Gaza war coverage challenged
A documentary exposing the media’s culpability in distorting how the 2014 conflict between Hamas and Israel was portrayed on TV and in the press will screen at this year’s Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF).
A DOCUMENTARY exposing the media’s culpability in distorting how the 2014 conflict between Hamas and Israel was portrayed on TV and in the press will screen at this year’s Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF).
Eyeless in Gaza reveals how the terror group manipulated coverage at the time, intimidating and threatening journalists and forcing them to create a false impression of the impact of Israeli shelling by focusing solely on civilian casualties.
The film shows reports that state “children and civilians comprised the vast majority of those killed” and that Israel is targeting hospitals and houses, but according to executive producer Robert Magid both statements are factually flawed.
“Eyeless in Gaza sets out to find out the truth,” Magid said. “It shows how the media is used.”
Noting that journalists are drawn to tragedy and sympathise with human suffering, he said: “The media is being played by Hamas like a violin.”
“Hamas and the Palestinian people are two different entities in this conflict,” Magid said.
“Hamas is using the Palestinian people as human shields because the more innocent Palestinians that die the worse Israel looks.”
The fact is confirmed in previously unseen footage featuring Hamas spokesperson Sami Abo Zohri, who is normally guarded when speaking to western media. However, speaking to the documentary’s Palestinian crew, he admits that when Israel drops leaflets urging civilians to leave their homes ahead of an imminent airstrike, “Hamas asked people to stay in their homes”.
The documentary also includes footage filmed by an Indian camera crew that shows Palestinian terrorists firing rockets towards Israel from the middle of a residential area, as well as an extensive interview with RT TV correspondent Harry Fear, who covered Gaza for three years but was expelled after tweeting that Hamas was launching missiles near his hotel.
Fear says in the documentary that during the conflict it was clear that the side paying the highest price, namely the Palestinians, could have been spared much of the suffering if only Hamas, which claimed to represent them, had accepted the ceasefires that were offered.
Eyeless in Gaza screens at JIFF on Thursday, November 10 at Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction at 6.45pm, followed by a Q&A with Magid and at 6.45pm on Monday, November 14 at the Classic Cinema, followed by a Q&A with Magid.
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