Documentaries on the Israel/Palestine conflict?
December 1, 2009 5:03 PM   Subscribe

Documentaries on the Israel/Palestine conflict?

My partner is making her birthright trip to Israel soon, and she wants to know more about the conflict there: what it's like, the history of it, the politics, etc...

Have you seen any documentaries that you would recommend to someone who may already sympathize with the Palestinians?
posted by tybeet to Society & Culture (15 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Palestine by Joe Sacco
posted by KokuRyu at 5:13 PM on December 1, 2009 [2 favorites]


not a documentary, but a comic/graphic novel

Palestine, by Joe Sacco
posted by nadawi at 5:14 PM on December 1, 2009


Best answer: Not what you might call a conventional approach to making a doc about israel/pallestine, but Michael Franti's I Know I'm Not Alone is pretty fascinating.
posted by ndicecco at 5:16 PM on December 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


Slingshot HipHop
posted by raztaj at 5:31 PM on December 1, 2009


2nding ndicecco. I know I'm not alone is pretty impressive and is a little bit more on peace and not so much on the conflict... still very very good.

Also: googlefu: Frontline+Israel or Nova+Israel or heck... pbs+israel....lots of documentaries on it.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:36 PM on December 1, 2009


My view: read some history books on the wars and issues in addition to a few fims
posted by Postroad at 5:44 PM on December 1, 2009


Downloadable BBC Radio documentary series: Six Days that Changed the Middle East
posted by K.P. at 7:04 PM on December 1, 2009




Best answer: I'm pretty sure this is the series I saw years ago and am thinking of: 50 Years War. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's very good and very watchable.

And the BBC series Elusive Peace.

(I think you can find one or both easily as torrents or on youtube/googlevideo)
posted by K.P. at 7:21 PM on December 1, 2009


Jerusalem 1913: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
posted by Doohickie at 7:21 PM on December 1, 2009


Oops... link. Not a documentary, a book. Pretty good.
posted by Doohickie at 7:22 PM on December 1, 2009


It isn't a documentary, but Paradise Now is one of the most powerful films I've ever seen.

(upon closer inspection, some of the IMDB comments are stupid, but the movie is amazing)
posted by genmonster at 7:50 PM on December 1, 2009


There is a project by the artist Matei Glass, Magnetic Identities, including a short film, which looks at crossing the border. More here.
posted by bwonder2 at 1:56 AM on December 2, 2009


Best answer: I think the documentary "Six Days in June" (I've also seen it titled simply "Six Days"; the American and European versions may differ) is an excellent choice. It's a really accessible, fascinating account of the Six-Day War, and how it led into the current situation. In addition to the Palestinian issue, it also gives you some good insight into relations between Israel, Egypt, and the rest of the Arab world, which is really helpful information for someone seeking to learn more about the struggle for peace and coexistence in the region.
posted by AngerBoy at 8:41 AM on December 2, 2009


Response by poster: Thanks! I will definitely be checking some of these out. Appreciate the book offers, but she's far to busy applying to schools this time of year to take on anything else that might be conceived of as "work". Documentaries are a great balance, because both her and I enjoy and can relax to serious film fodder, and in a relatively short span of time.
posted by tybeet at 3:43 PM on December 2, 2009


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