The 10th Palestinian Film Festival will by hosted by the Barbican Center and our very own SOAS. Starting from the 24th of April, running till the 8th of May there will be movies, talks, a …

I visited this exhibition with fellow Global Media students Rounwah, Osama and Fazilet. I went with a completely open mind, intrigued as to what art from the Middle East actually looked like. I whole heartedly accept that it is not possible all the art that originates from the Middle East come under one label. Geographically, the Middle East is a diverse terrain and the same analogy can be applied to the art produced by Middle Eastern artists. So it would be redundant of me to use terms such as “Arabic”, “Islamic” or even “Middle East” to a certain extent.

Nevertheless, I entered the exhibition filled with trepidation. While touring the exhibition, I felt a mixture of emotions.

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites–oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others–work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

I just received this, so putting this here as an announcement if somebody is interested or knows somebody who might fit the bill:

URGENT CASTING CALL!!GO TO GAZA, DRINK THE SEA

Palestinian and British writers, actors, artists, film-makers and musicians collaborate to create a multi-media piece weaving verbatim testimony with film and music to tell the story of the dignity, courage and suffering of the people of Gaza. This unique event – both celebration and lament – invites audiences, after the performance, to show their support and record personal messages to a people under siege. Supported by the Amos Trust, Jews For Justice For Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 20% of box-office revenue will go to medical aid in Palestine.

The assault on Gaza exposed not only Israel’s callous disregard for international law but the gutlessness of the American press. There were no major newspapers, television networks or radio stations that challenged Israel’s fabricated version of events that led to the Gaza attack or the daily lies Israel used to justify the unjustifiable. Nearly all reporters were, as during the buildup to the Iraq war, pliant stenographers and echo chambers. If we as journalists have a product to sell, it is credibility. Take that credibility away and we become little more than propagandists and advertisers. By refusing to expose lies we destroy, in the end, ourselves.

As a part of the weekly seminar series, The Centre for Media and Film Studies hosted a presentation by Dr. Atef Alsha’Er titled “A Culture of Communication: Hamas’ Images in Perspective.”   The presentation looked closely …