Three days ago I posted one of my Spielberg bash pieces on Facebook. I didn’t post it here on Hollywood Elsewhere because I’m sick of getting kicked around.

But then I read something in the Facebook comment thread that blew me away. It was written by Mark Eifert, to wit: “If Spielberg was a challenging filmmaker he’d make a Saving Private Ryan-type thing but about the Gaza Strip from the point of view of the Palestinians. He could get the money to do it, but I’m not standing on one foot waiting for this to happen.”

Hello? This is a perfect idea for Spielberg — a story about a team of struggling anti-Israeli commandos on some kind of terror mission that doesn’t work out or which ends in failure, but we get to learn about the Palestinian commandos and what they’re all about deep down (their families, their hopes and fears) as well as the Israelis looking to intercept and destroy them.

If he were to direct something like this and do it well, Spielberg could almost redeem himself in one fell swoop. Alas, it’s not in him. Well, maybe it is but I would be flabbergasted if he did something like this. The guy who directed Schindler’s List almost certainly doesn’t have the balls to make a film that would humanize Israel’s enemies.