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The
film concentrated on Israeli atrocities committed against
Palestinians
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By
Ayesha Mall, IOL Durban correspondent
DURBAN,
November 17 (IslamOnline) The South African Jewish Board of Deputies
has slammed e-tv, a South African national television station, for the
screening of a hard hitting documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, highlighting abuses of Palestinians by Israeli troops.
The
documentary, Palestine is Still the Issue, was recently broadcast on
the e-tv current affairs program, “3rd Degree”. It was produced by
John Pilger, an internationally renowned journalist and columnist for
the U.K. daily newspaper, the Daily Mirror.
Pilger,
who was interviewed by Debra Patta, presenter of “3rd Degree”,
said it aimed at being “pro-justice and not pro-Palestine”.
The
documentary received harsh criticism from members of the Jewish
community as well as the Israeli embassy when it was first aired in
the U.K. In fact, the chairman of ITV1, the channel that aired the
work, labeled it “factually incorrect”.
Patta,
however, said “The research department of ITV1 as well as the
documentary production team – which both have Jewish members –
studied the documentary carefully but could not identify one
historical or factual inaccuracy.”
A
heated debate ensued between the two guests on the “3rd Degree”
program. Haggai Segal, a former U.K. National Director of the Hagshama
Department of the World Zionist Organization, was nominated as an
interviewee on the program by the South African Jewish Board of
Deputies.
Segal
said that the Board of Deputies nominated him because “they did not
want to be forced into defending Israel”.
Ronnie
Kasrils, the South African Minister of Water and Forestry, who is of
Jewish origin, said that the views of the Jewish Board of Deputies do
not represent those of all South African Jews.
Kasrils,
who was imprisoned on Robben Island for his involvement in the
anti-apartheid struggle, is one of the founders of the “Not in my
name” national campaign, which was initiated by South African Jews
opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
“Pilger’s
comparison of the Israeli oppression of Palestinians to South Africa
during the apartheid era the film understates the suffering of the
Palestinian people. The atrocities committed by the Israelis against
the Palestinians is far worse than the injustices experienced by South
African Blacks during apartheid”, said Kasrils.
But
the South African Jewish Board of Deputies claimed that in the
documentary Israel and Israelis were “dehumanized, de-legitimized
and debased” from the beginning of the program.
Four
Jews have filed complaints with the South African Broadcast Complaints
Commission claiming that the documentary “contained hate speech”.
The
Broadcast Complaints Commission has refused to comment until it has
reached a decision.
“No
effort was made to provide context, Israeli perspective or even
explanation,” the Board of Deputies spokesman, Yehuda Kay said.
But
Israeli Rami Elhanan, who was interviewed for the documentary, would
have disagreed.
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John
Pilger
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Elhanan,
whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in a Palestinian resistance
attack in 1997, said “If you think from the head and not the gut, if
you look at what made these people do this, people with no hope who
are desperate enough to commit suicide, you have to ask yourself if
you have contributed in any way to this despair and craziness.
“It
did not come out of the blue.”
He
was not the only Israeli interviewed on the documentary who took a
critical view of the situation. Others, including historians and
former Israeli soldiers, spoke harshly of the way Palestinians are
oppressed and humiliated.
Russell
Gaddin, the Board of Deputies national chairman said, “Despite e-tv
having knowledge that the documentary has been discredited abroad and
in South Africa they still showed it.”
A
vote line was opened on the program asking viewers to vote ‘yes’,
if they believed e.tv was correct in broadcasting the documentary and
‘no’ if they felt e-tv should not have aired the documentary. A
vast majority of the callers, 89%, voted ‘yes’.
A
spokesman for the South African based ‘Palestine Support
Committee’, Na’eem Jeenah said, “We commend e-tv for persisting
in their decision to show the film even after death threats,
accusations and abuse.
“South
Africans have the right to know what is happening in Palestine, a
struggle very much like the one we have come out of.”
The
current affairs program concluded with an interview with Desmond Tutu,
Archbishop of the South African Anglican Church and board member of
the Shimon Peres Peace Center in Israel.
“I
am deeply saddened by how the charge of anti-Semitism is leveled at
anyone who wants to point out injustices”, said Tutu. “The
Israelis should remember that they came into a land that was occupied
by the Palestinians.”
Due
to popular demand, e-tv has re-broadcast the program.
