Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: Media & the Israel-Palestine Conflict

السلام و الدعاية و أرض الميعاد:

الإعلام الأمريكي و الصراع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land:

Media & the Israel-Palestine Conflict

  

A film introduced by: Media education Foundation

Written and directed by:

Sut Jhally & Bathsheba Ratzkoff

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I've seen a part of this documentary dubbed into Arabic on Aljazeera documentary channel and I liked what I've heard and seen in it. 

Not to mention that I didn't really need to watch the whole film to judge it, I'm quite impatient so watching an 80 minute long documentary is more than I can take especially when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict for many reasons.

In addition, I'm not yet to decide about this issue since I've already had my point of view regarding it that I'll never change. Now I'm just enhancing it's validity even more.

Speaking from a standpoint of an average person living in any country allover the Middle East who has some interest in politics, the film doesn't offer something brand new.

However, it could be used as a very good argument in several occasions due to the nature and background of the interviewees and the speakers in it who are respectful scholars and journalists, former Israeli soldiers and also bright individuals such as the linguist Noam Chomsky, a worldwide reputed Jewish thinker that I appreciate myself.

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Taken directly from the official website:

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one.

The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.
 

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Interviewees include Seth Ackerman, Mjr. Stav Adivi, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Hanan Ashrawi, Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Neve Gordon, Toufic Haddad, Sam Husseini, Hussein Ibish, Robert Jensen, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Karen Pfeifer, Alisa Solomon, and Gila Svirsky.

Sections:

Intro | American Media: Occupied Territory | Hidden Occupation | Invisible Colonization | Violence in a Vacuum | Defining Who Is Newsworthy | Myth of U.S. Neutrality | Myth of the Generous Offer | Marginalized Voices | Is Peace Possible? 

 

 

Terms of camp david proposal and how it was covered in American media are one of the most interesting
parts of the documentary

You could watch the full version in English on google videos via this link:

Click here

Enjoy!

Muslims offered to pray in churches of the US and Italy

So, I'm actually writing this post just for record. Nothing more really.

Since things like that give me some hope it might turn to be better in the future and also make me feel a little optimistic about our world no matter how bad it looks like in my eyes now.

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I was not going to comment about "Burn Koran Day 11th of September" that's held by a church in Florida this month but I changed my mind now in order to compare opposite reactions and interactions with Islam and Muslims by different types of Christians.

Since 9/11, when the majority of people in non Islamic mainly western cultures first  heard about something called "Islam" everyone speaks about "Radical Muslims", "Extremist Muslims" and the like due to the active brainwash process carried out by the media promoting this ideas.

I have no idea how they used to perceive Islam and Muslims before this incident but I think it might be just ignorance rather than hatred.

And the question is:
Why doesn't anyone point out to Radical Christians and Radical Hindus and Radical anything else although they do exist in history? No answer.

N.B 
Pastor Terry Jones, the Radical Christian, is the leader of the event, for more details google his name or the name of the event.

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*First of all, when someone from an English background writes "Koran" instead of "Qur'an"  it tells me clearly what type of person they are, only someone who has never read about the Qur'an at first place rather than reading the book itself would write it this way.

*Second, as a Muslim I believe that a true Christian who knows well the real essence of Christianity and all other religions would never support hatred spreading events amongst different groups of people.

I believe Christianity is far more than a group of haters who probably know absolutely nothing about Islam, prophet Muhammad and may be Christianity as well.  

So the acts of some Christians don't necessarily represent Christianity and wouldn't change our perspectives regarding it.

Humans make mistakes and misrepresent their beliefs most of the time. 
(I know I've said this statement like 100 times before)
 

So, why isn't it the case when it comes to dealing with Muslims?!
No answer.

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Ok, let's check out the good news..

Christians are offering Muslims in emergency cases to pray in their churches all around the world, how tolerant and peaceful :)!

Reminds me of a verse in Qur'an:

((And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.)) 22:40 Al Hajj

I'm sure there are many other cases but I only got a couple:

1- Memphis Area Muslims who are coming from 30 different nationalities are worshiping at a Christian Church this Ramadan because their mosque is under construction..

For more details see the link below:

http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Memphis-Area-Muslims-Worshiping-At-Christian/F5CZgzul4EegYgk_L9evNg.cspx

2- In the town of Gallarate, north of Milan, Muslims have no mosque in which to celebrate Ramadan.

Instead, for the past three years, they have prayed in a plot of land belonging to the local church.

For the rest of photos and more details check the link below:

http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20100830-italy-gallarate-muslims-no-mosque-pray-church-northern-league