Film Synopsis
|
Film Title |
Run Time – In Minutes & Seconds |
| Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land |
90 |
| Palestine Is Still The Issue |
53 |
| The Loss of Liberty (Israel attacks US Navy Ship) |
53 |
| Hijacking Catastrophe |
64 |
| This is Not Your War |
28:30 |
| Right of Return |
28:30 |
| Ilan Pappe Interview |
28:30 |
| Wall of Shame |
28:30 |
| Ghassan Andoni |
28:30 |
| Global Warning: Interview with Mordechai Vanunu |
29:30 |
| The Wall of Hate |
9:00 |
| Azmi Bishara Interview |
28:30 |
| Edward Said: On Orientalism |
40:00: |
| Born in the USA |
60:00 |
| Until When . . . |
76:00 |
| Refuseniks |
52:00 |
| The Killing Zone |
49:00 |
| Afif Safieh Interview |
28:30 |
| The Pro-Israel Lobby Debate |
125:00 |
| Life in Occupied Palestine |
59:00 |
| Confronting the Wall |
28:10 |
| The Easiest Targets |
12:40 |
| Occupation 101 |
90:00 |
| The Children of Ibdaa |
29:30 |
| Ilan Pappe: Israel Myths & Propaganda |
28:25 |
| Mark Braverman Interview |
28:25 |
| Beyond the Mirage: The Face of Occupation |
50:20 |
|
|
Synopsis of films
Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land
“This pivotal video exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites – working in combination with Israel public relations strategies – exercise a powerful influence over news reporting about the Middle East conflict. Combining American and British TV news clips with observations of analysts, journalists, and political activists, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides an historical overview, a striking media comparison, and an examination of factors that have distorted U.S. media coverage and, in turn, American Public opinion.” TRT: 80 Minutes
Palestine Is Still The Issue
“My film, Palestine Is Still The Issue, shows many sides; it is neither anti-Arab, nor anti-Jewish, but pro-justice. It puts forth the little-heard case that the Palestinians are a deeply and unjustly treated people, victims of an occupation declared illegal many times under international law. And yet most of the people appearing in the film are Israelis, some of them extraordinary, such as Rami, the father who lost his daughter in a dreadful suicide attack. Listen to him, and you will realise just how restricted has been the debate on Palestine. The Israeli settlers are given their say; the Israeli Government spokesperson is the longest interview in the film. And the Palestinians you hear are voices of humanity and reason.
The Independent Television Commission, the regulatory body in Britain, examined my film minutely and concluded that it was “fair and balanced” and “expertly researched” and “made with integrity”. That PBS still has not shown this film is shaming, and I call on its professionals to reconsider.” John Pilger TRT: 53 Minutes
The Loss of Liberty
This documentary is about the Israeli attack on June 8, 1967 of the USS Liberty, that killed 34 American servicemen and wounding 172.
The following statement is from Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Founding Chairman, USS Liberty Alliance.
“After State Department officials and historians assembled in Washington, DC, last week to discuss the 1967 war in the Middle East, I am compelled to speak out about one of H.S. history’s most shocking cover-ups. On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked our proud naval ship – the USS Liberty – killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 172. Those men were then betrayed and left to die by our own government. U.S. military rescue aircraft were recalled, not once, but twice, through direct intervention by the Johnson administration. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s cancellation of the Navy’s attempt to rescue the liberty, which I personally confirmed from the commanders of the aircraft carriers America and Saratoga, was the most disgraceful act I witnessed in my entire military career.” TRT: 53 Minutes
Hijacking Catastrophe
“Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire examines how a radical fringe of the Republican Party has used the trauma of the 9/11 terror attacks to advance a pre-existing agenda to radically transform American foreign policy while rolling back civil liberties and social programs at home.
The documentary places the Bush Administration’s false justifications for war in Iraq with the larger context of a two-decade struggle by neo-conservatives to dramatically increase military spending in the wake of the Cold War, and to expand American power globally by means of force. At the same time the documentary explains how the Bush Administration has sold this radical and controversial plan for the aggressive American military intervention by deliberately manipulating intelligence, political imagery, and the fears of the American people after 9/11.” TRT: 64 Minutes
This Is Not Your War
“This Is Not Your War” is the poignant testimony of Lynn Gras, an American nurse volunteer, who was giving training in neonatal intensive care in Palestinian hospitals under siege during the Israeli attacks on Gaza and Ramallah in May of 2002.
She describes the impact of the occupation on the physical and mental health of the Palestinian population, and the staff at the hospitals that she visited.
We follow Lynn as she travels through the occupied territories, negotiating checkpoints and encountering many dangers along the way. A brief history of the region is interwoven with the narrative. TRT: 28 Minutes: 30 seconds
Right of Return
For Israelis, 1948 was a triumph in their quest for a safe haven from centuries of persecution, culminating in the holocaust. But for the Palestinians they displaced, this event is known as “al nakba,” or the “the catastrophe.”
The Jewish militia – the Haganah – quickly defeated the various Arab forces that stood in their way as thousands of terrified Palestinians fled their villages, or were forcibly removed by the advancing Israelis.
In the wake of the massive exodus of Palestinians from Israel, the UN general Assembly passed Resolution 194 in December of 1948, establishing the right of return for refugees. But during more than 50 years since the resolution was passed, no Palestinian refugee has ever been repatriated. TRT: 28 Minutes: 30 seconds
Interview: Ilan Pappe
Haifa University Professor Ilan Pappe is one of the foremost revisionist historians in Israel. He is the academic director of the Research Institute for Peace at Jivad Haviva and writes extensively on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the history of the 1948 war.
His most recent book is the Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict from 1948 to 1951.
TRT: 28 Minutes: 30 seconds
Wall of Shame
The wall being constructed on the West Bank by the Israeli government is twenty-five feet high. Studded with guard towers and armaments, and encrusted with high-tech sensors, the wall cuts across the land, separating Palestinians from their own farms, their own neighbors, and from the Israeli settlements, which have sprung up rapidly because of lavish subsidies from the Israeli government.
Alternate Focus cameraman Rodney Devereaux brings us face-to-face with the wall and all its implications. TRT: 28 Minutes: 30 seconds
Ghassan Andoni
Ghassan Andoni is the co-founder and spokesperson for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Palestine. Andoni talks about his organization’s non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation. He discusses the failure of the American and Israeli governments to properly investigate the death of ISM volunteer Rachel Corrie. Andoni provides his perspective on the 2005 Palestinian election, the uprising in Lebanon, and daily life in the Palestinian territories. TRT: 28 Minutes: 30 seconds
The Wall of Hate
The Wall – Occupation is a fluid term that can be easily manipulated by the powerful and occupying powers. When the occupied is portrayed as violent and the occupier as victim then democracy and justice have to be redefined.
If the International community cannot stop Israel’s Apartheid wall and the destruction of people and their livelihood, then humanity is at stake.
In June, 2000 and while the International community is pushing to promote freedom and install democracies throughout the Middle East, Israel decides to reinforce its occupation by encircling the West Bank and Palestinian towns with a separation barrier (WALL) that is meant to choke the Palestinian population and deprive them of their livelihood. TRT: 9 Minutes
Global Warning: An Interview with Mordechai Vanunu
Mordechai Vanunu, the Dimona reactor technician who exposed Israel’s nuclear program, after having been imprisoned by Israel for 18 years, tells his story.
Although the United States condemns all other Middle Eastern countries for their desire to attain defensive nuclear capability, they are silent about Israel’s nuclear arsenal that numbers between 200 and 300 warheads. TRT: 29 Minutes
Edward Said On Orientalism
Edward Said’s book Orientalism has been profoundly influential in a diverse range of disciplines since its publication in 1978. In this engaging (and lavishly illustrated) interview, he talks about the context within which the book was conceived, its main themes, and how its original thesis relates to the contemporary understanding of “the Orient.”
Said argues that the Western (especially American) understanding of the Middle East as a place full of villains and terrorists ruled by Islamic fundamentalism produces a deeply distorted image of the diversity and complexity of millions of Arab peoples. He unearths the intellectual roots of “Orientalism” in the history of imperial conquest stemming back to the 18th century. Looking ahead to the 21st century, he argues that it is this legacy of “difference” and mistrust that must be overcome if conflict, discord and violence are not to be humanity’s permanent future.
TRT: 40 Minutes
Born in the USA: Muslim Americans
Recent demographic studies show that a majority of Muslim Americans are highly educated and registered to vote. One would think these factors would command a great deal of respect in American society, but unfortunately, the reverse is true. Recent polling information shows that the majority of the 7 million Muslim Americans have suffered post 9/11 biases.
The entertainment industry rarely shows the millions of Muslim American heroes that have earned the respect of their fellow citizens. They treat our ill, teach our children, police our streets, prosecute our criminals and provide a host of other contributions to our society that simply go unrecognized.
This unique film challenges the misrepresentation of Muslims in America. It follows a Muslim American doctor and teacher in a post 9-11 world. It looks at their everyday lives, as well as interactions with their families, friends and colleagues, sharing startling and often funny insights into what it means to be a Muslim American. TRT: 60 Minutes
Refuseniks
Though from very different backgrounds, the two Israeli soldiers in our story have come to the same conclusion: “yesh kevl” (there is a limit).
Ram Rahat immigrated to Israel from Montreal, Canada. Ishai Sagi was born in Israel and raised on a kibbutz. While fulfilling his service to the Israeli Defense Force, he was assigned to the territories in the year 2000.
The two soldiers are among 500 Israeli Reserve Officers who have signed a letter refusing to serve against the Palestinians – refusing to participate in the cycle of violence and hatred between Israelis and Palestinians. TRT: 51:45 Minutes
Interview: Azmi Bashira
Asmi Bishara, Head of the National Democratic Assembly political party, was born in Nazareth to Christian parents. He is a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel. He represents Israel’s Palestinian minority in the Knesset. Bishara studies at Humboldt University in Germany, is head of the philosophy department at Bir Zeit University, and is senior researcher at the Van-Leer Institute in Jerusalem. He was one of the founders of the National Democratic Assembly, or Balad. He describes himself as a humanist, a democrat, a liberal, and a neo-nasserite.
In this interview Bishara examines turning Israel into a state of all of its citizens, opposing the institutionalized inequality that exists now between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel. TRT: 28:30 Minutes
until when . . .
Set during the current intifada, this documentary follows four Palestinian families living in Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem.
Fadi is thirteen and cares for his four younger brothers; the Hammash family pass on the lessons of life with humor and passion; Sana is a single woman who endures long commutes to do community work; and Emad and Hanan are a young couple trying to shield their daughter from the harsh realities of the occupation. They talk about their past and discuss the future with humor, sorrow, frustration and hope.
Until when . . . paints an intimate in-depth portrait of Palestinian lives today. TRT: 76 Minutes
The Killing Zone
Rachel Corrie, American killed by an Israel army bulldozer; Tom Hurndall, British, shot through the head by an Israeli Army sniper; James Miller, British, shot dead by the Israeli Army. If foreigners are dying like this in Gaza, what is happening to the people who live there?
Gaza, a city under siege from Israeli forces. We had arrived on the eve of the war against Iraq. We wanted to know how armed Palestinian groups like Hamas would react. TRT:49 Minutes
Interview: Afif Safieh
Afif Safieh, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United States, discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States and Europe, the internal Palestinian politics. He explains the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on American Foreign policy. TRT: 28 Minutes: 30 seconds
The Pro-Israel Lobby Debate
Is the pro-Israel lobby the dominant factor in determining US Middle East policy?
Yes:
Dr. Hatem Bazian is a senior lecturer in the Departments of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies, and an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley.
Jeffrey Blankfort hosts public affairs programs, Connecting the Dots on KPOO in San Francisco and Takes on the World, on KZYX, the public radio station for Mendocino County. Also a long time observer of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the pro-Israel lobby.
No:
Dr. Steve Niva teaches International Politics at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He is a long-time advocate for Palestinian rights and a just peace in Israel-Palestine.
Dr. Stephen Zunes is a professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco and the Middle East editor for Foreign Policy in Focus.”
Moderator: Khalil Bendib is a Berkeley-based political cartoonist and commentator as well as a producer and host of KPFA-94.1 FM radio’s weekly show Voices of the Middle East and North Africa.
TRT: 125 Minutes Executive Director and Producer Fred Shepherd, Global Information Services.
Life in Occupied Palestine
This film by Anna Baltzer documents Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinians in the West Bank. The film is one of the most compelling and clearly educates and informs the viewer precisely what the problems are. Anna is a 28 -year-old Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, and the granddaughter of Holocaust refugees. She is a three-time volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service, where she documented human rights abuses in the West Bank and supported the nonviolent movement against the Occupation. She has spent most of the past few years in Palestine or on tour with her book, Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories. TRT: 59 Minutes
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Confronting the Wall: Art and Resistance in Palestine
This film documents the extent of brutality and ugliness of the Israeli Occupation Force as they terrorize a Palestinian family in fulfillment of their grand scheme of ethnic cleansing and segregation. Many Israelis and others come to the aid of the family to prevent the destruction of their home and the daily harassment. TRT: 29 Minutes
The Easiest Targets
Five women – Palestinian, American, Mulim, Christian and Jewish – tell stories of humiliation and harassment by Israeli border guards and airport security officials. Additional films contained on this DVD are approximately two hours in length. TRT: 12 Minutes
Occupation 101
A powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. Government involvement. The film is presented through a series of highly stylized visual edits and accompanied with thought provoking commentaries from a “Who’s Who List” of leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers, whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets. TRT: 90 Minutes
The Children of Ibdaa
The Children of Ibdaa: To Create Something Out of Nothing is about the lives of several adolescents in a Palestinian children’s dance troupe from Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank. They use their performance to express the history, struggle and aspirations of the Palestinian people, specifically the fight to return to their homeland. TRT: 29 Minutes
Ilan Pappe – Israel, Myths and Propaganda
It was in the 1970s, at Hebrew University as an undergraduate in the department of Middle Eastern History, that Ilan Pappe was exposed to the plight of the Palestinians in Israel. It was then that he found his love for history and developed his belief that the present cannot be understood and the future changed without first trying to decipher its historical dimensions.
“It was clear that this could not be done freely inside Israel – especially if its own history was to be my subject matter.” This is how Pappe found himself at Oxford in 1984 as a PhD student. His thesis was on the 1948 war in Palestine, in which he wrote about the Zionist intentions to ethnically cleanse Palestine of the indigenous population. TRT: 66 Minutes
Beyond the Mirage, The face of the Occupation
Too often the conflict is presented in black and white terms. This, in itself, is a form of injustice. Beyond the Mirage: The Face of the Occupation is an opportunity to hear from people who actually live in the region and goes beynd what we get from the American media. TRT: 51 Minutes
Films extracted from “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land” and “Hijacking Catastrophe:”
Interview: Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk, Journalist, The Independent, UK, on the accusation of anti-Semitism as a silencing mechanism; on progressive Jews; on personal experiences with flak and its effect on news coverage; on terrorism, context, and language; on American journalists’ failure to monitor the U.S.-Israel relationship; on the Israeli press as compared to the New York Times; on CNN’s memo regarding the settlement of Gilo and BBC’s memo regarding “targeted assassinations”; on lobbies and the widening gulf between the electorate and the representatives. TRT: 30 Minutes, 45 seconds
Interview: Rabbi Michael Lerner
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Founder and Editor, Tikkun Magazine, on terrorism and context; on the holocaust, anti-Semitism, western guilt and Jewish values; on the holocaust and Jewish-Israeli perceptions of victimhood; on the dominance of Western historical narratives; on the U.S.’ role in the world and in preventing terrorism. TRT: 16 Minutes
Interview: Hanan Ashrawi
Hanan Ashrawi, Founder, MIFTAH (The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy), West Bank, on the history of the conflict; on western perceptions of Palestinians and the politics of exclusion; on American media’s compliance with official state interests and discourse; on the three moments in history when Palestinians were humanized; on American media’s double standard when reporting on violence; on Israeli by-pass roads and tree uprooting as violence; on media’s false presentation of symmetry between Israel and the Palestinians; on Israeli media as compared to American media.
TRT: 31 Minutes, 30 seconds
Interview: Alisa Solomon
Alisa Solomon, Professor of Journalism & English, Baruch College, CUNY, NY, Journalist, The Village Voice, NY, on constraints on journalists that result in skewed coverage; on western journalists’ biases; on Israeli government’s PR in the U.S. and its effects on coverage; on CNN’s memo regarding the settlement of Gilo and The Village Voice’s encounter with Alon Pinkas; on the Zionist lobby and its chilling effects on Washington; on constraints on the ground, personal biases of western journalists and Israeli PR. TRT: 24 Minutes
Interview: Sut Jhally
Sut Jhally, Professor of Communications, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, MA, Founder & Executive Director, Media Education Foundation, MA on the impetus for and process of making Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land. TRT: 25 Minutes
Interview: Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute for Technology, MA on definitions of terrorism; on the propaganda system and state interests, on the history of the U.S.-Israel special relationship. TRT: 28 Minutes, 30 seconds
Interview: Scott Ritter
Scott Ritter, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), former Chief UN Weapons Inspector (Iraq), draws on his experience as former Chief UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq to argue that Bush Administration officials knew that Saddam Hussein posed no threat to the United States even as they justified war on grounds of self-defense. TRT: 30 Minutes, 30 seconds
Film extracted from “Hijacking Catastrophe:”
Interview: Shadia Drury & Karen Kwiatkowski
Dr. Shadia Drury, Professor of Political Science & Philosophy, University Regina, Canada, a leading scholar of American neo-conservatism and the ideas of influential political philosopher Leo Strauss, examines the political beliefs of Strauss and their influence on key neoconservative players in the Bush Administration. TRT: 30 Minutes, 30 seconds
Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), who worked in the Pentagon and witnessed first-hand how a controversial intelligence operation was set up after 9/11, gives an insider’s account of how neo-conservative Defense Department officials selected and manipulated intelligence to justify a U.S. invasion of Iraq. TRT: 30 Minutes, 30 seconds