'Elusive Peace' - predictably biased

[Teddy Bear]

The first of 3 episodes of this documentary were shown last week in th UK and I made the following observation which I posted also under another topic. Since all 3 episodes have already been seen in the US, I have come across further evidence of bias that readers can check for themselves when the next 2 episodes are aired.

As for the documentary 'Elusive Peace' itself.
At first glance one might think the first of this 3 part series fair and balanced, but only until one considers how much your own understanding and knowledge of Israeli/Arab history filled in the gaps to make it appear so.
But if one looks at it from the perspective of what somebody who did not know the events there would understand, then one might question its fairness and balance.

For example, there was no background to the events that led up to the 1967 war, that caused Israel to take the Golan Heights, and were reluctant to give them up.
No history too, for any viewer to understand how Jerusalem was originally meant by the UN to have been shared by all faiths, but the Arabs sought to keep the Jews out, and did so until the '67 war. So it was 'occupied territory' by Arabs before Jews.
No clear explanation of why the Temple Mount was so important to Jews. No mention that the claim to the Al Aqsa mosque as being one of the holiest sites of Muslims has no link to any reference in their Koran, much less Jerusalem. The Muslims decided to put it on top of the Temple Mount precisely because it was the holiest Jewish site, then claimed Mohammed saw it in a dream.
They also did not make clear that Sharons' 'walk' that supposedly led up to the intifada, was cleared in advance with the Palestinian Internal minister, but was used as the excuse to launch the intifada, which they had also been planning for some time. Without this understanding, no viewer could really see how Arafats' demands were so unacceptable to Israel.

[Teddy Bear]

THE COMMISSION OF BBC OMISSIONS
BRUCE S. TICKER

Critics have already blasted, correctly so, the BBC documentary -"Elusive
Peace: Israel and the Arabs" - for its pro-Arab bias.

When I got the chance to see it on my local Public Broadcasting Service
station, I noticed some more misrepresentations which need to be mentioned.
All of it was in BBC's sins of omissions.

The documentary, which was broadcast on PBS stations on Monday, Oct. 10,
neglects to answer these grave questions: What led to the construction of
the security barrier? What minor detail was discovered in Jenin? What did
Suha Arafat tell her hubby's lieutenants when Yasser was on his death bed a
year ago?

In Israel's invasion of Jenin in the West Bank, where a large United
Nations-run refugee camp is located, the documentary includes film in which
Arab leaders accuse Israel of a massacre in which hundreds of civilians were
killed.

In concluding this segment, the narrator reports that it turns out that not
so many Arabs were killed, but 49 bodies were later recovered, 14 of whom
were civilians. Meaning? Israel still killed civilians.

Since the producers reported on the aftermath, it is too bad they did not
bother to mention that Israel discovered an armed stronghold at Jenin. The
fact that this stronghold was located at a refugee camp meant that United
Nations rules were blatantly violated.

Military activity at a refugee camp is illegal, and United Nations officials
could not have possibly missed that kind of activity.

In reporting on the security barrier, the producers employed a "he said, she
said" approach to explaining the conflict. Israeli officials said that the
barrier was needed to prevent the murderous bombings and the Arabs claimed
that the barrier was intended to appropriate their land.

The producers neglected to mention that the Israeli public was clamoring for
a barrier. In fact, many Israelis of all political stripes were on the same
page on this issue.

Jerusalem Report magazine reported that leaders of individual municipalities
started a drive to build a barrier themselves. Settler advocates opposed the
barrier because they feared it would set pre-determined boundaries that
would eliminate many existing settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dragged his feet on this concern,
probably because of pressure from settler leaders. Soon after the Jerusalem
Report article appeared, Sharon took control of the situation and built the
barrier on his terms.

By the time Arafat died, it was well documented that the number of bombings
plunged, nearly to none. While the film ended with Arafat's death, the
producers did not see fit to mention that minor detail.

In mentioning Arafat's death, they omitted the spectacle of Suha Arafat
bickering with Arab leaders over the billions of dollars that her husband
kept for himself. Initially, she would not tell them anything about the
money, but apparently they ultimately made a deal so she could continue
living her lavish lifestyle in Paris while the poor Palestinians remain
impoverished.

Posted by Ted Belman at October 14, 2005 11:36 AM