danger, wild, beware the deeper it becomes