The last thing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs is higher levels of emotion. But the predominant sentiment in Joel Blasberg and Oreet Rees' heart-rending documentary, about the Israeli government's forced removal of 21 Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip, isn't anger or hatred. It's sorrow. "Withdrawal" intersperses emotional footage of teary-eyed soldiers carrying off struggling protesters (many of whom reportedly came from outside Gaza) with pre-pullout interviews with the settlers, who express varying degrees of resignation and defiance. Blasberg and Rees paint the withdrawal as a tragic but necessary step toward peace but largely downplay its practical motivations, namely the military strain involved in safeguarding 8,500 Jews living among 1.4 million Palestinians. They offer little explanation as to how Ariel Sharon could go from calling Gaza "the front line and backbone of Israeli society" to proposing its abandonment three years later. (Sam Adams, March 23) (1:33) Unrated.