When the Hebrew edition of this groundbreaking book came out, it provoked a stormy public debate. This is a new edition of Israeli Cinema with a substantial new postscript that reflects on the book's initial reception and points to exciting new trends in the cinematic representation of Israel and Palestine. Ella Shohat explores the cinema as a productive site of national culture, dating back to the early Zionist films about turn-of-the-century Palestine. She offers a deconstructionist reading of Zionism, viewing the cinema as itself participating in the ""invention"" of the nation....