Customer Reviews

Tragedy in the Holy Land - The Second Uprising [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've always considered myself a well-educated, well-informed man . . . until I saw this dvd, that is. This dvd does a brilliant job in showing the plight of the Paletinian people, both today and historically, that the typical American does not have the privilege of viewing.

Watch this dvd, replay it over and over, and you will have a new understanding of the conflicts in the Middle East that you never had before.

This film is an excellent introduction to the history of the Palestine Israeli struggle. It is the historical information that most United States citizens are unfamiliar with that ultimately determines where justice lies (just as it did in South Africa and in the American south) and makes the current situation so obviously fascist. This must stand as basic essential information and arguments over details can only be secondary. This should be shown in every high school in America. Bush's rhetoric about honoring UN resolutions is also shown to be just so much more deceit from the US leadership...

For a while, I was looking for a documentary that addresses and details the root cause of the never ending bloody conflict in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It was hard to find a documentary that addresses the subject from a historical prospective to address the root cause that let to this never ending conflict and shed lights to "why" this is happening.
To be able to understand any conflict one shall have a fair, unbiased, and in depth historical background of what lead to this situation. This documentary is an excellent introduction to the history of the Palestine Israeli conflict and to the Palestinian struggle. The historical information that most American citizens are unfamiliar with that ultimately determines where justice lies and makes the current situation so obviously so unbearable for Palestinians.
The producer use testimonies of many groups of: Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and other Peace Organizations from around the world.
This is a must see for anyone who wants to know the root cause of the never ending and bloody conflict in the middle east. It is for everyone who wants to understand why "All" negotiations failed to bring rest and peace to that region. It is unbelievable how much suffering Palestinians went and still going through, and yet they are still standing ...

The "Tragedy in the Holy Land: The Second Uprising" (2001) video is an excellent documentary that gives the viewer a more in depth look at the roots of the current conflict in the Middle East. People who know the conflict from watching regular TV news, have only scratched the surface, and do not understand the complexity of the conflict. With the growing interest in understanding the Middle East conflict, it is about time that such a documentary was produced.
This video is a must see for all those who are interested in obtaining a first hand look at the dialy realities lived in Middle East, and understanding the causes behind the conflict in that part of the world.

I am a World History...and highly recommend the use of this video in the classroom. It changed my perspective of the conflict between the Palestinians and Israeli's. This is the story from the perspective of the Palestinians. It will shock you...amazing story! Don't miss out sharing in the classroom.

First, a few things. The editorial review at the very top (right under the tape description and, surely I assume, not written by THE Robert McNamara(?)) is hilarious. News coverage in the U.S. is SO slanted toward the Israeli side of the conflict that frankly we NEED a whole film just to balance out the daily, 365 times a year barrage we get from an American press terrified of really tackling the subject (for fear of very strong Pro-Israeli lobbyists and pressure groups.) In other words, we JUST BEGIN to get a sense of balance BY WATCHING THE DVD and ALL the other daily insufficient reporting we get from our major media. (And that latter 'coverage' usually goes into great detail about the unfortunate Israeli deaths in this fight, but just as frequently says almost NOTHING about the deaths and suffering of Palestinians.)Secondly, being a journalist, I must say that McNamara is also wrong in that balance does not determine the absolute truth of a situation. You can have two opposing views of a situation and neither side can be right or only one of them can be right. What helps determine truth for the reporter and the reader or viewer is probing, insistent questioning that leads to meaningful answers along with lots of documentation that either backs up or discredits those answers. Frankly, reporters frequently settle for just getting TWO SIDES of the story instead of trying to make A DETERMINATION OF TRUTH about what each side is saying. The latter is really what what the public needs but it's harder and riskier to do, so many journalist's just cop-out with the easier way. Finally, McNamara also says the tape comes off as a "strident" denunciation of the Israeli government. Well consider this: sometimes in journalism, upon examination of the facts,there is no clear moral viewpoint other than something is unjust and it should be reported as such. For example, in the South during the Civil Rights struggle in the 50's and 60's, African-Americans were clearly right in wanting to be treated as equals and most of the contemporary reporting of the day reflected that. The same was also true about the reporting on apartheid in South Africa. So sometimes what's needed more than balance is an ACCURATE but yet piercing illustration of an injustice that a people are fighting. Which finally brings me to the DVD: it does an excellent job of making known the historical context of this fight in the Middle East, something the print or the TV media NEVER ever discuss- that the conflict is rooted not in religious differences but about land. It was land that once one side lived on and now not only do the majority of them NOT live there but they exist in terrible ghettoes where they have no clear rights. (It's a situation so close to the plight of Jewish people in WWII Poland that you want to shake your head in dismay.) Once you know the early history of this fight you can't help but have a very different viewpoint of the present situation from the common wisdom dispensed by pundits and big media. In short, the DVD succeeds in giving this history where the NYTimes and others fail. It also almost viscerally demonstrates the real impact of the war on a people Lord Balfour once dismissed as "niggers" (in a discussion with Chaim Weizmann, the first President of Israel,) the Palestinians. And that's something you're not getting from the Nightly News.

First, a few things. The editorial review at the very top (right under the tape description and, surely I assume, not written by THE Robert McNamara(?)) is hilarious. News coverage in the U.S. is SO slanted toward the Israeli side of the conflict that frankly we NEED a whole film just to balance out the daily, 365 times a year barrage we get from an American press terrified of really tackling the subject (for fear of very strong Pro-Israeli lobbyists and pressure groups.) In other words, we JUST BEGIN to get a sense of balance BY WATCHING THE DVD and ALL the other daily insufficient reporting we get from our major media. (And that latter 'coverage' usually goes into great detail about the unfortunate Israeli deaths in this fight, but just as frequently says almost NOTHING about the deaths and suffering of Palestinians.)Secondly, being a journalist, I must say that McNamara is also wrong in that balance does not determine the absolute truth of a situation. You can have two opposing views of a situation and neither side can be right or only one of them can be right. What helps determine truth for the reporter and the reader or viewer is probing, insistent questioning that leads to meaningful answers along with lots of documentation that either backs up or discredits those answers. Frankly, reporters frequently settle for just getting TWO SIDES of the story instead of trying to make A DETERMINATION OF TRUTH about what each side is saying. The latter is really what what the public needs but it's harder and riskier to do, so many journalist's just cop-out with the easier way. Finally, McNamara also says the tape comes off as a "strident" denunciation of the Israeli government. Well consider this: sometimes in journalism, upon examination of the facts,there is no clear moral viewpoint other than something is unjust and it should be reported as such. For example, in the South during the Civil Rights struggle in the 50's and 60's, African-Americans were clearly right in wanting to be treated as equals and most of the contemporary reporting of the day reflected that. The same was also true about the reporting on apartheid in South Africa. So sometimes what's needed more than balance is an ACCURATE but yet piercing illustration of an injustice that a people are fighting. Which finally brings me to the DVD: it does an excellent job of making known the historical context of this fight in the Middle East, something the print or the TV media NEVER ever discuss- that the conflict is rooted not in religious differences but about land. It was land that once one side lived on and now not only do the majority of them NOT live there but they exist in terrible ghettoes where they have no clear rights. (It's a situation so close to the plight of Jewish people in WWII Poland that you want to shake your head in dismay.) Once you know the early history of this fight you can't help but have a very different viewpoint of the present situation from the common wisdom dispensed by pundits and big media. In short, the DVD succeeds in giving this history where the NYTimes and others fail. It also almost viscerally demonstrates the real impact of the war on a people Lord Balfour once dismissed as "niggers" (in a discussion with Chaim Weizmann, the first President of Israel,) the Palestinians. And that's something you're not getting from the Nightly News.

I think the review by the person below ... summed up everything about this documentary. I just saw the tape and quickly liked it. However, it leaves out a lot, particularly the US financial, moral, military and even international (support at the UN) aid to Israel. Israel is doing what it's doing because of the support it gets from the US, period. This, however, is barely mentioned in the tape, perhaps only a few times by some of the speakers. This is because, I think, the documentary's intention was to do a quick historical account of the current Second Indifada (Uprising). Still, it did a good job and must be commended. I also recommend this tape to whoever wants to understand the current conflict in the Middle East. Still books like Noam Chomsky's "The Fateful Triangle: The US, Israel and The Palestinians", Roane Carey's "The New Intifada", and any books by Dr. Edward Said stand out in any collection of books on Middle East.

Tragedy in the Holy Land - The Second Uprising gives an excellent background to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Two-thirds of it is a history lesson of the region. It starts off in the late 1800's briefly talking about the roots of Zionism and concludes with the beginning of the current Intifada. I have read several books about the conflict to gain a better understanding of it, but have not been able to find something so handy that gives a quick historical account of the past events that have led to the current Intifada.

I was disappointed that it makes no mention of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. It also makes no mention of the huge amount of US aid sent every year to Israel. It also makes no mention of the US armed forces that are always training the Israelis with the latest defense technology. Such technology meant for use against invading armies, not innocent civilians. No mention is made of Congress' support of Israeli occupation. Excluding these and other points turns this conflict into one strictly between Israelis and Palestinians and leaves the US out of the equation. I would hope that anyone trying to understand this conflict would also try to understand the amount of financail and moral support our representatives in the House, Senate and, of course, the White House are giving Israel. Maybe then, they will realize that supporting Israel's right to exist does not have to mean supporting Palestine's right not to.

Superb documentary evidence and commentary on the conflict. I have read numerous book and documentaries about the conflict. This is cleary one of the best sources of information available. It is not propaganda or biased as many reviewers have stated. I would hate to see someone pass this one up because of angry biased reviews. This is a must for anyone who wants an introduction to what is really going on in the world outside the U.S. Good sound historical evidence is provided as well. Absolutely outstanding!!!!!