Pallywood

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Pallywood (a portmanteau of "Palestinian" and "Hollywood") is a neologism used to refer to news events alleged to have been staged by Palestinian and/or foreign cameramen to portray Israel in an unfavorable light.

Origin of the term

File:Pallywood cover.jpg

Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources... an online documentary by Richard Landes.

The word "Pallywood" appeared in a Usenet forum debate in 2002, but Professor Richard Landes of Boston University is credited with having given the term currency in 2005, with his 18-minute documentary Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources.

In his documentary, Landes shows Arab-Israeli conflict-related footage, mostly taken by freelance Palestinian video journalists but utilising different camera angles to those which were broadcast by the mass media. He argues that Palestinian video journalists have staged scenes for propaganda purposes to create bias against Israel by presenting the Palestinians as helpless victims of Israeli aggression. He believes that what he describes as systematic media manipulation (which he dubs "Pallywood") dates back to at least the 1982 Lebanon War, and argues that broadcasters are too uncritical of the bona fides of Palestinian freelance footage..

Use of the term

The term has been used by right-wing bloggers, particularly after similar assertions of media manipulation (e.g. "Hizbollywood") were made during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Political commentator David Frum has described Landes' work as an exposé of political propaganda, arguing that the footage Landes has compiled reveals "a startling series of faked funerals, staged gun battles, and professional weeping grandmothers. They dub the Palestinian propaganda complex, 'Pallywood,' and ask hard questions about the readiness — eagerness — of much of the world media to be deceived."

Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva stated in 2006 that "Pallywood" is becoming a "household word," along with "infotainment," to refer to media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Mackenzie Institute, a Canadian "defense and security" think tank, has written that given "a long history of posing for the cameras...the cynical "Pallywood" nickname from once-deceived journalists for PA news services becomes understandable."

Media in the Gaza Strip

German journalist Thorsten Schmitz writes that the world's large news organizations, CNN and ABC News, and news agencies such as Reuters and Associated Press, work almost exclusively with Palestinian cameramen when reporting from the Gaza Strip. Working as a cameraman for the Western media is regarded as one of the most lucrative jobs in the Palestinian areas, Schmitz writes, with some cameramen in the area earning up to $250 U.S. per day, as much as some Palestinian families might earn in six months. Schmitz states that the images intended to portray suffering in Gaza and broadcast by the international media are produced primarily by Palestinians. Richard Landes has argued that the mainstream media are too quick to accept this freelance footage.

Examples of "Pallywood" allegations

Muhammad al-Durrah

Main article: Muhammad al-Durrah

Muhammad al-Durrah, a 12-year-old Palestinian, was widely reported to have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip on September 30 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada. The shooting was recorded by Talal Abu Rahma, a local freelance cameraman and aired on France 2 with narration by Charles Enderlin. The footage became internationally famous. In Pallywood, Richard Landes questions the authenticity of the footage and disputes whether al-Durrah was killed by Israeli gunfire or even killed at all. Several other commentators have expressed similar doubts. The authenticity of the footage is currently under review in a libel case being heard in France, at which Landes had previously testified.

Other events

Landes also describes the Battle of Jenin in 2002 as an instance in which "Pallywood" footage has been shown, and Schmitz has made similar arguments regarding an Israeli rocket attack on June 13, 2006 on a car carrying members of Islamic Jihad.

Notes

Carvajal, Doreen. "The mysteries and passions of an iconic video frame", International Herald Tribune, Monday, February 7, 2005.
Poller, Nidra. "Al-Dura: The Trial", PoliticsCentral, September 13, 2006.
^ Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning The Palestinian Hard Stance." The Boston Globe, September 6, 2005
^ Landes, Richard. Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources (Windows Media Video), SecondDraft.org. (youtube mirror)
"French Election Upset", rec.arts.sf.fandom, May 15, 2002.
^ Landes, Richard. "Pallywood: History", SecondDraft.org.
^ Stevens, Chris. "A conspiracy theorist's paradise", The Daily Telegraph, April 14, 2007.
Zerbisias, Antonia. "And Now It's Reutersgate". Toronto Star, August 9, 2006.
Frum, David. From Gaza, tragedy and propaganda. National Post, June 17, 2006.
"There's Something About Qana," Arutz Sheva (Channel 7), Israel, August 3, 2006.
Lies, Damned Lies and Footage, The Mackenzie Institute, Newsletter July, 06.
^ Schmitz, Thorsten. "Der Krieg der Bilder", Sueddeutsche Zeitung, June 16, 2006.
^ Lappin, Yakkov. "Al-Dura footage to air." Ynetnews. 20 September 2007. 21 October 2007.
"Al-Durah: What happened?", Second Draft.
"Film Focus: HR in Hollywood and 'Pallywood'", Honestreporting.com.
Gelernter, David. "When pictures lie", Jewish World Review, 2003.
Photo of Palestinian Boy Kindles Debate in France, The New York Times, February 7, 2005.
Martin Patience, Dispute rages over al-Durrah footage BBC News, 8 November 2007

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