Disgraceful documentary
COMMUNITY leaders are outraged at an ABC radio program about Gaza they have described as “inaccurate”, “disgraceful and “anti-Israel”.
COMMUNITY leaders are outraged at an ABC radio program about Gaza they
have described as “inaccurate”, “disgraceful and “anti-Israel”.
The 54-minute program, called Breaking the Silence, was presented by
outspoken Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigner Peter
Slezak, with the ABC’s 360documentaries website claiming it explores the
“human rights abuses that occur routinely”.
Slezak met with Palestinians and IDF soldiers from the left-wing veterans
group Breaking The Silence.
“The Breaking the Silence pseudo-documentary is disgraceful,”
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Dr Colin
Rubenstein said.
“It is seriously flawed by the omission of any reference to the
controlling authority in Gaza Hamas.
“There is no reference to any acts of violence ever perpetrated by
Palestinians, which is essential context to the subject canvassed. The
focus is entirely on traumatic experiences suffered by one side in a
two-sided conflict, and no attempt is made to ascertain the root cause of
suffering.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry executive director Peter Wertheim
said the program contains factual inaccuracies and is silent about the
broader political and security context. “No-one denies the human toll of
Israel’s presence in the West Bank,” Wertheim said.
“The program fails to face up to the real reason for the continued
Israeli presence in the West Bank.
“The Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza, but their leaders are not
yet willing to accept that the establishment of a Palestinian state in
those territories will mean the end of the conflict with Israel.”
When The AJN asked an ABC spokesperson if they believed the program was
biased, they said that it was only part one of a series, with an
interview with Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Paul Herschon and a
30-minute program about Israeli settlers also set to be broadcast on
360documentaries this week.
Herschon, whose interview is available on the ABC’s website already, said
Breaking The Silence refuses to present any evidence, credible or
non-credible, to the authorities.
“If you are a witness or perpetrator, you should have at least a moral
obligation, if not a legal obligation, to walk into a police station and
to lodge a complaint,” Herschon said.
“We investigate every complaint that is lodged.”
JOSHUA LEVI
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