John Pilger Documentary - Palestine Is Still the Issue
Almost 30 years apart, John Pilgerβs two documentaries about Palestine carried the same title, Palestine is Still the Issue. His point was that, in the course of a generation, a great injustice remained unchanged and urgent.
His 1974 film described the flight and expulsion of almost a million Palestinians, who became refugees in their own land β at the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, then as a result of the Six Day War in 1967.
βWhat has changed,β says Pilger on his return to film his 2002 documentary, βis that the Palestinians have fought back. Stateless and humiliated for so long, they have risen up against Israelβs huge military regime, although they themselves have no army, no tanks, no American planes and gunships or missilesβ¦ For [them], the overriding, routine of terror, day after day, has been the ruthless control of almost every aspect of their lives, as if they live in an open prison.β
One of the most telling voices is that of a soldier, Yishai Rosen-Zvi, who has refused to serve on the occupied West Bank and describes βthe huge bluff of the Israeli establishmentβ, adding, β[Every] criticism of its policies is called anti-Semitism, [when] criticising your countryβs policy is the only patriotic thing that one can do.β
His words are prophetic. An orchestrated Zionist-run campaign was mounted against Palestine is Still the Issue, mainly in the United States by groups who had not seen the film. Each email they sent had a generic theme of βanti-Semitismβ β an early version of social media βbotsβ. Pilger and his family received death threats.
In Britain, the Independent Television Commission, then the regulator for commercial TV, conducted a three-month inquiry and concluded that Palestine is Still the Issue was βfair and balancedβ and had not breached the βdue impartialityβ clause in the 1990 Broadcasting Act. It praised the filmβs historical accuracy, together with the βcare and thoroughness with which it was researchedβ. Palestine is Still the Issue won a number of international awards.
Awards: The Chris Statuette in the War & Peace division, Chris Awards, Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Ohio, 2003; Winner, War & Peace category, Vermont International Film Festival, 2003; Certificate of Merit, Chicago International Television Awards.
Palestine Is Still The Issue was a Carlton Television production for ITV first broadcast on ITV1, 16 September 2002
prguitarman
origamiaround
baratheonpilled
discoholicmusic
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
