A good friend of mine pointed me to a copy of Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land on Google Video. It’s *over one hour* of analysis.
Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land
Nothing new if you keep your eyes open. Remember the excuse of the Nazis and their collaborators after the Second World War? “We did not know!”
Well, these days there is no such excuse.
Maybe you can show this movie somewhere. This is the kind of movie that *ought* to be shown in school to teach kids media competence.
#Israel
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I suppose you’ll be able to give me an opinion since you are in Europe. What is the attitude of the media there? The documentary says that it’s more balanced there. Is that really the case?
– NoufalIbrahim 2006-10-06 05:19 UTC
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Well, here in Switzerland it really depends on the publication.
Blick is the biggest newspaper in print, and boulevard press. They practically ignore the Near East. I’ve heard that the family owning them (Ringier) is pro-Israel, but without any systematic analysis I must admit that it sounds more like a faint anti-semitic prejudice than analysis. Well, at least for me conflating Jews with support for the Israeli government is an insult to Jews.
Searching for Israel on their site, I see the following:
Rice trifft in Israel ein: One paragraph on the plans of Condoleezza Rice.
Israel: Angriff auf UN-Posten «ein Fehler»: Single paragraph saying that the attack on the UN soldiers in Lebanon was due to a error copying the maps.
Israel: Angriff auf UN-Posten «ein Fehler»
Die Wunde der Welt: A column by Frank A. Meyer saying that Israel is acting in self-defense, and that people criticising it are actually contemplating its eradication, and falling for the islamic propaganda, confusing victim and perpetrator.
Libanon will Israel wegen Ölpest verklagen: Single paragraph saying that Lebanon will be demanding compensation for the oil pest.
Libanon will Israel wegen Ölpest verklagen
Leserbriefe vom 7. August 2006: Various letters to the editor, sometimes in reaction to previous letters to the editor. A long one saying that even if Israel were to cease existing, the war would go on between inhuman ideology and the values of the enlightenment. A very short one saying that the murder of more than 20 people selling fruit goes to show that Israel does not fight terror, it causes terror. And another medium length one saying that the millions of refugees in Israel are refugees just like the millions in Lebanon. And another one saying that Israel is not the cause for this war because its enemy does not want peace. And another one saying that Israel’s enemies are surely not sunday school goers (sunday school probably being something for the pious and meek). Another one saying that Israel’s behaviour is a disgrace and we should boycott it.
Leserbriefe vom 7. August 2006
Blinde Linke: Another column by Frank A. Meyer saying that 3000 people protested against Israel in Bern, but nobody protested against Hisbollah in all this time. The islamic terrorist being called freedom fighters and a host of other items such as Cháves embracing Ahmadinedschad are used to discredit the left. Finally the left is reminded of its ties to totalitarianism and its enthusiasm for Ajatollah Chomeini’s victory in Iran. His conclusion: The left is blind.
Annan kritisiert Israel und Hisbollah: Note on how Annan criticised both parties in the conflict.
Annan kritisiert Israel und Hisbollah
Hisbollah gibt nicht auf: Note showing Nasrallah ranting and refusing to hand over Hisbollah’s weapons, and Israel saying that this was equivalent to spitting in the international’s community’s eye.
Brennpunkt Nahost: A dossier on the issues in the Near East.
Annan kritisiert Israel: Annan criticising Israel for violating ceasefire.
Two other newspapers in the German part of Switzerland that are not as widely read as the Blick are the TagesAnzeiger (center-conservative) and the NZZ (conservative).
The NZZ is quite critical of Israel, but not enough to satisfy me. I once wrote a letter to the editor complaining about their sloppy wording regarding a prisoner who had confessed something in an Israeli prison. I wrote that the article did not make clear that torture was being used on a regular basis in Israel, supported by a few links. The editor wrote me back citing another passage from the article saying that she felt it was clear enough as far as she was concerned.
The weekly WOZ I read comes with the MondeDiplomatique once a month. I almost always share their point of view. Their circulation is small and the newspaper is always on the brink of financial ruin. 😢
– Alex Schroeder 2006-10-06 09:50 UTC
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Fisk in that documentary makes a point. If Israel regularly uses “anti semitism” as a weapon to silence criticism of Israel, they will be equated and in the long run be legitimised. Then, people with a REAL anti-semitic agenda can mask their violent plans as criticism of Israel which is dangerous.
– NoufalIbrahim 2006-10-07 05:51 UTC