Description: 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 Israels PR
campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the
ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media
and politics.