How are Palestinians living under the Occupation in the West Bank and Gaza?
Academic, writer and commentator Peter Slezak took a tour of the Palestinian Occupied Territories earlier this year and met with a range of Palestinians and Israelis including members of the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, who take tours around hotspots in the West Bank and Gaza.
His journey, as the son of holocaust survivors, was confronting and harrowing as he witnessed what this Occupation means in terms of the human rights abuses that occur routinely, and the annexation of Palestinian lands to large Israeli settlements and to the 700 km long Separation Wall.
Comments (44)
Matt :
Matt
Gus :
Andrew S :
How can one comment on a program they haven't heard and how does the ABC permit that?
We put the audio of our programs on our website during the week before the broadcast. Any time between the tuesday and the friday before.
nadyat :
I know all of this theoretically, but listening to people's stories just made me weep from the injustice.
Good on those soldiers and I hope many more will speak out along with others who oppose the occupation.
nadyat
Mary c :
Inshallah!!!
Brian Dodd :
Thank you ABC.
Conrad :
Vacy :
Lia :
nick :
While the Israeli action is clearly unbalanced, please don't forget that a stone (how big?) in the hands of a child (how big? how old?) can kill. No mention of rockets or suicide bombs in this program, the wall and security is there for a reason. If the Israeli's were to dismantle their security (including excess military) and then later to come under extreme pressure, would we come to their aid unconditionally? Would you be on the next plane to help? I think this is the critical point, until they can feel secure in the international sense, they will look after themselves with all the problems that come with that.
Rex Inutilis :
Jennifer Killen :
David :
The Palestinians are falsely painted as innocent victims. Slezak ignores the suffering of Israeli citizens who are under the constant barrage of rockets fired from Gaza and the violent Palestinian incitement encouraged by acknowledged terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah and even the Palestinian Authority. Slezak's aim is paint a convenient picture of Palestinian suffering in which the Palestinians have no responsibility for their predicament, which has occurred principally as a result of their corrupt, Jew-hating leadership.
Chris Johnson :
Nharyan Feldmann :
John Stace :
This is an excellent program!! Well done ABC for bringing news of the sufferings and injustices of the Palestinians at the hands of the occupying Israelis.
I applaud the brave Israeli soldiers who were willing to Break the Silence and to communicate what they know about the abuse of Palestinians.
As Dr. Peter Slezak pointed out, Jewish people have been persecuted over the centuries and it seems strange that they are now abusing the Palestinians and stealing their land.
Ev :
Dov Midalia :
But first, Peter Slezak did not once mention why any of this happened. No mention of months of horrific suicide bombings in 2000-2001 (in response to Israel's offer of a state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem), which only ceased after the security barrier was built. No mention of thousands of missiles fired from Gaza at Israeli towns before the 2009 war (the Palestinian response to Israel's voluntary de-occupation of Gaza in 2005), or of the fact that Israel only targeted Hamas, which hid among the populace. Neither the Gaza war nor the security barrier would have been necessary except for relentless Palestinian aggression. Yes, there is an Israeli right wing which wants to keep the West Bank, but it is only Palestinian aggression that has shifted Israeli opinion towards them.
Second, yes, Baruch Goldstein was a Jewish terrorist, but he is almost alone in that category, compared to the hundreds of deadly Palestinian terror attacks on Israeli and other Jews over the years. By all means mention Goldstein, but why omit the rest?
Third, as usual with non-Hebrew-speaking 'researchers', the Israelis interviewed were all American immigrants, who tend to be on either the far left or far right of Israeli politics. More typical Israelis make pragmatic calculations about long-term survival: when they saw hope they gave Rabin and Barak mandates to return land, but having seen such land turned into missile bases, now they vote the other way. Slezak has missed the real Israeli logic by selecting a sample group that suits his purposes.
Slezak has created propaganda, emotional, distorted and light on facts or logic. This does not serve the cause of truth or peace.
Conrad :
You mean the British didn't give their homeland to another people without asking them first? You mean the majority of them weren't expelled from their homeland in 1948? You mean more weren't expelled in 1967? You mean the rest haven't lived under occupation since 1967? You mean the 48 and 67 exiles haven't been living in refugee camps since 48 and 67? You mean they haven't been robbed blind of their patrimony by the Israelis?
What planet do you live on, DM? Planet Israel?
Sylvia Hale :
Peter Slezak's observation that it had never occurred to him as a child that the slogan "Never again!" was to apply only to Jews went straight to the heart of Israeli hypocrisy.
Recent revelations about the Israeli Government's duchessing of Members of Parliament with more than 40 paid trips to Israel show just how determined Israel is promote its sanitised, grossly distorted version of 'reality'.
Congratulations ABC on a long-overdue account of what the Palestinian community endures on a daily basis.
Fay Waddington :
Adon Emmett :
Devoid of context, balance, and replete with half-truths and unsubstantiated allegations, here we have "our ABC" at work.
One notes that the Israeli Government response to the allegations could only find it's way into a difficult-to-find download separate from the story.
Slezak tells us four times at least that he is a child of Holocaust survivors - the other 99.9% of children of Holocaust survivors (not questioned in this magnum opus) would totally disagree with his conclusions.
Oh well, another Radio National anti-Israel beat up preying on the gullible! What's new?
David :
Is the ABC aware that it will face ridicule for not giving those who oppose the antics of Slezak the right to a full reply of equal time?
Andrew S :
Even a simple thing like when Israel was created - Mr Slezak said 1947, but it was 1948.
He then referred to ‘60 years of brutal occupation’. But the West Bank and Gaza were captured in 1967 in a war of self-defence. On the other hand, if he is suggesting that Israel’s presence on any part of British Mandate Palestine is an ‘occupation’, then that would fit with the extremist narrative that Israel has no right to exist at all.
As for the ‘Wall’, Mr Slezak dismisses out of hand the security concerns Israel had with suicide bombers deliberately targeting civilians in restaurants, buses and other public places.
One example was the murder of the Melbourne born schoolgirl, Malki Roth, who was one of 15 killed by a suicide bomber. The young Palestinian woman who assisted the suicide bomber was recently released from jail in a swap deal. She gave a TV interview about the bombing which shows the mindset of what Israel is up against. A translated extract can be seen here: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3539.htm
The parents of Malki commented about that interview here: http://www.jwire.com.au/news/from-the-hearts-of-frimet-and-arnold-roth/27505
David M :
And what's with the "child of Holocaust survivors" claim? That's nothing more than argumentum ad verecundiam (argument from authority). Hardly professional.
Jeff Loewenstein :
As anyone who has visited Israel and the West Bank will confirm, the program presented a balanced and accurate picture of what is actually happening "on the ground" - and all that entails and leads to.
One has to wonder why those who attack people like Peter Slezak with offensive epithets and labels are so willing to remain blind, and ignorant, in the light of myriads of reports from UN, and other agencies, about the plight of the Palestinians and what Israel is doing in stealing {there is no other word for it!) land in the West Bank. And then there is the "prison" the Israelis have imposed on those in Gaza and the inhuman and inhumane treatment meted out to the Gazans.
As many of the soldiers in the program state....most people in Israel are ignorant of what is going on. That applies even more so to those in Australia who are so one-eyed and unwilling to even consider what their uncritical acceptance of anything Israel engages in, does to the "image" of a people who have known oppression and profess to be "a light unto the Nations".
Cynthia Marchant :
David M :
What there is a very serious problem with is that 360 by its very name (360 Documentaries) is meant to be a documentary. The purpose of a documentary is to present a factual record of some aspect of reality and it should be usable as a historic, instructional or factual reference.
The deficiencies in this program have been pointed out by other posters and I will not reiterate them.
This program was not a documentary and should not bear that description. If 360 were a commercial product "our" ABC would be in trouble for providing a false description.
GEORGE QUITTNER :
Kate :
There was also no real recognition of Israel's security concerns. Slezak does not mention that the security fence was established following a wave of terrorist attacks in the Second Intifada, and since its establishment has brought terrorists attacks to nearly zero.
Richard B :
Fifty year ago Australian support - by the populationa at large, the media, government - for the apartheid regime in South Africa was comparable to that enjoyed by Israel until very recently.
Programs like yours will hopefully encourage more people to learn more about the situation there, and to ask questions, take action.
Well done.
Jill :
Julian Asaint :
incomprehensible aspect about Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is this: how on earth is it possible that an ethnic group that suffered such horrors in WWII could behave in such a brutal and inhumane manner towards their colonised? And the fact that the daily humiliation visited upon the hapless civilians is clearly systemic, almost suggest a ghoulish relish at the prospect of wielding this power imbalance.
In responding to the murder of the four diplomatic staff in Libya recently, I note Obama reminded the world that “ We will never stop working for the dignity and freedom of people.” The US government’s track record over the past 6 decades shows just how hollow these words are to Palestinian ears.
The plight of the Palestinians in Western MSM shows them to be “the forgotten people,” so more power to the ABC for programs such as these. However, preaching to the converted (by the tone of posted comments) is all very well, but real action to redress these horrible injustices can only come about if the US ever has the guts to exercise the obvious leverage it has over Israel – don’t hold your breath.
Eve Laing :
You suggest that the poverty in Palestine is caused by the Israelis. Arafat started the PLO as middle class amd died wealthy. Millions of dollars poured in to relieve the suffering of the Palestinians but the money trail stopped at his door. The poverty of his people starts with him. There are 5 million Palestinians living in neighbouring Arab countries in refugee camps. Their lives are much worse than those living in Palestine as they are prohibited from working and have to do with handouts....yet 360 Documentaries never comments on them. Why not?
You talk of the great poverty in Gaza. On the day the Turkish Flotilla was launched to feed the 'starving' people in Gaza, on a lark I Googled..."GAZA SHOPPING MALLS". I never expected to see what was presented, Please, be my guest, Google it and just be Gobsmacked. Did you know that Gazan Seaside Real Estate sells for millions and extremely wealthy people are building there. What are you people talking about without knowing anything about the facts?
You see everything through the lens of your biases and ideology. Sure both the Israelis and Palestines do good and bad. Nothing real is one sided. Grow up.
Petet :
It is easy to understand why many young Israelis dodge the draft.
So often Israel states that it is the only democraqcy in the region. Rubbish!!