Creator and screenwriter Michael Leendertse was only 10 years old when one of the most tragic flight disasters took place in the Bijlmer neighborhood of Amsterdam took place. The boy, who would go on to become one of the most interesting names in the Dutch film industry, still vividly remembers the footage from that crash on television: the fire; the billowing smoke; the cries of survivors; and those who had lost their loved ones.
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For the Dutch, the events of October 4, 1992, were the type that scar the collective memory. On that day, a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft operating El Al Flight 1862 crashed on two residential buildings in southeastern Amsterdam, in the Bijlmer neighborhood. For the Netherlands, the sheer scale of the loss that day is on par with 9/11 for Americans.
"My family lived in Rotterdam at the time, and like many people in the Netherlands, I was glued to the television screen. It was a very powerful experience," Leendertse told Israel Hayom ahead of the launch of his miniseries on the tragedy.
"The events hit me hard; I can still recall all of it as if it happened just now. The Dutch had never experienced a crash of such magnitude, and the footage on television was horrific. I remember my mother calling my aunt who was living in Amsterdam to ask her if she was OK because we could not figure out how extensive the damage was and I can still vividly remember that emotional call between my mother and my aunt. There are only a few moments in our national history that a certain generation can remember in such a visceral way, and this is probably one of them. Everyone remembers where they were when the Bijlmer tragedy struck.
It turns out not everyone. Yours truly was born in 1982 – just like Leendertse. And even though the events were directly related to my country because of the national airline that had crashed, I only had a rudimentary familiarity with the facts of this case until now. Even though the anniversaries have been marked by various articles in Israel, the Jewish state has – by and large – avoided dealing with this, despite its airliner indirectly causing the death of 43 people on its way to Israel after making a stopover in Amsterdam from New York's JFK airport.
Even the fact that this has been El Al's only air accident caused by technical failure has not put this story on the front burner, making it almost an afterthought in our collective psyche. Perhaps this is because it happened on foreign soil or because the casualties were mostly non – Israeli. Or perhaps because our daily lives are replete with similar anniversaries that this just got overlooked.
"I heard about this [lack of familiarity] from Israeli journalists and others, and I was quite surprised," he said. "This was a colossal event here, and people in the Netherlands remember it and its aftermath in great detail. Perhaps this is because there were only three Israeli crewmembers and one Israeli passenger who was on the plane. The horror was felt on our soil of course, so maybe that is one of the reasons," he continues.
"It's not being taught in school"
For the 40 – year – old Dutch filmmaker, although the images from the disaster comprise the defining hallmark of this work, they are not its focus. As he sees it, the miniseries "The Crash" that he created to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster aims to tell a political thriller. It is about how a catastrophe can shine a light on the darkest aspects of the Dutch government, as well as the inner dealings that were designed to stage a cover-up t that would conceal the nature of the cargo – including the information on the question of whether it had dangerous substances that were to be sent to Israel's Institute for Biological Research in Ness Ziona.
The show also deals with the host of medical problems that had emerged in the wake of the accidents among those exposed to the substances. These claims were all but ignored by the authorities. This neglect was, to a large extent, a consequence of the patients being from a disadvantaged socioeconomic immigrant background. The story tells the story of several survivors and how they coped with the event, alongside an exposé that uncovers unknown facts on the case.
Q: It's hard not to see the striking resemblance to the series "Chernobyl."
"Yes, the series was part of my inspiration, but only in terms of the overall theme. Chornobyl also deals with corrupt governments, although that may be too harsh of a word. Rather, I would say that it deals with governments that try to cover up the facts and provides a political agenda that trumps their citizens' health. This is the theme of our series as well. But I think that my series stands on its own. Just like I said, not everyone from the generation that came before me truly remembers the tragedy's impact; it took six years to imagine. People have a general recollection of events: the crash and the people who wore white hazmat suits [according to testimonies, these were probably because they were searching for the traces of depleted uranium in the cargo – A.F.) and there were various conspiracy theories. But there are other facts that are very much unique to this case.
"The disappearance of the black box for example. That doesn't just happen. It took me a decade to carry out the investigation for the miniseries because people only remember the big things. I spoke with journalists and politicians on the disease and medical issues that emerged after the event, and even for me – as someone who has been aware of the details – this came as a shock to hear all the details. This is part of my history. I have very young nephews and when I tell them about the day the plane crashed and the apartment block that got destroyed they look at me with wide eyes of disbelief because this is never taught in school. So the series caters to younger generations as well. Some of what it does is to relive our history and I think it managed to do so. In recent weeks everyone has been talking about this event once again and why it is important to have the right lessons drawn."
Q: Do you think the event was a watershed moment in terms of the trust between the Dutch people and their leaders?
"Yes, it was the beginning of this. A week ago we saw a poll showing that 73% of the population does not trust the Dutch government. This was all over the news. There are serious trust issues when it comes to the government, and this is also the case on a global scale. I also think that a lot of the conspiracy theories are the product of that era. Over the past five years, Dutch politics has been going through some turbulence because people felt that their well–being has been neglected for the sake of politics. So this series allows us to look at things through the prism of political scandals that are still unfolding in the Netherlands."
Q: The tragedy didn't help diplomatic ties between the two countries.
"Right, it caused some friction. Of course, relations between the two nations have been thriving since the 1960s and 1970s. I think that it was Prime Minister Golda Meir who said that the Netherlands was Israel's eternal friend. We have always had good relations with Israel, but that event truly created some chasm. I read that Israel considered having El Al move out of Schiphol."
Unanswered questions
More than 50 homes were destroyed in the crash. Initially, some 200 people were believed to have perished in the crash, but the official figure ultimately dropped to 43 (although many still believe that the number is higher because the families of the deceased did not report them missing for fear of jeopardizing their immigration status). In Israel, a commission of inquiry was formed with former Israeli Air Force chief Amos Lapidot as chairman. A separate commission was created in the Netherlands. Investigators quickly ruled out terrorism but over the years the rumors surrounding the payload only spread wider. The official version is that the plane was carrying fruit, beauty products, perfumes, and computer hardware.
Having bearly processed the enormity of the tragedy, many simply accepted the official narrative without asking too many questions. But when the local outlet Het Handelsblad published an exposé on the sixth anniversary, people were shocked to learn that the plane had also been carrying 10 tons of chemicals, including phosphonic acid and other substances that could be used for the production of nerve agents.
Israel, as is usually the case, was tightlipped about such security matters. The fact that the internal recording system of the cockpit was destroyed along with any information on the critical moments leading up to the crash did not help shed the image that Israel was trying to hide the true nature of the content on board. The exposé provided a plausible explanation as to why the survivors and others in the area had begun to suffer from various medical problems. Ultimately, El Al confirmed that the plan also had 50 gallons of dangerous substances that were indeed supposed to go to the biological institute in Ness Ziona.
"The Crash" is based on the investigation carried out by independent journalist Vincent Dekker, who exposed this scandal. One of the most important scenes in the first episode shows the journalist talking with a barwoman who helps him collect testimony. He focuses on aeronautics but she tells him it's a human story. Leendertse strikes a balance between the two stories: On the one hand, this is a political thriller on government corruption; on the other hand, this is a human drama that deals with how people pick up the pieces following a traumatic event on a national and personal level.
Q: How do you balance the two stories considering their enormity?
"There is a reason why it took me 10 years to work on this. I am a filmmaker, not a documentarian. So I had to create dramatization. This is my interpretation of history. The first thing I had to do was find a perspective through which I can tell this story. So I met Vincent Dekker; he is still alive. Like me, he stumbled upon this path despite the story not directly impacting him. And like me, he was shocked when he spoke with the people living there. Our discussion lasted three hours over coffee and it convinced me that this is one of the most important stories there is to tell, and not just in Dutch history.
"One of the many shortcomings of a political system is that it looks at the citizens primarily as a statistic rather than as human beings. This is the story that Vincent told me, and this is what I did in the series. It starts off with the technical aspects and then eventually the human story emerges. I listen to it for hours. In the beginning, it feels like a journalistic thriller, before captivating the reader with the fascinating human stories, however weird it may be to use that description. The biggest challenge was not to assign specific blame. I wanted to blame the system because this is a universal story that is not unique to the Netherlands. It is an age-old story of interests and money that trump human lives."
Q: Did you talk with the survivors?
"Yes, it was the second step in the investigation. Vincent really helped me in locating the people who were living there at the time. Many of them still live there and are afraid to talk. Some are still furious and have the same questions they had then. The biggest lesson I draw from this story is that hundreds – perhaps thousands – of people, still carry the same unanswered questions they had back then."
Q: I'm told that you are a LEGO and Star Wars aficionado. So what had you drawn into such a serious subject?
"I think that over the past ten years I have matured. I became a father and began to feel more like a citizen of this country. I am deeply concerned about the polarization between the people and the politicians. I don't want to paint all politicians as bad people; this is not my goal. But when I look at my little girl I am worried because you need to talk about the system's faults and do so in a frank matter. I still very much like LEGO and Star Wars."
Q: Does it mean that your next project is going to have much less seriousness?
"I like to be versatile and do a variety of things; I am now working on an adventure show. But I think that this project made me realize how much I want to expand my knowledge of history – Dutch, European, and even the world's – and turn it into something people can see as entertainment. 'The Crash' is a thriller that successfully teaches history through entertainment. And this is what I want to do again."
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