The ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Palestinians and Israelis has lasted for centuries. Being an American exposed to the American news and media, I have, unfortunately, always been brought up seeing the Palestinians as evil doers, unnecessarily attacking Israel with suicide bombs and other crimes. The documentary, Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land, makes a very valid point with strong details that, because of the alliance between America and Israel, American newscasters and journalists are swayed to portray stories as Israel being a martyr and Palestine being a terrorist. While it is true that Palestinians do display violent behavior, is it ostentatious that Israel can certainly be to blame.
Until seeing the documentary, I had never been interested enough to watch the news and learn about this matter. Truthfully, I had never even known that Israel had a military occupation in Palestine. I didn't know, either, that Israel is now the fourth largest military for "a country the size of New Jersey" thanks to Americans helping both economically and militarily. American newscasters will explain an uprising as "Palestinian Hatred", while the reason that the Palestinians could have been revolting violently is due to Israel destroying 2,000 houses and leaving families (including women and children) completely helpless, or blocking an ambulance so a Palestinian women could not give birth, or even simply having a curfew for Israelis that keeps them stuck in their homes for days. The documentary showed me that the "Palestinian Hatred" can sometimes only be a revolt against oppression by a much larger and more powerful country.
Both Palestine and Israel have serious issues that need to be dealt with and solved before any more lives get taken. Chaos ensues with violence and with words. But really, with America's help today, who's really fighting the battle? The soldiers and civilians, or CBS and NBC?
Clearly, both play a huge role. At least for naive eighteen year olds like myself.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)