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. ?