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Revision as of 14:42, 2 February 2008 by Avg (talk | contribs) (added "controversial")(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Pallywood (a portmanteau of "Palestinian" and "Hollywood") is a controversial neologism that some have used to refer to news events alleged to have been staged by Palestinian and/or foreign cameramen to portray Israel in an unfavorable light. It is perhaps best known in connection with an online documentary video, Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources, that was produced by Boston University academic Richard Landes The term has also been adopted by a number of political commentators and right-wing bloggers.
Documentary video
The term "Pallywood" was given prominence in 2005 by Professor Richard Landes of Boston University, who produced an 18-minute online documentary video called Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources. Landes and other pro-Israel individuals and groups argue that the Israeli government is insufficiently robust in countering Palestinian accounts of events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his video, Landes shows Arab-Israeli conflict-related footage that was taken mostly by freelance Palestinian video journalists. He believes that systematic media manipulation (which he dubs "Pallywood") dates back to at least the 1982 Lebanon War, and argues that broadcasters are too uncritical of the bona fides of Palestinian freelance footage. He focuses in particular on the case of Muhammad al-Durrah, a 12-year-old Palestinian who was widely reported to have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip on September 30 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada. The shooting was recorded by a local freelance cameraman and aired on France 2 with narration by the veteran French-Israeli journalist Charles Enderlin. It made worldwide headlines and the conduct of Israeli forces was heavily criticized intenationally, severely damaging Israel's public standing on the world stage. Landes questions the authenticity of the footage and disputes whether al-Durrah was killed by Israeli gunfire or even killed at all, arguing that the entire incident might have been staged. He asserts that the incident shows that "Palestinian cameramen, especially when there are no Westerners around, engage in the systematic staging of action scenes."
Wider use of the term
The term has been used by a number of political commentators and right-wing bloggers, particularly after similar assertions of media manipulation (which some dubbed "Hizbollywood") were made during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The Jerusalem Post defines the term as meaning "media manipulation, distortion and outright fraud by the Palestinians ... designed to win the public relations war against Israel."
The Israeli Religious Zionist network Arutz Sheva asserted in 2006 that "Pallywood" is becoming a "household word," along with "infotainment," to refer to media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Mackenzie Institute, a Canadian defense and security think tank, has argued that given "a long history of posing for the cameras...the cynical "Pallywood" nickname from once-deceived journalists for news services becomes understandable."
See also
- Media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict
- 2006 Lebanon War photographs controversies
- Journalistic fraud
- Ouze Merham
External links
References
- ^ Carvajal, Doreen. "The mysteries and passions of an iconic video frame", International Herald Tribune, Monday, February 7, 2005.
- ^ Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning The Palestinian Hard Stance." The Boston Globe, September 6, 2005
- ^ Landes, Richard. Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources (Windows Media Video), SecondDraft.org. (youtube mirror)
- ^ "Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire", Jerusalem Post, October 12, 2007
- Landes, Richard. "Pallywood: History", SecondDraft.org.
- "Al-Durah: What happened?", SecondDraft.org
- Zerbisias, Antonia. "And Now It's Reutersgate". Toronto Star, August 9, 2006.
- Gelernter, David. "When pictures lie", Jewish World Review, 2003.
- Photo of Palestinian Boy Kindles Debate in France, The New York Times, February 7, 2005.
- Frum, David. From Gaza, tragedy and propaganda. National Post, June 17, 2006.
- "There's Something About Qana," Arutz Sheva (Channel 7), Israel, August 3, 2006.
- Lies, Damned Lies and Footage, The Mackenzie Institute, Newsletter July, 06.
Further reading
- "Second Draft.org", website of Richard Landes with films and analysis from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Landes, Richard. "Al-Durah: What happened? (video).
- "And now it's 'Reutersgate'," Toronto Star, August 9, 2006.
- Template:De icon "Wie Palästinenser manchmal die Wahrheit verbiegen", Israelnetz, June 19, 2006.
- Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning the Palestinian Hard Stance," The Boston Globe, September 6, 2005.
- Gordon, Philip H. & Tasponar, Omer. "Why France shouldn't legislate Turkey's past," The New Republic, October 30, 2006.
- Kaplan, Lee. "Some PLO doctored photos: A visit to 'Pallywood'", Canada Free Press, May 28, 2006.
- Kaplan, Lee. "Pallywood revisited: A new fake atrocity by the PLO", Canada Free Press, June 24, 2006.
- Template:De icon Von Wussow, Philipp. "Israelische Bomben auf Kana: Massaker oder Hisbollywood?", Telepolis, August 3, 2006.