Ross Kemp Middle East: Israel - Part 2 Broadcast Monday 11th January 2010

Ross Kemp Middle East

Here's a round up of part 2 of Ross Kemp's special, in this episode Kemp visits Israel. The previous episode looked at Gaza including the aftermath of Israel's war on Gaza and the impact of the illegal Israeli blockade.

The show opened with a brief recap on of the 1st episode. The opening words of the episode are as follows;

Ross Kemp narrates that he "...met militants hell bent on the destruction of Israel...", this is followed by telling viewers that he "...also met many more ordinary Palestinians whose only dream was peace with their Israeli neighbours".

To anyone who may have missed the first espisode the opening references of "militants" who want to "destroy Israel" doesn't necessarilly create a positive impression of the Palestinians and as the old adage goes 'first impressions count'.

The comment about "many more...Palestinians" wanting peace was obviously a balancing comment.

However it's surprising, or maybe not considering we're dealing with Rupert Murdoch's Sky Network, that the producers didn't see fit to make any reference in the opening comments to the hardships faced by Palestinians as a result of the Israeli blockade.

Kemp is shown taking a helicopter ride over Israel and telling viewers that Israel was born in 1948.

He mentions "that Israel is a small country" and a map is shown on screen which shows a current map of Israel to the viewers.

Whilst this map of Israel omits the West Bank and Gaza it, bizarrely, includes the Syrian Golan Heights, which are also illegally occupied by Israel.

However there is no demarcation line to show the Golan heights as separate, the Syrian territory is shown as an integral part of Israel. This is inaccurate and misleading.

By telling viewers that Israel was "born in 1948" but showing them a current map is inaccurate. It misleads viewers into thinking that the boundaries shown on the map are what Israel was meant to be.

The accurate way to do this would have been to show how the UN originally proposed to partition Palestine, which was occupied by Britain since the end of the first World War, into 2 states. It would have been factually correct to inform the viewers that this partition was decided upon without consulting the native Palestinian population.

A map of the UN partition plan for Palestine as part of UN resolution 181 can be seen here.

This is a very deliberate attempt to mislead viewers into believing the version of reality that is favoured by supporters of Israel.

If Insha'Allah (God Willing) a Palestinian state is to be created, Israel may have to return some of the land it has illegally occupied since 1948. By showing viewers a map of Israel in its current form tricks them into thinking that Israel will be making a great sacrifice or concession by giving up some of its land for the creation of Palestine.

This is in turn has the effect of creating sympathy & support for the official Israeli position and generates more resistance and opposition to Palestinian demands.

Therefore this is clear evidence of Pro-Israel bias......and we're barely a few minutes into the programme!

Jerusalem

Continuing with the theme of misleading the viewers, Kemp begins his journey in Jerusalem. That in itself is wrong.

Consider the title of this programme "Ross Kemp Middle East: Israel" (emphasis added).

This is yet another attempt to mislead the viewers into thinking of Jerusalem as a part of Israel. Doing so, fully supports the Israeli Government's position that Jerusalem 'is an eternal part of Israel' even though Jerusalem is considered illegally occupied by Israel under International law and by every country in the World except Israel.

Kemp describes how Jerusalem has seen "...some of the most brutal terrorist atrociities the modern world has ever seen".

He goes on to state that "Palestinian Militants have waged war against the Israeli presence in this city....resulted in hundreds of (Israeli) deaths", images of the aftermath of suicide bombings are shown to viewers on screen.

Kemp spends some time with Amos levi, an Israeli Taxi Driver, with whom he spends some time taking a tour around Jerusalem "to see what it's like to live with the constant fear of suicide bombers and terrorist attacks"

Kemp is taken to a street where the taxi driver mentions one street that has witnessed three attacks, according to the taxi driver, the dialogue below follows;

Kemp "..but there are many more places like this in Jerusalem?"
Levi "yes"
Kemp "so many"

This whole segment is used to create an image of a city that is a very dangerous place to be in, especially for Israelis, this is backed up with the use of stats e.g. in the last 15 years 34 "terrorist attacks on the streets of Jerusalem alone 210 Israelis killed, 2,000 injured, the threat of an attack is ever present" (emphasis added by Kemp).

The viewers are then informed about the personal loss of Amos Levi, who lost his daughter to a suicide bombing in 2004.

There is a very depressing atmosphere surrounding the whole tour especially when Amos talks about the loss of his daughter. At one point Kemp just looks at Amos silently as a sombre atmosphere is created with camera focusing on the 2 silent men as low key music plays in the background. Kemp's voiceover mentions that "there are many others...you'd hardpushed to find an Israeli who doesn't know a victim of a terrorist attack"

This part of the trip is focused entirely on the suffering of Israelis, there is no mention of the Palestinians living in Jerusalem.

Kemp then travels to Israeli border with Gaza, he comments that the "bigger challenge (for Israel) is defending the nation from the deadly threat on its border with the Gaza Strip", whilst a clip is show of Palestinian rockets.

Kemp describes the frontline as the "...Palestinian controlled Gaza Strip", this is misleading as it omits the fact that whilst the Palestinians may well be in charge of affairs inside the Gaza Strip, the territory is fully blockaded by air, sea and on land by all but 1 side by Israel.

For the benefit of the viewers Kemp recaps briefly on Hamas who are in charge of Gaza but in doing so re-states the inaccurate statement from episode 1;

"In 2006 the people of Gaza shocked the World by electing Hamas as their rulers"

This is stated whilst images are shown of gun wielding Palestinians, which are purported to be Hamas members. The message conveyed to viewers is that the people of Gaza elected these gun wielding men as their leaders.

The statement is incorrect because it gives viewers the impression that the elections took place in Gaza only, whereas the reality is that Hamas swept to power as a result of elections in the Israeli Occupied Palestinian Territories i.e. West Bank and Gaza.

Ross Kemp is shown speaking to Israeli Police spokesman Mickey Rosenthal, who informs him about Israeli casualties from rocket fire. Rosenthal tells Kemp that 24 Israelis have been killed whilst 5,000 have been "physically injured" since rocket fire began.

In a voice over Kemp counters that in response to these "deaths and injuries", Israel has hit back and killed "4,000 Palestinians".

This is significant as it puts into perspective the Palestinian suffering and is just one of very few comments made throughout this episode that attempt to bring a small amount of balance to the episode.

Kemp recaps on the December 2008 War on Gaza and describes it as "controversial", mentioning that over 1,300 Palestinians were killed in just 23 days of fighting. He also states that Israel is facing charges of committing war crimes.

Kemp questions Rosenthal about some sources that state that over half those killed were civilians.

Rosenthal, obviously well versed in Israeli spin and PR promptly informs Kemp that "I can tell you that Ive served in the IDF and we are a humantarian army and will take many things into consideration in order to save lives and pinpoint and be accurate".

At this point it would have been appropriate for Kemp to challenge Rosenthal on Israel's illegal use of White Phosphorous against civilians, however Kemp appears to buy Rosenthal's PR statement.

Kemp returns to the West Bank and talks about the growing separation between Arabs and Jews, images of the Apartheid wall are shown on screen.

Kemp comments that the wall was built after "..a spate of suicide bombings...", which appears to convey the Israeli justification for constructing the wall to the viewers.

Amazingly, Kemp describes the wall as a "security fence" despite images on screen showing the reality to viewers, which is a concrete wall at least 10 metres high.

Kemp mentions that it will be 400 miles long when finished and separate Israel from the West Bank, he also mentions that the wall has cut some communities into 2. A map on screen shows how the wall "frequently" veers away from the border between Israel and the West Bank. Kemp comments that this has cut Palestinians from their own land and that this breaks International law.

This is all that is said about the Wall, there is no attempt to talk to any of the Palestinian families of farmers whose lives have been destroyed by the construction this illegal wall. Considering the amount of coverage given to Israeli suffering so far this clearly shows a pro-Israel bias that's designed to humanise the Israeli suffering whilst only mentioning the Palestinian suffering in passing. The effect is to create more empathy with the Israeli position.

Kemp travels to the Palestinian village of Ni'lin, he comments that after every Friday prayers at the local Mosque, "Arab villagers gather to protest against what they see as a land grab". He comments that they "throw stones" at the "Israeli Defence Force" and that their activities are like "clockwork".

Kemp mentions that the protestors advance on their position as they see the cameras, he comments that he's pinned down against a rain of rocks. Kemp mentions that the protestors are themselves armed with tear gas grenades from last week's demo that have failed to go off.

The situation is presented as a battled between equals, failing to acknowledge that the Israeli Army is firing tear gas at the protestors and is armed with weapons whereas the demonstrators just have tear gas that the Israelis have fired at them.

Kemp is shown wearing protective clothing and a helmet whereas the demonstrators are shown in normal clothes with just a cloth around their faces. Despite this Kemp still presents the situation as though the demonstrators have the upper hand. Kemp suffers from the effects of the tear gas and mentions that it stings a lot. The Israeli army is presented as being pinned down to give the impression that they are somehow losing this battle.

The Palestinian protestors are clearly shown as the antagonists in this situation.

Kemp describes the Palestinian protest as "...a completely pointless exercise...because what's been achieved?"

Kemp's dismissive attitude of these protestors resistance against Israeli aggression seemed to be a rather cheap shot considering that this is the only these protestors can disrupt the building of the wall.

Continuing with the coverage of the wall, Kemp comments that the "wall protecting Israeli houses built on Palestinian land and are occupied by Israeli settlers against International law". It was refreshing to see some accuracy thrown in here, albeit it was rather sparse througout the episode.

Kemp is shown visiting a Settlement, which he describes as and "Israeli village" in an attempt to convey legitimacy on this illegal colony. During the visit there are countless references to "security fence". He is shown discussing the situation with a settler who describes the quality of life in the setllement as "wonderful" and beligirently states that he has no intention of leaving.

Kemp reitirates in a voice over that the house is built against international law on illegally occupied territory. The number of settlers is described as half a million in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and that their homes breach the Geneva Convention on Human Rights.

It was good to see this statement added in however there was still no discussion with a Palestinian family to show viewers what life is like for them under Israeli occupation.

Kemp seeks justification for the Israeli presence in Palestinian land and travels to meet what he describes as the "hardcore of settler movement"

He meets Daniella Weiss who is described as "Queen of the Settlers", in her comments she makes it quite clear that only Jews can live in the West Bank. Despite these extreme comments there is no challenge from Kemp who simply observes and nods.

He is taken to an outpost where it is made quite clear that they can't film. They are taken to a hilltop where they are introduced to the "Vanguard of the settler movement....the hilltop youth". Weiss makes it quite clear that she intends to carry on with settlement expansion irrespective of International law or whether the Israeli Government likes it or not.

After the meeting Kemp comments that Arabs and the Israeli Majaority regard the settlers' activities as hindering chances for peace.

Whilst Kemp commented that he was meeting the hardcore of the settler community, he actually didn't bother highlighting the activities of the extremist Hebron settlers. Some of their antics can be seen in the following videos.

The closing shots of the episode are with Amos Levi and his family by the graveside of their daughter. Levi's ex-wife comments that all of Gaza's people are terrorists, she is anguished over the loss of her daughter and says that the Palestinians will continue fighting them because they hate Jews, Levi backs up these comments.

Levi's ex wife comments that the focus is always on the suffering and quality of life of Palestinians yet no attention is paid to their suffering. The Levi's loss is used to humanise the suffering of the Israelis to invoke greater empathy amongst the viewers for the Israeli side of the story. No such attempt was made throughout the entire episode to highlight the Palestinian side of the story.

This episode confirmed what I had expected, it gave full support to the Israeli side of the story by humanising the suffering on the Israeli side, by failing to challenge PR comments especially by Mickey Rosental and using official Israeli terminology to refer to key aspects of the conflict. On the latter point it is well recognised that Israeli terminology is not neutral nor factually accurate therefore it was quite saddening to see the producers of the episode opt for this language knowing full well that it would simply re-inforce Israeli propaganda.

Inthe episode kemp failed to mention some significant items which would have given viewers the full picture of Israel and it's actions, these include;

• Checkpoints
• Israel's nuclear capability
• Israel's occupation of South Lebanon (Shebaa Farms)
• Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights

The episode depicted Israel not so much as an occupying force but rather as a country struggling to survive against external and internal conflict i.e. a beleaguered state. This was obviously designed to make viewers feel sympathy for Israel.

So what is my verdict on the 2 part special from Gaza and Israel?

For a programme oozing with pro-Israel bias, with only a sporadic sprinkling of facts here and there the verdict is a categoric Negative!

Verdict: Negative

Wednesday 13th January

Today's round up of web articles all relate to one man, Mohammad Asadujjuman (pictured above). Mr Asadujjuman, a cab driver from New York found $21,000 in his cab and in a display of honesty which is increasingly rare in this day & age, he tracked down to the owner to return the cash to them.

Let's see how the various media outlets around the World covered this story?

BBC

Headline: Bangladeshi cabbie in NY returns cash left in taxi
Section: BBC News South Asia
Link: Click here

Outline: The BBC article presents a very positive image of Mr Asadujjuman, highlighting that he went out of his way by driving 50 miles to track down the owner of the cash. It mention his religious background by referring him to as a "devout Muslim", this is stated as the reason for him turning down the cash reward from the owner.

Overall the article is a glowing character reference and by mentioning his religious background portrays a positive image of Islam and Muslims.

Article Verdict: Positive

China Daily

Headline: NY cabbie returns $21k in purse to passenger
Section: World
Link: Click here

Outline: The article by China Daily is very comprehensive. Aside from giving the facts about the story there are additional details included about Mr Asadujjuman's financial position i.e. stating that he started driving a cab because his hours at his previous job had recently been cut.

The article states that he is an "observant Muslim" towards the end of the article.

Another positive news story.

Article Verdict: Positive

Sky News

Headline: NY Taxi Driver Returns $21,000 Left In Cab
Section: Strange News
Written by: Emma Rowley
Link: Click here

Outline: Sky ran this story in their 'Strange News' section and featured a 38 second video clip to accompany the article.

Overall the article is similar in tone to the BBC, it mentions Mr Asadujjuman's Bangladeshi background and also his religious background albeit in the very final paragraph.

However credit must be given where its due and this is another positive article about this story.

Article Verdict: Positive

San Francisco Chronicle

Headline: NY cabbie returns $21k in purse to passenger
Written by: Virginia Byrne
Link: Click here

Outline: This article is practically a word for word copy of the article in China Daily probably because it is written by an Associated Press writer.

The article is postive but a small number of comments make for interesting reading.

Article Verdict: Positive

Fox News

Headline: New York City Cab Driver Returns $21G to Passenger
Written by: Associated Press
Section: US
Link: Click here

Outline: This article is written by the Associated Press not Fox News, who have decided to use a limited number of words to cover this story. All in all the article is only 5 paragraphs long, and they're very small paragraphs at that.

The article is postive but you can't help wonder why Fox's coverage wasn't as comprehensive as others who used the Associated Press and why it left out key details which would have highlighted Mr Asadujjuman's good character?

For that reason I'm going to mark this article as negative

Article Verdict: Negative

MSNBC

Headline: Cab driver returns $21,000 to passenger
Written by: Associated Press
Section: US News/Wonderful World
Link: Click here

Outline: Yet again we see the Associate Press' coverage of the story being used by an American news network. One would think that given the news is from America, there would be no shortage of reporters Stateside to go and talk to Mr Asadujjuman?

Unfortunately in this particular article there is no reference to his religious background which, if included, would have a given a big boost to Islam's image in the US.

It's weird that Fox, which is typically Right Wing did choose to mention Mr Asadujjuman's religion yet the typically liberal left leaning MSNBC didn't. This was a bit of a shock for me and for that reason I have marked this negative

Article Verdict: Negative

Ross Kemp Middle East: Gaza - Part 1 Broadcast Monday 4th January 2010

Ross Kemp Middle East

After watching part 1 of Ross Kemp's 2 part special on Gaza, here are the stats or word count on frequent use of key words/phrases vis a vis the Palestinians during the episode.

Terrorist/Terrorism - 4
Militant - 9
Fundamentalist - 1
Extremist/Extremism - 3
References to destroying Israel - 2
Islam/Islamic/Jihad - 7
Israeli Blockade - 3

The first 2 minutes of the episode were actually the most interesting for me. It featured snippets of what's to come in the 2 part special including clips from episode 2. It featured a short clip of Kemp standing with an Israeli family mourning a loved one in a cemetry, it featured Kemp on patrol with the Israeli Occupation Force wiping away his tears as a Palestinian boy threw back a tear gas cannister which the Israelis fired at him & other protestors.

The images portrayed of the Palestinians were the stereotypical stone hurling youth covering their faces with scarves i.e. troublemakers. This for me set my expectations of this episode.

One of the things that stood out during Kemp's introduction to Hamas was the inaccurate claim that

"In 2006 the people of Gaza shocked the World by electing Hamas as their rulers"

This incorrect statement misleads viewers by giving them the impression that the elections took place in Gaza only, whereas the reality is that Hamas swept to power as a result of elections in the Israeli Occupied Palestinian Territories i.e. West Bank and Gaza.

One of the positive things to come out was the depiction of the widespread devastation caused by the Israeli Occupation Forces and Kemp's acknowledgement of the devastation, he stated that;
"everywhere I look I see destruction...(I'm) not used to seeing that amount of damage being done in such a highly populated area, it's quite shocking"

Another positive was a recognition of Israeli use of White Phosphorous although the part about it being illegal to use against civilians was omitted.

"In December 2008 after a 10 month ceasfire Israel launched a massive military campaign in Gaza...including the controversial use of Whits Phosphorous shells"
Kemp commented on the stats of Israel's war against Gaza e.g.

• 13 Israeli soldiers killed
• 1,300 Palestinians killed
• 80 Government buildings
• Over 200 Schools
• 60,000 homes destroyed
• 20,000 homeless
• Israel along with Hamas facing charge of committing war crimes

Kemp then interviewed a man whose house was destroyed. The Palestinian man stated that he has no grievance with the people of Israel and recalls how he used to work and eat with them before the war.

This interview helped to highlight the tragic humanitarian aftermath of Israel's war.

Kemp presented some statistics about Palestinian rocket fire into Israel claiming that;

"Since 2008, 1,750 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel"

Kemp then went on to meet a Palestinian group that claimed responsibility for some of the rockets. A controversial part was when Kemp allegedly observed a real bomb being planted as part of a booby trap for any Israeli incursion into Gaza by the Sea.

This was presented with a very strong display of emotion stating that he was not happy being there and showing it on camera but describing it as a "...brutal fact of what goes on here..."

It was interesting to note the absence of any such emotion when he interviewed the homeless Palestinian family.

Kemp then went on to examine the Israeli blockade, which was only referred to 3 times during the whole show. He wanted to see how Gazans got on with their lives and whilst walking through a market commented that;

"If you knew this place was under siege, you wouldn't think it by looking around me"

Whilst initially it felt as though there was an attempt to dismiss any notion of mass suffering as a result of the Israeli bloackade, the source for the goods present in the market was attributed to smuggling. It was also noted that the mark up on these goods was 400% and beyond the reach of ordinary Palestinians in Gaza.

Smuggling was described as "state sanctioned smuggling" as viewers were told that every tunnel pays a tax to Hamas to stay open. Whilst this is true, it should have been highlighted that the smuggling is the only means of getting goods into Gaza and is a direct result of the blockade.

The next section, which looked at the tunnel workers, was presented very sympathetically. The viewers were shown the life threatening conditions in which the tunnel workers have to work for $25 a day, Kemp also commented that many die from tunnel collapses.

The following acknowledgment from Kemp was a much needed recognition that needed to be spelt out for the viewers

"The combination of the borders being closed and the massive destruction of homes and infrastructure is bringing the people of Gaza to their knees"
Kemp then interviewed John Ging, Head of the UN mission in Gaza.

Mr Ging commented that Israel didn't destroy the "infrastructure of terror" when it launched its war on Gaza as it originally stated but actually detroyed the infrastructure of the economy (factories), education (schools), peace (Government ministries) and democracy (parliament building.
"Society here in every aspect of its functioning is being broken down...You treat people as hostile and they will become hostile...(questions need to be asked) how could you do this and then believe that that is positive in terms of getting...peace in the Middle East"

Mr Ging commented that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is bigger i.e. all the people who had jobs previously are now queuing for food at UN centres as a result of factories being destroyed by the Israelis or business drying up because of the Israeli blockade.

Featuring these comments from Mr Ging was commendable as it helped to dispel the humanitarian spin that the Israeli PR machine attempts to put on its actions.

The final part of the episode was no doubt most controversial as Ross Kemp was taken to meet a a suicide bomber.

This was accompanies by eerie music, which at times drowned out the dialogue and the creation of a solemn atmosphere. All this served to set the very dark mood for what was about to follow. Again it was notable that no such theatrics were employed when looking at the civilian stories of Gaza.

The clip featured Kemp talking to the suicide bomber in which he revealed that he was a Law Graduate and wanted peace but that Israelis, through their actions, didn't want peace hence he'd chosen this path.

The closing comments of Kemp to this episode are worth recalling;
"...I defy anyone to come here without an agenda, and not feel genuine sympathy for the ordinary people living here. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed by suicide bombers and they certainly have the right to defend themselves. But the economic blockade has not only damaged business it's denied people their dignity. If you deny someone the right to provide for their family then they will find pride in other things. When a young lawyer decides to become a suicide bomber I have real fear for the future..."

Overall the episode did show the real horror faced by the people of Gaza as well as the widespread destruction caused by the Israelis. A human face of the Palestinian suffering was portrayed and for that the episode definitely deserves praise.

However there were instances of inaccurate statements, theatrics and inconsistent use of strong emotive statements which let the episode down.

If I were to sum up I'd say it was a step in the right direction for Sky but still lots to do in terms of being worthy of an impartial tag. A rating can't be given at this time because the real test will come when episode 2 of this series is broadcast. That episode will look at the Israeli side and it's against this that episode 1 will be measured to see the differences in language, tone, underlying message etc.

Episode 2 will be broadcast on 10th January.

Verdict: To be confirmed

Ross Kemp Middle East

Ross Kemp is a former Eastenders soap star turned Sky's 'Action Man'.

Rupert Murdoch's Sky News first started using Kemp to report on dangerous gangs at home in the UK and then abroad. However success came when Kemp fronted a series called Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, which was promoted heavily by Sky through billboard campaigns.

Now Sky have tasked the former soap star to look at the Middle East. It should make for some interesting viewing particularly as the first episode looks at Gaza, part 1 of which will be broadcast on Monday 4th January.

Rupert Murdoch's subcription to Right Wing Neo-Con agenda is no secret, the best manifestation of this was his expicit support for the war against Iraq, which has killed more than 1 million Iraqi people.

As owner of a large media network that spans the globe with the power to influence millions, his media network has proved to be a perfect vehicle for propagating the Right Wing Neo-Con view of the World.

One of the best documented examples of this was the following interview conducted by Sky News with George Galloway during Israel's war against Lebanon. Sky blatant pro-Israel bias was exposed by Galloway and is now a Youtube classic!



This should serve as a reminder of what to expect when watching Ross Kemp's new series. I have recorded the first episode on Gaza and will post my review once done. Here's the synopsis presented on the Sky electronic programme guide.
"In the first if a two - part special, Ross Kemp travels to Gaza to talk to local people and extremists about living in the region. Contains extreme views and distressing footage." (emphasis added by me)

This programme guide gives a fairly good idea of what to expect as key words, i.e. "extremists", have already been planted by the people at Sky. I guess it will be accurate to say, start as you mean to go on.

No doubt Kemp will also visit Israel during his series, it'll be interesting to compare the programme guide to see if similar language is used at the outset?

Watch this space for the review of Part 1 of Ross Kemp's Middle East