By Bruce S. Ticker
October 18, 2005
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 commission of omissions. Here are three examples.
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 deathbed a year ago?
Omission 1. 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 UN rules were blatantly violated. Military activity at a refugee camp is illegal, and UN officials could not have possibly missed that this kind of activity.
Omission 2. 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, 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.
Omission 3. By the time Yasser Arafat died on Nov. 11, 2004, it was well documented that the number of bombings had 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.
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