Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EST; 18:00 Europe; 19:00 Palestine; 17:00 UK; running time, 60 minutes each part, English language.
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SYNOPSIS
“Sacrificing Liberty” is a powerful documentary directed by Matthew Skow that examines the tragic attack on the USS Liberty by Israeli forces on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The film provides a detailed account of the incident, which resulted in the deaths of 34 American crew members and injuries to 174 others. Through interviews with survivors and experts, the documentary uncovers the subsequent cover-up by the U.S. government and highlights the enduring quest for justice and recognition by the survivors. It is a poignant exploration of a dark chapter in American naval history and the resilience of those who lived through it.
About the Film
IN JUNE 1967 jet aircraft and motor torpedo boats of the Defense Forces of the State of Israel brutally assaulted the unarmed American naval intelligence-gathering ship, USS Liberty, while in international waters off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea. The attack was preceded by more than six hours of intense low-level surveillance by Israeli photo reconnaissance aircraft, which buzzed the ship as low as 200 feet directly overhead. The carefully orchestrated assault that followed was initiated by high performance jet aircraft. This was followed by slower and more maneuverable jets carrying napalm, and was finally turned over to lethal torpedo boats, which blasted a forty-foot hole in the ship’s side. The attack lasted more than two hours, deliberately killing 34 Americans and wounding at least 171 others. Over 821 rockets, cannon and machine gun holes were inflicted. When the Liberty stubbornly remained afloat despite her damage, Israeli forces machine-gunned her life rafts, firefighters, stretcher bearers, and sent troops carrying helicopters to finish the job, no survivors were to be taken. This is no short of a war crime.
At this point, with Sixth Fleet rescue aircraft supposedly en route, the government of Israel apologized, and the identity of the assailants became known. Details of the attack were hushed up in both countries. Israel claimed that her forces mistook the Liberty for an Egyptian ship, and the US government quietly accepted that excuse despite evidence to the contrary. No ship in our history has ever received such damage and casualties by accident. Then our government downplayed the intensity of the surveillance and the severity ofthe attack and imposed a news blackout on the crew to keep the story under control. The official version is that the USS Liberty was reconnoitered only three times and only from a great distance. The American people were told that the air attack l torpedo and an immediate apology and offer of assistance. Nothing could be further from the truth.
