Days of Rage: The Young Palestinians (documentary): Difference between revisions

'''Artist:''' Jo Franklin-Trout

'''Confronting Bodies:''' United States Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Israeli-American advocacy and lobbying groups

'''Dates of Action:''' 1989

'''Location:''' The United States

'''Description of Artwork:''' ''Days of Rage: The Young Palestinians'' is a 90-minute documentary which shows a number of different viewpoints on the Intifada.  Palestinian leaders and Palestinian people are shown in the movie saying they have nothing left to lose and that they need a state. <P>

'''The Incident:''' Originally WNYC had agreed to host ''Days of Rage'' for a broadcast on June 5, 1989, the  twenty-second anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.  WNYC thought it would be necessary to have a panel discussion after the broadcast with "additional context" provided, especially on the Israeli side.  While the network was putting together the panel the Israeli embassy got a copy of the tape and it began circulating both in the United States and in Israel.  Local and national Jewish-American groups began to lobby their local public television stations to get the broadcast canceled.  WNYC then pulled its sponsorship of the documentary calling it "propaganda".  A prominent television critic, Howard Rosenberg, of the Los Angeles Times, then wrote a column praising the documentary.  In his article Rosenberg suggested that WNYC might have cut the program because there are a large number of Jewish-Americans in New York who they depend on for donations.  Arab-American groups then began campaigning to get the documentary put back on the air.  <P>

'''Results of Incident:''' Finally they decided to air ''Days of Rage'' in a special package.  Hodding Carter, assistant secretary of state was the host and led the panel so as to try to neutralize any controversial views in the film. <P>

'''Source:''' "Censorship: A World Encyclopedia"